18 Apr 2007
Updates

Well, I'm still alive. And Mom is much better - she's actually moved back to her apartment, at least for the time being. But we're maintaining her room out here, so the office is still in the dining room. And that's been a large part of my problem with making new blog posts...

You see, there's no wired network to the dining room, so I've had to make my Windows box wireless. I moved the SuSE server to the router cabinet, no problem. I got a small Linksys access point - no problem. My Mac connects to the wireless net, no problem. My daughters Dell laptop (running XP) connects with a few problems - it seems to drop the network every once in a while, but it mostly works for her.

Trying to get my desktop Medion XP box to connect - big problem.

I got a Netgear WG111 USB wireless network adapter first - if you ever want to see how not to write software, I'd suggest taking a gander at the so-called "Smart Wizard" that Netgear ships - I've taken to referring to it as the "Dumb Klutz". The 'Connect' button doesn't, and the 'Apply' button won't. The only thing worse is the WZC - Windows Zero Configuration utility in XP, which I've come to regard as the Windows Zero Connections application.

My Mac can be set right next to the Windows box and show a signal strength of 80%+ - the Windoze machine can barely get over 40%. The only time my Mac drops the connection is when I shut the lid and put it to sleep - the most time Windows has maintained a connection is about 6 hours at a stretch.

Frustrated with the Netgear dongle, I bought a D-Link "Range-Booster" internal PCI card. This one even has a little "rubber duckie" antenna - and gets even less signal! It'll be taking a return trip to Best Buy this week, and I'll be running a CAT5 line to the dining room.

Maybe it's just a particular combination of bad equipment and bad luck, but I'm starting to think "Windows Wireless" is an oxymoron.

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