[NTLK] Locating the right WiFi card

[Morgan Aldridge]

On Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 2:33 AM, Joseph <bender_2982 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Needless to say, as a newbie MessagePad 2000 user, I've been reading up on everything I can about the device.  I've seen many suggestions that I should simply move to using WiFi as soon as possible and ignore the interconnect port altogether.  I'm ready to do so, but I need the card, of course.
> I've seen several sources, but (once again, I'm new here) I'm not certain who is reputable and who is not.  I don't want to offend anyone here who sells the right cards for a Newton, so I'll just ask:  Where should I go to get a good item?
> Also, which driver is the best one to use?  I've seen a couple, but I wasn't sure which was the most stable as of right now.

There is only one WiFi driver for the Newton and it can be found here:
<http://drvlabo.jp/old/eng/newtwave.htm>. Grab the source code and
there's a pre-built driver in there that doesn't require registration.

There are some cards that need Paul Guyot's "Lantern Patch" and
"MoreWifiCards" packages installed. You should not install them unless
the card you have requires them. However, you should install his "NIE
Patch" as it fixes a DNS issue. All of his packages can be downloaded
from <http://www.kallisys.com/>.

Remember that you'll also have to Install Newton Internet Enabler
(NIE), if you haven't already. It can be found on UNNA.org:
<http://www.unna.org/view.php?/apple/software/Internet/NIE2>.

As for cards, the oldie but goldie is the WaveLAN Gold (by Lucent,
ORiNOCO, etc.) as it provides 128-bit WEP support (real-world
usefulness of this encryption aside). A WaveLAN Silver only supports
40/64-bit WEP and can be upgraded to a Gold, but I don't know enough
people that do this.

The downside of the WaveLAN cards is that they're older technology and
so not very efficient. I picked up a Buffalo/Melco AirStation
WLI-PCM-L11GP a few years ago (they're since discontinued), but it's
much more efficient (you'll still get poor battery life, regardless,
but it's not quite as horrendous), smaller, and should have better
range.

The biggest consideration in your endeavor is the limited memory heap
in the MessagePad 2000. With all the extra packages required to be
running for WiFi, you'll run into low memory situations quite fast.
You should be able to transfer packages and such okay, but loading
email or web pages will be a problem. An upgraded MessagePad 2000 or a
2100 would be much more capable for Internet use.

Morgan Aldridge
---
morgant at makkintosshu.com
http://www.makkintosshu.com/