Woosh wireless router

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Rickles

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#11172 7-Jan-2007 18:18

Is any using the wireless router that Woosh is currently offering?

Any ideas what comes in the package?

R.

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#58476 22-Jan-2007 09:00

i'm also trying to figure what's on the family box...

BarTender

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#59985 7-Feb-2007 12:30

My work went out and baught one of these today for a project and it has the following:

IPWireless PCMCIA card
NetGear MBR814XUC WIFI Router

The NetGear's specs can be found at: http://www.netgear.com/Products/RoutersandGateways/GWirelessRouters/MBR814XUC.aspx

Seems a little lame that Woosh are offering this box, since on the IPWireless site they offer a IPWireless & Wifi Box, granted it doesn't have any ethernet ports, but looks pretty sexy and it has a battery so you can run it for a while without needing power!. Can be found at: http://www.ipwireless.com/products/mobile_bband_gateway.html

The NetGear solution looks ok, plus on the IPWireless site they talk about third party devices: http://www.ipwireless.com/products/third_party_devices.html
The DOVADO Wireless Residential Gateway looks pretty cool, plus Sharethenet in Aus (http://www.sharethenet.com.au/) sell it for $595, seems pretty expensive for what you get IMHO.

(Moderator edit (BG) - Added hyperlinks to URL's in post)

Rickles

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#60351 10-Feb-2007 17:33

BarTender,

I'm a little confused (normal state for me, some would say <bg>), but as I understand it, the router takes the place of the usual P1D modem that Woosh normally supplies.

That being so, presumably the computer subsequently accessing the internet/Woosh ISP has to be a laptop if one uses the inclusive PCMCIA card? Presumably, if a desktop was to be also be used, either an additional NIC and cable OR usb wireless adaptor is necessary?

Which brings me to one thing I've been curious about with Woosh distributed via a network ..... does the connection software have to be on all machines, or can one fire up just the one the connection and the others pick up on that?

C'mon, give me a break ... its hot and sunny here in Wellington, and I've only had one Bourbon <bg>.

R.

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#60372 10-Feb-2007 22:15

The NetGear MBR814X is the same as a Linksys WRT54G3G. It's a standard WIFI router with 1 Ethernet WAN port, a 4 port LAN HUB, and a 802.11BG WIFI wireless network.
The difference is it also includes a PCMCIA adapter so you can plug the IP Wireless PCMCIA card into the router instead of plugging it into your Laptop. You can also plug in a Vodafone 3G/GPRS PCMCIA card or perhaps even the Telecom EV-DO PCMCIA card as well.

This way you have the IP Wireless PCMCIA card connecting directly to the NetGear, then doing the dialup to Woosh for you. Then the 802.11BG WIFI provides a wireless network for everyone to use. Also desktops can plug into the ethernet interface and go out via the router as well.

It's exactly the same as using a P1D with an Ethernet cable and then plugging the ethernet cable into the WAN port and doing PPPoE dialup via the router. But this way it's less wires / mess etc.

After further investigations I think the Linksys WRT54G3G seems like the best deal around, and I noticed at Ascent they had them for $322, which is pretty cheap when I had a look at pricespy and the cheapest was ~$400. In theory with a bit of work I could get DD-WRT working on it, or at least OpenWrt and then it would be a very sweet little box.

Rickles

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#60382 11-Feb-2007 09:35

BarTender,

Bear with me please .... so if I understand this system correctly, one still needs wireless adaptors in/on all computers within the wifi area, and the Woosh software on at least one of them?

R.

BarTender

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#60501 12-Feb-2007 11:24

With the NetGear or the Linksys routers you would either need:

A) A Laptop / Desktop with a 802.11b/g Wireless adapter.

or

B) A Laptop / Desktop with a regular Ethernet card to plug into the 4 port ethernet switch in the box. Plus you could always add another switch and daisy chain off more devices.

No special software / Woosh software would be needed on any of the Laptops / Desktiops, either just plain ole WIFI or ethernet, the NetGear / Linksys box does all the dialing / management of the internet connection

Much like when you have ADSL at home, your ADSL router does all the dialing / username & password management of the ADSL ATM link.

You just plug your machine in (or connect via Wireless), get an IP Address via DHCP and route everything via the box and NAT into the real world.

Just like you would if you had a ADSL Wireless box, plug the ADSL into the phone line, put in the username & password into the ADSL box, and connect via wireless or ethernet and you are away.

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Rickles

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#60506 12-Feb-2007 12:34

BarTender,

Thanks for that ... always nice to have ones' understanding confirmed <bg>.

