I got myself this the other day:

LinkSys WRT54G v2 Wireless-G Broadband Router

Now I’m doing everything in the convenience of my bed – work OR play… even Desktop PC-ing.

I actually thought the sucker was a lemon, as I wasn’t able to detect a signal no matter what I did… then the next morning I suddenly remembered my wireless headphones were operating on a WiFi frequency (2.4xGhz range). So shutting it down made everything alright. Bummer though since those headphones were schweeet – DIGITAL wireless headphones (unlike the usual noise succeptible RF types)

My advice to all users new to wireless router configuring is to follow these steps in the order they were given – else be prepared for a lot of second guessing.

• Check for any wireless device that may interfere. This is usually not a big deal for most users, but I for one have wireless headphones, keyboard, mouse, cordless phone – and my room is very small – so its a melting pot for possible interference. Luckily, all other wireless devices are RF, and only the digital headphones were using the 2.4Ghz.
• Check which channel the router works best for you – if the default channel doesn’t work, then try cycling through the channels to make sure.
• Have multiple devices to check the signal – you never know, maybe one or the other was faulty… having another device makes it easier to isolate the problem.
• Start with the basic settings: broadcast SSID, no security at all – don’t worry if other people can snoop and use your signal since you can always change that afterwards… first, you have to make sure that there is a detectable signal.
• Next you can now set a diff SSID, and not broadcast it… then you can start choosing whatever authentication you want used with your signal – that way, you can now have a signal which no one can see unless they know it’s there, plus you can make sure that only you [and people who you want] can access it.
• Lastly is about the authentication – I think it’s safest to use MAC address filtering… that way you’re allowing access at a unique machine level (a MAC address is like a fingerprint of the lan device you’re using). Of course the downside is that it’s a hassle to use since it can be more tedious to implement over multiple machines than the other ways of authentication.

Basically that’s all you really need to know… and of course most of the devices are pretty smart and work right out of the box. Unfortunately, minde didn’t.

My thanks to Nono, Stevie, and Juan for pointing me in the right direction when I started this whole wireless thing.

The PC is dedicated for downloading and watching stuff… and my Audio editing I guess – if I have the time do so.

Basically, all internet surfing, and work management is now via this laptop. Though it’s considerably slower than my Athlon, since I can bring this pretty much everywhere I go, this decision makes sense.

Plus I can still access my pc via VNC here. Like remote desktop, this isn’t virtual computing, or emulation. I’m actually still using the PC itself, only that instead of having to fiddle with the PC’s wireless keyboard and mouse, I can do everything via GUI in the Mac.

This is particularly useful if I want to do something in the PC but am too lazy to actually sit in front of it, or leave the laptop for that matter – If I can do everything via ONE interface, then all the better, and VNC for Mac allows that. And since I’m now on WiFi, I can control the PC and do whatever internet stuff via the Mac anywhere in our unit.

This actually has nothing to do with the whole PC vs. Mac trolling/debate, but simply that the most easily accessible device happens to be the Mac. If I had a Mac desktop and a PC latptop then it would be the other way around obviously.

Now for the “wired” freedom I was talking about…

Know my complaint about laptops? They really have sucky input interfaces. The trackpad, the finger-ball-pin-thingie, etc. They all SUCK! I’ve never gotten used to them. Plus of course Apple has this whole stupid notion of having only one clickable thing to use with their mice… and with the trackpad, they did the same of course. I know it looks cool and all, but really now… not having a hardware counterpart of context clicking really sucks. You have to use ctrl-click to simulate a “right-click,” which takes getting used to. But I’m sure no one can deny that having more dedicated buttons are a good thing… unless they’re just out for the “look.”

Anyways, I figured: “Fuck this shit – I ain’t putting up with it,” and got myself this:

Optical USB mouse

Now I don’t have to worry about my palms hitting the blasted trackpad while typing (which can suddenly select a bunch of text and delete it – or sporadic movements of your pointer, which can be very irritating)

Now I think I have a fairly enjoyable setup of maximum comfort and productivity. Ironic that wired and wireless can both set you free.