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D-Link's USB-Powered Access Point
Roger Ryder writes "D-Link announced the AirPlus G DWL-G730AP Wireless Pocket Router/AP, a pocket Access Point for travelers. It can be powered by a USB cable and works as an 802.11g access point, client or router. A 3-way configuration switch on the bottom of the unit changes the mode of operation. In AP mode, the DWL-G730AP can be used to create a wireless network in a room where a single Ethernet port is provided. In Router mode, it can be used to share a single broadband Internet connection. The internal DHCP server automatically assigns IP addresses to ensure everyone in the room can connect to the Internet. It supports VPN Pass-through and firewall features including Network Address Translation (NAT) and MAC filtering to protect your wireless network from malicious attacks. When set in Wireless Client mode, the device allows connection to an existing wireless network, without having to install complicated drivers or additional software. For added mobility, the DWL-G730AP can be powered over USB if power outlets are not available. Similar devices are available from ASUS, SMC, Apple's AirPort Express and Netgear."
Or are you happy to see me?
This looks like another ad/press release. First the Nokia phone, now a wifi product. Why are these getting approved?
So, when I'm on the road in a hotel I can plug this into my USB port, then plug an Ethernet cable into it and surf wirelessly? Oh... except for the Ethernet cable plugged into my USB port.
World's tallest building rises in the desert
Hang out for an hour, record the packets, go home and extract email passwords, etc...
This would probably work in an apartment complex, etc as well
Agile Artisans
Could someone tell me how this would be useful? Honestly, I don't know.
It seems to me that if you were traveling and you were at a place that had broadband, then you most likely brought along a laptop. Wouldn't it be easier to just buy an ethernet cable rather than paying for this?
not even attempting to hide blatant infomercials now. but i guess they do it for all things apple so I shouldnt bitch.
Looks like D-Link's been doing its homework.
I recently bought a D-Link 802.11g+ card. The loaf at Best Buy expressed doubts about whether D-Link's 108Mbps "protocol" (compression, etc on regular g) would work with Netgear's 108Mbps protocol and he suggested I buy the same company's brand for the entire network.
Naturally, I ignored him. It works fine.
If D-Link can keep making devices that perform reliably and interact correctly with those of other manufacturers, I say "Great!"
Now THAT is awesome, just what I have been looking for when I fix computers and laptops. Just stick it in there and not having to worry about hubs and ethernet cables.
I fail to see how this is any different (from a linux geek's point of view) from using any prism2-based WLAN card with the Host AP drivers.
Might appeal to PHBs without the necessary 'mad skillz', though, but these are hardly Slashdot's target audience.
This seems to serve the same purpose as the AirPort Express for the business traveller except that it has a separate power supply (unless you want to tether yourself to it with a USB cable). The fact that the power supply is not built in seems to me to limit its utility quite a lot. Given it costs 80% as much as the AirPort and also lacks the printer sharing (and non-sequitur music streaming) I have a hard time seeing this being a commercial success.
If intelligent life is too complex to evolve on its own, who designed God?
However, this is the AirPort Express webpage.
The only use I see for this is LAN parties on Planes/Busses/Trains. I am sure the person in the seat next to me would enjoy it when my buddy from the back of the plane storms up and throws a glass of coke at me screaming "STOP AWPING NOOB!". ;)
The fact that this could also screw up plane communications and positioning equipment is irrevelant. No one ever uses that stuff anyway...
It's not that bad. I'm sure this will be useful for people who don't want to carry a router with them if they have more than one laptop or something in a hotel room, or if they go somewhere without a network yet want to use more than one computer at a time. What's so bad about a new versitile product, even if it does have a brand name on it?
At least this one doesn't have the same horrid "IT" color scheme as the Nokia press release did.
Congrats..Your laptop battery life has just gone down from 2hrs45min to 20 minutes(10 if you're trying to achieve FP!).
If you think
PCTel's Segue Soft Access Point Module (SAM) is a clever piece of software that turns any LAN-connected PC into a Wi-Fi wireless access point. Given the low price of Wi-Fi APs (typically $60 or less), SAM might not appear to make economic sense. But SAM's price is even lower: Several motherboard and wireless chipset makers have purchased licenses to include SAM with their products, making SAM effectively free to end users. And for setting up a temporary AP in a hotel room, meeting room, or the like, it's a darn clever solution.