You say that no Woosh software is installed/used on any of the computers on the wifi/lan .... so how does one "dial up"/connect to the service in the first place? At present with my P1D unit I can connect or disconnect using the installed software dialler ... surely under any subsequent lan scenario at least one computer needs this to make the connection? I appreciate that any other computers on the lan don't need the Woosh software for them to subsequently access the internet.

BTW, Woosh are offering existing customers the wireless router/pcmcia card for $99 plus return of the P1D they currently hold.

R.

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#60510 12-Feb-2007 13:24

Hummm I don't want to sound rude but it doesn't seem to be getting through....

The NetGear Router itself does the dialing / connectivity to woosh. You put in your woosh username & password into the NetGear router itself and it is saved into the flash of the router. The Netgear then does a Dial on demand so when you first try and contact any IP address from your workstation the NetGear dials up to Woosh and logs in using your username & password.

You can achieve the same using a WRT54G Linksys Router (which is what I am doing) and using a P1D with an Ethernet cable to connect to the router. This way the P1D talks PPPoE to your router, and the router does the dialup over PPPoE for you in the background with the PPPoE username and password of your Woosh account.

You do this setup only once in the box using the Web UI and it will dial on demand from then on on your behalf.

This is exactly how ADSL works from a connection process point of view. You put in your username & password into the router, and it does the dialing for you.

The nice thing of the NetGear is that you don't need an extra power plug / other boxes sitting under your desk etc since the PCMCIA card plugs directly into the NetGear and you don't need to have a P1D + Ethernet cable and extra power point.

Rickles

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#60565 12-Feb-2007 20:08

BarTender,

No, not rude, just a little testy <BG>.

However, many thanks for the additional information, such a set up is now much clearer to me.

R.

Rickles

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#60854 15-Feb-2007 10:01

I see that Dick Smith are now selling the wireless router/pcmcia card combination for $99, so presumably if you currently have a P1D modem you can keep on using it too.

I also gather that the router/card system only works well in really good Woosh coverage areas since there is no provision for a booster aerial.

R.

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#60998 16-Feb-2007 09:34

Rickles

That's incorrect, the PCMCIA has the same connector as the P1D for a booster. Not sure of the correct name of the connector type as it's smaller than an F Type. But the PCMCIA and P1D both use the same connector so if you already have a booster you can plug it into the PCMCIA without an issue.

I have a PCMCIA card (plus the one my work has with the NetGear), and both of them have the hole for the Booster aerial. By default the PCMCIA comes with a small "Vodafone" PCMCIA style aerial, which is about 30 cm or so, with a plastic knife sized aerial as well. Plus if you want to plug in the booster you can.

See the specs at: http://www.ipwireless.com/solutions/spec_card.html

You can see up the top that there is a little hole for the booster on the above page.

So how do I do URL's automatically in the BBS, Ahh if I use IE and not Firefox then it works sweet!

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Rickles

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#61001 16-Feb-2007 10:36

BarTender,

Thanks for that .... $99 does seem a great deal, eh?

R.

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#61057 16-Feb-2007 22:56

If you could buy the hardware and not lease it for $99 then it would be a good deal

I personally think it stinks that Woosh now "lease / rent" their hardware to customers. Since you legally have to return the hardware if you leave woosh. You can't on-sell it to other customers.

I think either you give your hardware away for free and then charge them a monthly rate for the equiment. Or you sell the hardware and let customers on-sell it if they decide to change providers.
Granted it's not as bad as the "MySky" PVR which is a complete rip off.
Anyway, for $99 to rent a wifi router... not sure if that is such a good deal.

Rickles

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#61449 21-Feb-2007 14:14

With respect to using a wireless router and the Woosh P1D, is there any interference with each other if in close proximity?

R.

sbiddle

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#61453 21-Feb-2007 14:43

BarTender: If you could buy the hardware and not lease it for $99 then it would be a good deal

I personally think it stinks that Woosh now "lease / rent" their hardware to customers. Since you legally have to return the hardware if you leave woosh. You can't on-sell it to other customers.

I think either you give your hardware away for free and then charge them a monthly rate for the equiment. Or you sell the hardware and let customers on-sell it if they decide to change providers.
Granted it's not as bad as the "MySky" PVR which is a complete rip off.
Anyway, for $99 to rent a wifi router... not sure if that is such a good deal.

You are getting a $350 router and PC card modem for $99 as long as you remain a customer, I think that's quite good value for money.

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