Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/01/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> A solution may be to identify the software that launches the connection > and copy it across to the laptop you want to use independently. Some > configuration may be necessary (eek!) Both the Apple Airport device and the Linksys router are quite capable of launching and maintaining ISP connections entirely on their own. They just have to be told to do it, which, alas, requires actual reading of actual documentation. The right way to think about these devices is quite simple. The DSL or cablemodem provides a connection for one computer. These devices have an "inside" and an "outside". On the outside, they connct to the DSL or cablemodem and pretend to be a computer; on the inside, they offer connections to your computers and pretend to be your ISP. Those inside connections can be either wired or wireless. The Apple device has one wired connection and can do 12 wireless; the Linksys device has four wired connections and can do 11 wireless. If it is not configured properly, it is quite possible that it needs at least one computer connected on the inside. Despite being a Mac user and Apple bigot, I am a big fan of Linksys and tell all of my friends and relatives to buy them. My current favorite is the WRT54G. A brand new Linksys WRT54G router can be had for about US$55 pretty much anywhere in North America, and it comes with the ability to configure itself automatically for nearly every ISP and cable company. If I were charged with solving this problem, I would value my time at $60/hour, assume that it would take me more than one hour to diagnose and repair the configuraton problem, and treat the thing as disposable. The "setup wizard" that ships with modern Linksys routers is worth its weight in gold. Brian Reid