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Feel free not to moderate me at all.
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
two notes:
1. the mobile hub feature can be useful. traveling with two powerbooks, my wife and i frequently use a single network access (dialup, ethernet) in hotels, sharing it from one machine over ad hoc wlan
2. well, with a powerbook (or stationary mac with airport card), you get this option built in, without any hassle with a separate device or dlls from hell...
(please insert your apple rant here:... thanks.)
would be an ethernet-powered access-point: just one plug for an Ethernet port, and it bridges and/or NATs onto that connection.
I don't know how much power you can safely draw over Ethernet. Maybe it's not enough. But it would be cool if it worked.
Nobody seemed to mention that there is a lot of stuff to carry here. Compare this to the very, very compact size of Airport Express. How is this thing from D-Link convenient?
Probably the best way to connect securely when traveling cheaply is to boot a cyber cafe computer from a Knoppix CD. That way you can be certain there are no keystroke recorders installed by some previous user. Basically, you will want to check your bank accounts and get your email from a web-based client. So Knoppix gives you everything you need: an OS and a browser.
There might still be a problem with a hardware-based keystroke recorder, but that level of expertise is unlikely, I think. A thief who could do that could get a good job, and wouldn't need to be a thief.
Best part is that most of us already read about this a day or two ago on other blogs. /. has jumped the shark
Airport express is more compact (no extra crap to carry around). It also has airtunes (hopefully someone will get a driver for mac/windows/linux so it can do more than just music).
That extra couple dollars is worth the design.
Kinda off-topic, but I was considering buying a DLink 514 wireless router since it's so much cheaper than the linksys equivalent. I've seen a lot of scathing reviews online, but those are mostly from the non-technical crowd (firmware update? wazzat?). I'd love to know if any /.ers have tried this out, and were successful.
It's not a fucking ad. It's slightly interesting. How else would have you found out about this AND gotten to hear comments about it, anyway.
Even if it is an ad, what right do you have to complain. You're not paying for slashdot. Go elsewhere if you don't like it. I'm a subscriber (read: I pay money to see slashdot) and I love articles like this. Okay!?
This is becoming the new cliché on slashdot... "this is an ad... slashdot sucks... whine whine"
It's been said so many times that it's not interesting, insightful, or funny. That makes it -1 Redundant.
My other car is first.
Gee you copy other people's posts and then you get modded down? We heard the idea once, and that was enough. Think of something else to say.
My other car is first.
I could see this being useful in an airplane if you wanted to game with friends or collaborate with coworkers on the same flight. Of course, it would also probably screw up the avionics and redirect the flight to Tibet. But at least you would be able to get some work or enjoyment for the long flight...
Or it would be useful for simple impromptu networking for a quick and dirty network situations where power is at a premium (like a natural disaster). Granted, that wouldn't involve Internet access, but a small easily powered AP is somewhat useful.
I've been reading slashdot since 1998. These two stories from michael today have got to be the lamest entries I've ever seen on here. I'm very disappointed. At least this one isn't as bad as the Nokia one.
translation: "waah, girls don't like me"
Slashdot - Ads for Nerds, Stuff that make OSDN Money. Or something stupid like that.
...plugging things in expertise:
ssdfsdfasdfasdfsadf
I wouldn't exactly call them reviews, but I always look forward to getting my next article on SCO / The Caldera Group ! :-)
All but one were posted within a minute of each other...you call that copying?
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
Sorry, had to. :P
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
I would like to plug some of my company's products too.
-Lod
And so do APs that work with it. The PoE is 802.3af
Has no one in this thread ever heard of peer to peer?
All the examples of "I could have used this when..." could easily have been solved by simply setting your wireless cards into peer mode and making an ad hoc wireless network. This is quick and easy with every network client app I have seen; does no one use this feature or what?
Why is this device any better than just bridging your ethernet to your wireless peer network?
Here's a biz model:
/.-mandatory: Profit
1. Get a USB wireless hub
2. Pay for WLAN access at Starbucks
3. Get a seat at Starbucks and resell cheap WLAN access to other guests
4. And the
P.S. There is always a right to complain.
