Wireless Setup Help

[katieandemismom]

I am in search of the best wireless router to take with me when traveling. I will only have my iPad and iPhones with me so no laptop to configure it. Anyone have any recs or instruction on how to do this? The hotels will have a wired point for connection.

 

[ugadog99]

I was just about to come post something similar. I am very interested in knowing how to do this, too. We will have an itouch and ipad with us. There is wired internet but no wireless (my trip is to Disney), so how will this work?

 

[katieandemismom]

Glad to hear there's someone else with the same question,

 

[bicker]

The answer is no different than the answer to the question about what's the best wireless router - period - except that in this case portability matters. Quite frankly, 801.11(g) routers (what I figure you're going to get for travel-use only - seems like overkill to buy a 801.11(n) router for such infrequent use) have become such a commodity, these days, that there is very little difference between them, for all but the <10% of people who significantly stress out their Internet connections with bandwidth-intensive activities.

The key, for us, has been to ensure that the router works and is "configured" to work with our home Internet connection, before we take it with us on vacation, i.e., set up to dynamically obtain an IP address from the host WAN, and set up to dynamically allocate IP addresses for clients connecting to the LAN that the router itself creates.

I'm not sure why, if you have your iPad, you're worried about configuring it. That's all you would need, generally, unless the router gets seriously bricked, and you need to cold-reset it.

 

[FireDancer]

Any 802.11g router will work. I'm with Bicker and think an n would be overkill. I'd look for the smallest router that offers WPA2 encryption and have your devices preiset up to find the SSID and already have the encryption key entered in all your devices.

A lot of people when traveling think they don't have to use encryption because it isn't their network. This is only true about people stealing your bandwidth since it isn't your bandwidth when you travel. However, by sending all your data in the clear anyone in that hotel can see exactly what you are sending through the air. The way WPA2 works even if everyone knows your key each individual connection is individually keyed separately (this is the main problem with WEP encryption) so your data is safe.

 

[ugadog99]

The key, for us, has been to ensure that the router works and is "configured" to work with our home Internet connection, before we take it with us on vacation, i.e., set up to dynamically obtain an IP address from the host WAN, and set up to dynamically allocate IP addresses for clients connecting to the LAN that the router itself creates.

I'm not sure why, if you have your iPad, you're worried about configuring it. That's all you would need, generally, unless the router gets seriously bricked, and you need to cold-reset it.

This is like a foreign language to me! Can you give us the dummy-language version, please?

 

[bicker]

Make sure that you can connect to the Internet from your iPad, using that router connected to your home network, before you leave for your vacation. Worst case, the iPad should be good enough to use to reconfigure router if necessary.

 

[HonnyDipp]

probably a stupid question: does the hotel have free wifi? If so, call the front desk, get the password, go onto the iPad or iPod under settings, find the wi-fi connection and enter the password. That normally connects me right through on my iPad & iTouch

 

[ugadog99]

probably a stupid question: does the hotel have free wifi? If so, call the front desk, get the password, go onto the iPad or iPod under settings, find the wi-fi connection and enter the password. That normally connects me right through on my iPad & iTouch

Well, since I'll be onsite at WDW....that's no on the wifi for me. Which, I still don't understand why that isn't possible at Disney, but .....


And bicker, thank you so much for explaining. The dummy language version is so much easier for me!

 

[bicker]

Well, since I'll be onsite at WDW....that's no on the wifi for me. Which, I still don't understand why that isn't possible at Disney, but .....

Who told you it isn't possible?

The way I understand it, the issue is that it is simply unnecessary, not impossible.

And bicker, thank you so much for explaining. The dummy language version is so much easier for me!

Glad to help!