[HM] USB Internet access?

[Duane Murphy]

--- At Wed, 23 Aug 2006 08:07:54 -0700, Jack Honeycutt wrote:

>Hi folks....
>
>I am trying to bypass a airport equipped laptop.  The antenna and or 
>airport chip on the logic board are not receiving Wi-Fi  as well as 
>window boxes at the same location.  I believe it might be a antenna issue.
>
>I looked on Apple's web site, but found no information to help me 
>increase the range on the laptop.  I  was hoping for a external Wi-Fi  unit.
>
>I looked at this linksys unit as a possible solution  -  a USB Wi-Fi 
>receiver:
>
>http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%
>2FLayout&cid=1115416827517&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper
>
>Of corse Linksys has no Mac software.  When I plugged it in  to the 
>Mac it powered up and I can see it labeled correctly when I look at 
>USB devices.  But the Internet connection wizard will only help me 
>with firewire, dial up modems and  eithernet  -  no USB support 
>(I  am running the most current OS).

I have no idea if the USB WiFi will work with the Mac. Some googling
might get you some information to find out if anyone else has done it.

The unit will not show up as USB. USB is just part of the transport. It
will show up as an AirPort interface in the Network Preferences Panel.
To see if anything shows up, open the Network Preferences panel. Select
"Network Port Configurations" from the Show menu. Look through the list
of interfaces and see if there's anything resembling the USB interface. 

>Another solution is too increasing  the receiving power of a Wi-Fi 
>card is to install a higher gain antenna.  But because I have no 
>access to the antenna in this airport equipped laptop, I can't do that
either.
>
>If I can't solve this,  I will have to install another access point 
>in bridge mode to re transmit the signal closer to the laptop.

This solution works pretty well. It's what I do in my house to reach the
farthest corners.

 ...Duane