2^5
I bought two DLINK AP a month ago and they'd freeze every 20 minutes. Only way was power down and up every 20 minutes. Not fun. DLINK said it was my network. Interesting enough I got a El Cheapo one for half price while waiting for a Belkin AP + router. Both the El Cheapo and Belkin work fine. Both DLINK were RMAed.
Sure it sounds like an ad... it talks quite extensivly about a single product.... However it then links you to similar products from competitors... Haven't seen any adds do that before...
DarkMantle I been bored, so I started a blog.
There were zero responses when I typed it out, the other posters apparently hit send 1/10th of a second faster then I did. :-)
Also worth pointing out that OS X can do this out of the box. (And if XP can't, I'm surprised...)
By the same logic.... what right do you have to complain about someone else complaining that this post is an ad? You're not paying for slashdot. Go elsewhere if you don't like it.
:)
This is becoming the new cliché on slashdot... "this is someone complaining about slashdot... go somewhere else if you don't like it... whine whine"
The moral here: you're free to complain about other people's complaints, but that makes your complaints kind of ironic
To slashad! Where you can read ad copy sooner then anyone else
Well, except that this announcement is, like, many days old. I've come to realize recently that slashdot is not really very timely on these types of things.
See Gizmodo's Report from last Friday.
People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/ The link in the title article copy is a link to the apple store (to a timed out session)
We don't need to hear about it everytime you don't like an article.
isn't fucking insightful. Really, who the hell modded this up (hint: starts with a Cmdr, ends with a Taco)? It's an ad. You'd have to be a goddamned moron not to pick up on it (or working for slashdot).
Me email iz skyewalkerluke at microsoft's free email service.
so it can communicate with a wireless router connected to wired WAN.
p.s. Why are bridges so overpriced?
This kind of meta-complaining about complaints seems oh-so-noble but is really just petty.
In short, if you're going to complain about people complaining about complaints, expect complaints!
"I'm a subscriber (read: I pay money to see slashdot)"
Why?
To see ads?
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
Ah, then any time the system detects that five responses have come in from five different people within, say, two seconds, they should ALL get the
/. into somethin' cookin'!
"SLOW DOWN, COWBOY!"
response!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Maybe that will keep the servers up long enough to be able to send in a response, too.
How about this? Nobody should be allowed to send more than one response within a twenty-four period?
See - we can make the Net look like snail mail if we try!
Now if we can just figure out a way to put AI into the moderators (since they don't seem to have any "real" intelligence), we could make
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
The online shops have been dumping the D-LINK model DWL-122 which is a USB dongle wireless adapter (that happens to work with Linux.) I picked up one for $29 from TigerDirect or somesuchplace. Pretty good bang for the buck: it worked plug and play without the need for additional drivers in a WinXP box I tried it with. Definitely a handy little device to have hanging around, but it doesn't do access point stuff like the current generation does. Any word on Linux-workability for the newer model mentioned in this story??
http://tinyurl.com/4ny52
On my PowerBook as well as my iMac, I go to the preferences panel "Sharing" and click one button and now my PB is an access point, with a DHCP server, which can be used to share the ethernet or modem connection. I've never tried it but I bet with a second 802.11 card in the PC card slot it can even share one wireless network with the other.
For about a year, the iMac was my only access point. I didn't think of writing slashdot about it!
Or I can just go up to the airport icon on the menu bar and "create network" which does the ad-hoc thing.
Yeah yeah, another mac fanboy, but come on, what's the point of a wireless access point with.. a USB wire??
You mean Windows people have to do something extra to make their computers work as access points??? Wow. I bet some Windows PCs don't even come with wireless cards.
*cradles powerbook*
in ad-hoc mode, and with ICS (internet connection sharing) enabled, you should be able to bridge the adapters easily..
At one of my job sites, we have a cable modem that goes into a dell low end server- this has a second ethernet card connected to a hub, which shares a lan with two other PC's..
I have had them previously set up as bridged connections and ICS sharing enabled, and all three pc's had web access (the owner has since instructed it be turned off to the two client pc's-- too much distraction)
but the second ethernet card should be substitutable with a wifi adapter, and set in adhoc- it should 'just work'
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Second, I would know about this product because I read slashdot and have seen Airport Express postings, which have had comments referring to these. I also recently purchased the aforementioned Asus WL330 access point. (Which has been revised; see a review of older model here.) This is a very good product that I've been very happy with.
