I have a problem with my MacBook Pro - its metal case weakens the signal of my wireless network, meaning that I can't access the internet in my lounge. That is rather annoying, because that's where the comfy sofa is!
A recent firmware update meant that my trusty DG834G v3 had Wireless Distribution System added as a feature - both bridging and repeating. So I decided to buy a second DG834G (this time v4), to repeat the network downstairs and to be a backup wireless router in case my old one dies.
Sound easy? Anything but. There are absolutely no instructions on the Netgear site about repeating with two DG834Gs. I found instructions on repeating with other hardware, but the options were not quite the same, and it just would not work. I tried repeating, bridging, all kinds of variations, WEP, WPA, and nothing was working.
I was beginning to wonder if the repeating 'feature' was added to make the DG834G look better than it really is.
And so after several hours of frustration I emailed Netgear support, and they sorted me out. If you are having this problem, follow the instructions below to the letter and you will get wireless repeating working. The key part is the security encryption.
- Make sure both routers have the latest firmware. The best way to do this is by plugging your computer into the ethernet port, rather than doing it over the wireless, in case there are any problems. Make sure you download the correct firmware for your router version (I think WDS only works on v3 upwards).
- On the 'internet' DG834G, go to the 'Advanced Wireless Settings' page and ensure 'Enable Wireless Bridging and Repeating' is checked.
- Select 'Repeater with Wireless Client Association' and enter the MAC address of the 'repeating' DG834G in the boxes for 'Remote MAC Address 1′.
- Click 'Apply'.
- Now go to the 'Wireless Settings' page and enable WEP security. Do NOT enable WPA, or it won't work.
- Choose '64-bit'. Again, if you choose 128-bit, it won't work.
- Enter a phrase, and the DG834G will generate your hexadecimal passphrase automatically for you.
- Click 'Apply'.
- Now click on 'Setup Access List' in the middle of the page.
- Ensure 'Turn Access Control on' is enabled.
- Add the MAC addresses of all the devices you want to be able to access your wireless network.
- Click 'Apply'.
- Now go to the 'LAN IP Setup' page, and change 'Ending IP Address' to 192.168.0.99.
- Click 'Apply'.
- Now unplug your computer from the 'internet' DG834G, and plug it into the 'repeating' DG834G.
- Repeat steps 2-12, making sure you duplicate all MAC addresses you entered into the 'internet' DG834G.
- Once you have performed step 12, go to 'LAN IP Setup', and change 'IP Address' to 192.168.0.100.
- Now make sure that 'Use Router As DHCP Server' is unchecked. [Edit: if you leave this checked, usually the 'internet' router assigns the IP address to your computer, but sometimes the 'repeating' router does - and then you can't access the internet. Better to leave it unchecked.]
- Click 'Apply'.
- Now unplug both DG834Gs. Put each in their proper locations.
- Plug the 'internet' DG834G back in. Wait until all the status lights (especially the wireless light) are green.
- Now plug in the 'repeating' DG834G. The status lights will come on, including the wireless one.
- If you now plug your computer into the 'repeating' DG834G you should have an IP address where the final number is less than 100, and you should be able to access the internet (as long as the 'internet' DG834G is accessing the internet!).
- Congratulations, your wireless network is now be extended!
The reason why you enable 'Access Control' is that WEP 64-bit security is barely worth having. It is better than nothing, but is easily cracked by a determined hacker. So by limiting the devices that can connect to the computer, you hugely reduce the risk of someone hijacking your network.
I have recently taken the plunge and bought myself a Mac. I love it - for a long-term Windows user there have been the inevitable confusions and frustrations (the weirdness of skipping/deleting entire words is STUPID - Ctrl-Arrow and Ctrl-Delete is so much easier and more sensible).
Anyway - one of my biggest frustrations was using VMware Fusion to run Windows. Yes, I still have some applications that need Windows - not least Excel, which is absolutely awful in Mac compared to a PC. And I discovered that the Enter key on the number pad simply will not work as an Enter key.
I spent ages looking for a solution, mapping keyboards in Windows etc etc, and finally I found this. I believe it is in Italian, but the instructions are clear enough. Shut down VMware Fusion and open this file in TextEdit:
~/Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/preferences
Then add this line to the bottom of the file:
pref.mapISONumpadEnterToAltGrEnabled = "FALSE"
Open VMware Fusion again, run Windows, and, hey presto, you have an Enter key again! Of course, you won't have an Alt Gr key, because that's what VMware use the Enter key for by default. Why they didn't leave it as the right-hand side Alt key, I'll never know.
This article here is interesting, about the invention of a washing machine that uses only a cup of water. It works apparently by pounding the clothes with small plastic chips, using a fraction of the energy of a conventional washing machine.
Sound good? I thought it did - until I read to the end. It requires 20kg of plastic chips, which last for up to 100 washes, and therefore need to be replaced up to twice a year.
Now, I can understand the need to preserve water, but what about plastic? It comes from oil, which is in even shorter supply. And the process of making these plastic chips is presumably energy intensive. I wonder what the comparison really is between a conventional washing machine and this one?
I am very excited by the launch today of Freesat. It is a joint initiative by the BBC and ITV, and offers free digital and HD satellite TV to 98% of the UK population. I will definitely be investigating this, as soon as a set-top box with hard drive recording is available.
Freeview is ok, but the signal for Mux B (which includes ITV and Channel 4, E4 etc) is pretty poor where we are in Oxford. And when the signal is bad, unlike analogue TV where the picture just goes a bit funny, or there's a hiss, the picture is pixellated and the sound clicks and pops, make it completely unwatchable.
Satellite TV suffers from the same problem when the weather is bad, but it is far less frequent. Therefore, a new HD TV and set-top box are required!
I just found this on the internet:
Coming soon: superfast internet
The very clever people at Cern have invented something much faster than the internet - or rather, some technology that is much faster than the protocols used by the WWW. It uses dedicated fibre optic cables and modern switching hardware, to avoid the bottlenecks of copper cables.
It would be amazing if this stuff made its way into the normal world, but with ISPs so concerned with short-term profits, and after chronic under-investment in the internet infrastructure in this country, I'll believe it when I see it.
As ever, the universities are there first:
Britain alone has 8,000 servers on the grid system – so that any
student or academic will theoretically be able to hook up to the grid rather
than the internet from this autumn.
Why am I leaving university?! I should get a job as a lecturer...
Having written about a wooden car a few days ago, I found an interesting piece about a 'green' car, with 'zero emissions':
Green sports car set for launch
It uses hydrogen fuel, so creates only water as exhaust. However - it requires hydrogen, and getting hygroden an energy-intensive process:
Critics point out that to produce hydrogen by splitting
water uses a large amount of electricity. At present, the majority of
this electricity comes power stations burning fossil fuels and
therefore brings no environmental benefit.
However, the fact that this is the case now is not a good reason to stop exploring and researching this technology. Hopefully one day someone will crack it (so to speak).
This is rather a good story, about a sports car made almost entirely out of wood. Sounds very suspect, and it doesn't look like it will go into production, but it's a fascinating idea!
Wooden horsepower
design © bcg mmviii
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