Wireless access

JDgreen227 · Feb 14, 2005

As we reside in the country, there is nothing available for us to connect to the Internet except for dial-up service. Having just purchased a new laptop computer with wireless capabilities, I checked into a device called Wiflyer.

According to their website...www.wiflyer.com...this $150 device plugs into any phone line to create a wireless hotspot.
Works with AOL, MSN, etc. No software required nor monthly fees to pay, and it is compatable with any 802.11b or 802.11g laptop or PDA.

Does anyone have experience with the device?

Thanks.

MadReferee · Feb 14, 2005

This device is a modem/wireless/ethernet hub combination. According to their documentation,

The compact and portable WiFlyer is a full featured Wireless Access Point that allows one or more PCs to share a single dialup or broadband Internet connection from your existing ISP. 

The MSRP of $150 is inline with other similar devices. You still have to pay the monthly access fee to your dialup ISP.

Take a look HERE for reviews on Amazon.com.

5030 · Feb 14, 2005

I run a NetGear 5.1 G wireless router. Works great and has 5 wired ports as well as RF. Cost about 90 bucks....one time.

rockyridgefarm · Feb 14, 2005

( there is nothing available for us to connect to the Internet except for dial-up service. )

Direcway, Starband, PowerLine, Wireless broadband, are all possibilities, too.

Henro · Feb 14, 2005

JDgreen227,

It looks to me like this product would not do anything for you related to increasing speed of access/download from you dial up connection.

Unless things have changed, with a normal dial up modem connection over the phone line (as compared to something like DSL) you just don't get a very high data transfer rate, used to be something like 50K or so.

If you used the product you referred to, you would get high speed data transfer within you home, but not out/in the phone line, which would remain the bottle neck between you and the internet.

Not to say it is not convenient to have the ability to move anywhere in the house with a laptop, and surf at whatever speed you are used to now.

Don't buy this thing unless someone can assure you it will somehow increase you connection speed, if that is what you want it for. I doubt it will do that, but can see other reasons why it could be nice to have. We use a wireless network in our home, and love it, but we also have a pretty fast broadband connection.

MadReferee · Feb 14, 2005

The WiFlyer is basically 3 devices in one small portable box. It will not increase your internet connection speed, but it will allow your wireless device to seamlessly connect to the internet either thru an existing DSL/brodband connection or thru a dialup phone connection.

The three devices contained in the WiFlyer are:<ul type="square"> [*]an internet connection port which is either a 56k standard analog dial-up modem or a broadband connection [*]a router [*]a wireless hub with an additional 10 mbps ethernet port[/list]
Note that the ethernet port is only 10 mbps not the more popular 100 mbps. The ethernet port can then connect into a standard hardwire hub.

The WiFlyer will auto sense whether or not the internet connection is a phone line or broadband and will connect accordingly.

As mentioned before, you still need to have an account with an internet ISP just as you would with any other type of connection device.

You can read the WiFlyer spec sheet HERE .

JDgreen227 · Feb 15, 2005

"Don't buy this thing unless someone can assure you it will somehow increase your connection speed"...

I'd love to have that as a secondary benefit but doubt if that would occur...I should have mentioned that we currently have AOL as our ISP, and we usually get about 42K as our data transfer rate. Higher speed would be nice but it's not mandatory.

THANKS to everyone for your detailed input and suggestions.

/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

_RaT_ · Feb 15, 2005

Mike, I have wireless broadband. For $29 a month, it works virtually identical speedwise to cable or DSL. I can buy more speed, but am fine where I'm at. It is restricted to line of sight. Consquently, in order to get more customers, my ISP (a couple of neighbor guys) install reflector sites. The receiver/transmitter is about the size of an envelope but about 1.5" inch thick. It works very well and is my best alternative since we don't have cable, live to far from the phone switching station for DSL and satelite is just plain costly. I would suggest anyone in the same situation to check into wireless broadband. Rat...

MadReferee · Feb 15, 2005

( I should have mentioned that we currently have AOL as our ISP, and we usually get about 42K as our data transfer rate. Higher speed would be nice but it's not mandatory)

This being the case I would opt for another solution. The WiFlyer is designed for someone who travels and needs a portable wireless hub with dialup modem and router to connect at any location where a phone jack is available.

Higher speed isn't going to happen over a standard phone line. The advertised "High Speed" internet is really a marketing gimmick whereby the actual web page is compressed by the ISP and decompressed at your computer, thus making pages seem to load faster. Think of it as zipping each web page and unzipping it when it gets to your computer. Less actual data bits are being transferred thus it seems faster. Data downloads will not be any faster as only web pages are compressed/decompressed.

For inside a home I would choose a wireless/ethernet hub from either NetGear or Linksys along with a modem/router which you might already have unless you are dialing out from a single computer using a standard modem. This 2 box setup can be pruchased for under $100 and will be more than adequate for an inside the home network. I had this same setup for years until I got DSL. I now use it as a backup in case my DSL goes down.

gsxr1100 · Feb 15, 2005

I have broadband at home to a wireliess router. Wife has the laptop and pc..wireless...

I must say it is quick. I can get DSL in my area but it is much slower.

I get approx 2.9 Mbps at home..

That is slow when I am used to over 16 Mbps at work....