In my opionion, a PR page on a small access point, which follows the same from Apple, ( here, here, and here) is not newsworthy.
Frankly, if I _were_ a subscriber, which I have considered doing at length, I would be pissed that stories like this show up. I want insightful reviews and bleeding edge stuff I won't see other places for weeks. Not product pages to DLink products. I can go to dlink.com for that.
THIS is why I said what I said.
As opposed to your post?Linux: The world's best text-adventure game.
One of the issues I have with all these "travel" APs that I've seen is that none of them have a modem in them. Most of the places I've had to set up a temporary wireless net when travelling don't have any existing network access aside from a phone line. I wish Apple had left out the USB port and dropped in a modem instead.
Guess the graphite Airport keeps travelling!
bad engineering, bad drivers, bad tech support. don't be fooled by the 'feature list'. stay far away from dlink. they're a bad company. i've had to replace everything that i've bought from them.
I am in the same boat and have found the Airport Express to be a life saver! With that D-Link router you need to carry an external power supply. With the Airport Express the whole unit is only as large as the power supply. Most of us already carry way to many devices in our laptop bags.
I am probably going to buy another one for my living room stereo. Its that great!
yeah, but its still d-link junk. i've in a fit of cheapness bought dlink garbage and as always been totally ready to throw it out. if it lasts....
pcmcia wireless card. DOA after firmware update. wireless G base useless because it can't handle any sort of real traffic and has bugs that don't allow me to enable PKA encryption. usb wireless B adaptor that gives really awful throughput. i mean ass awful..... thanks but no thanks, i wont take their stuff for free any more.
-- troutsoup.com
I find your comments intriguing and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
This networking device would seem to be paving the way to a simple lightweight computing architure where wearable computers actually may become a reality.
Karma: Good, or bust!
Theses things are going to be the bain of secure corporate networking. Anyone can EASILY popup a AP leasing out IP's on your companies network. Not to say it's hard to do already, but this just makes it WAY to easy.
time to fire up the old ipaq with wififofum and start bashing some heads.
I have a debian setup that is very handy for wifi networking. If I 'ifup ath0' (ath0 refers to the internal madwifi card) when I already have a default route (through eth0 or ppp/tmobile) then my startup script puts the madwifi card in master mode, tweaks WEP/SSID settings, starts up dhcp on the adapter, and runs debian's ipmasq util. My access point is up and flying at that point.
Maybe this is the kind of thing the windows drivers won't let you do with typical wifi cards but inside Linux I have enough control to pull it off.
Brad
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the max amperage on USB is 500mA. Over 5V, that means the device burns at most 2.5W. Doesn't seem like the change in battery life would be too drastic.
I'll be dollars to doughnuts that there are thousands and thousands of public access computers that will be running this program for many years.
A Knoppix CD is a great idea.
If you're using a Prism-type chipset, you can either use hostap (for 802.11b) or the Prism54 drivers (for 802.11g) to run your card in "Master" (AP) mode. Instant linux-based AP.
I play with this off and on with my laptop and the high-powered SMC-2532W-B card, which can take an external antenna. Crank up Apache, set up BIND to return the laptop's wifi IP address to every query, and away I go (hey, wifi isn't JUST for The Internet(tm) after all). Or if I feel the need I can bridge to a wired connection, but that's boring - ANYONE can do that...
Anybody know if any of the 802.11g Prism-chipset-based PCMCIA/Cardbus cards exist that can take and external antenna?
Hacker Public Radio is our Friend
Actually, he claims to be a subscriber, so he probably is paying for it, you illiterate cunt. But I think you should both keep bitching at each other just to exercise our universal right to complain about absolutely anything on slashdot (so long as the complaint doesn't include the text of scientology's OT III, which the editors deleted because they can't handle a bullshit lawsuit).
From the KeyGhost installation instructions: "To install the KeyGhost, all you need to do is plug it in between your keyboard cable and your computer."
Obviously, these require no expertise to install. Obviously, also, you would look for these on any computer you used.
It might be good to carry one of those laptop-size USB keyboards, and use it instead of the cyber cafe keyboard. That would guard against keystroke loggers inside the keyboard. USB keyboards install automatically; there is no need to detach the normal keyboard.
