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The Internet Taxi That Couldn't Connect
Ant sent in the link to this Salon story about a ride in one of Yahoo's 10 San Francisco Internet Taxis - and how the driver couldn't get the modem to work. I sure hope I have better luck with the wireless modem and ISP I'm getting for the (Linux) laptop I carry around in my limousine. Has anyone else got Linux running on any of the wireless ISPs yet? Got any hints or tips you'd care to share with the rest of us?
Well, of course the taxi will need an IT department, its own help desk, a system administrator, a network engineer, and a CIO. Maybe they should be using busses instead.- ------------------
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I have a good friend who's been using a Ricochet and .. i forget which ISP all over Silicon Valley.. although it was used mainly on Win98 since he hadn't gotten the Linux support for it figgered out yet..
-- "This is my sig... there are many like it but this one is mine"
In theory, Ricochet should work just peachy, although I've never tried it...
It connects to a serial port, and "looks like" a modem... All you need is PPP software... Even the Palm Pilot supports it (with an adaptor for the cable...)
http://www.ricochet.net
The biggest drawbacks being performance (about 33.6K on a good day, although they promise 128K soon...) and availability... Only certain areas (like the bay area) support it...
Jon Frisby, Sr. Software Engineer,
Personal Site (MrJoy.com)
MrJoy.com -- Because coding is FUN!
FWIW, Sprint PCS phones now have the ability to connect to the Internet. FWIU, you can either surf on the little screen that's on them (I can't see how this is useful really myself, except for maybe sports scores or stock tickers), but you can also plug these things into a laptop's serial port. I believe these things use PPP, but I could be mistaken.
My journal has hot
Then there's Detroit, where taxis aren't real popular except to go to the airport. (Even then, most people get a friend to drive them.) I guess in the Motor City, people like their cars too much. :)
My journal has hot
If you are in a Ricochet Area (Bay Area, Seattle, or the capital beltway- Northern VA, Maryland or DC) Ricochet is a fantastic mobile access tool. I have been using it for about 1-1/2 years now, and I am holding on for the near deployment of 128K access. Right now, unless you are in the test market in San Fran. the access is 28.8 but it is always 28.8. solid. I run an entire network wireless and I'm using that link now. Have a ricochet and want to try it under a decent operating system? Try this:
/etc/resolv.conf, as they are not assigned/distributed by the network.
1) Connect ricochet to a serial port (here, COM1 under DOS/winblows)
2) Turn the ricochet on.
3) Type or execute as a script this line:
pppd -d connect 'chat -t 20 -v ABORT BUSY REPORT CONNECT "" ATDT777 CONNECT ""'/dev/ttyS0 115200 modem noipdefault defaultroute crtscts
4) find a command line and type: "netscape http://www.slashdot.org/&"
This assumes that you have pppd support in your kernel and that you have chat and pppd installed. The modem speed option is there, but you get 28.8. So dont complain about my cmd line. This line also assumes you have some DNS servers in your
Have fun surfing.....I do....at the sushi bar...at the mall....on road trips.....on the metro (above ground) Where ever I am.
PS. I use the SE. Battery life is ~4.5 hours each, the batteries are 2"x1.5"x 1/8th". I carry five.
I don't know about richochet in particular, but generally speaking, bandwidth and latency are mutually exclusive tradeoffs.
Larger packet size->less header info->more useable bandwidth / spend longer collecting bytes at each end before each packet
high compression->less physical bytes transmitted->more bandwidth / more time compressing/decompressing
--Parity
--Parity
'Card carrying' member of the EFF.