Wireless

In order to make Jennifer more mobile, I ordered the Netgear router/firewall/print server/wireless access point FM114P from Amazon.com to replace my trusty old RT314 router. I also got her the MA401 802.11b PC card for her laptop.

That thing is a beaut (to quote the Crocodile Hunter). It's half the size of the old router while costing about the same (although that was over a year ago) and has much more functionality. Setup was a breeze and installing the wireless card on Jfer's laptop running XP was very easy, too. I enabled 128 bit encryption on the WAP but the corresponding configuration for the laptop was not quite as intuitive. Still, I got her up and running in less than 10 minutes. And soon Jfer was surfing from the living room - très cool!

The router also serves as a print server and I'm planning to hook up my 10 year old Apple LaserWriter Select 360 to it - that should allow Jfer to directly print from her laptop. I didn't get to do it last night since I bought the wrong frigging cable! I misinterpreted the router specs and assumed it had a different port for which, after searching all over the place, I found the (wrong) cable at Altex (which is THE store for obscure cables). So I'll need to return it and get the right cable today. Sigh. The lesson learned is that if you can't find a cable at Fry's, you're probably looking for the wrong cable.