That might be a cool way to get internet in your living room without running cables everywhere.
I bought a d-link switch/router/firewall nearly two years ago. A year ago, it stopped working. At least, I could not find the 'embedded homepage', where you set ip-adresses etc., any longer. Also, it worked for one attached computer but not for two or more. I mailed the kit to d-link which could not find a problem and returned it to me.
Then a friend said the kit may have suffered from some sort of 'virus attack' which kills the kit's memory or something similar and that d-link is very well aware of this 'issue', but, that they would never admit it and that I was without luck here.
Has any other slashdotter experienced 'half-dead' d-links?
I find alot of things that are "USB powered" aren't. They usually need two ports and even then depend on out of spec power levels. For example, my Lacie 4x slimline DVD writer can't draw enough power from the two USB ports on my Toshiba M200. I tried a d-link USB2 card that was supposedly rated at 500ma per port (The spec maximum) but either that's not enough power or the Toshiba doesn't deliver enough power to the card. There's just no way to get it to work. On my desktop, plug it into 2 USB ports and it works fine.
I'm debating either getting a small lightweight UPS around 300VA or if I'm better off cutting up some USB device or cable and wiring in a 4AA holder to put batteries in.
Introducing the new Occam Fusion! Now with sqrt(-1) fewer blades!
I bought myself a WRT54G Router (about $60) for a similar purpose. After uploaded 3rd party firmware It has a similar functionality (no USB).
They both can be an access point, client or router.
The WRT54G is bigger, needs power, but hooks up to your computer via Ethernet and requires no driver.
I wanted a wireless client that did not use my CPU for a controller and did not taint the kernel. The WRT54G does a great job.
so anyone who has one of these can sit down and start acting as a dhcp server? that's going to be *marvellous* in public wifi hotspots, isn't it?
This site will interest most(all?) of Slashdot readers:
http://www.everythingusb.com/
.
Simpy
Most hotel rooms that I have come across with net access usually require you authenticate your MAC address before you get online.
After hooking up the ethernet cable you're required to fire up a web-browser and log on. This binds the laptop ethernet MAC address to that session.
But if you connect up a wireless basestation such as this device (or the Airport Express) - how do you get around this problem?
Why do people post junk like this? Nobody wants to read crap like this!
Why did they make this a hardware switch? Don't people learn through product testing that the more movable parts the consumer has access to, the chances of any movable part being broken from being moved back and forth rises exponentially?
Shoulda been a software selection on an internal webpage, or maybe (heaven forbid, as this is another point of failure), a membrane pushbutton.
I will never buy from them again. Don't be fooled. Always a lot of bugs, and they don't support their products. They like to claim that 'it's Windows fault' that they didn't debug their drivers. Go with NetGear or LinkSys when they have the same thing shortly.
There is actually a real need for this sort of product. Many hotels and conference locations rent internet access at outlandish rates - thousands of dollars a day for a single connected computer at a trade show is not uncommon. The last (small) conference I attended had a single ethernet jack enabled in each symposium room. The hotel had wireless, but wanted thousands of dollars a day to enable it for the conference particiapnts.
There are _lots_ of places in the real world where there is a single ethernet jack but multiple people who need access. Most conference rooms at any non tech oriented company, if they have a connection, it will be a single jack. Universities have only recently gotton to the point that wired access is universal - a half dozen students trying to study in a library study room might have a single jack -- etc etc.
+--------------------- You idiot! I told you we were facing the wrong way!
For "security reasons", I can't change any of the network properties on my work laptop, including wireless settings (such as SSID)...you may be able to guess which OS I am running from the need to do this.
I can, however, run Virtual PC on my laptop, and have full control over my Ethernet NIC settings from a virtual machine...
So I'd like to use something like the D-Link DWL-810+ (Ethernet to Wireless Bridge) for mobile wireless usage, but I would like it to be USB powered so I don't need to plug it in.
Will this new D-Link device serve the same purpose?
The only external antenna-ready Prism54 card that I'm aware of is the Compex WL54G. It has an MC connector, just like Orinoco cards.
This would be perfect for running a Wi-Fi Bedouin.
I've traveled to 33 countries, and been in a lot of low-rent cyber cafes. Would they steal info? Yes, and it has happened to me.