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philpro68
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Joined: 14 Jul 2005
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Location: Maumelle, Arkansas
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 Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:07 pm Post subject: Stupid question about wireless |
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 Is there any such thing as usb wireless? It would be awesome for the mini if you could plug in a wireless usb doomaflotchy. Presto Network!  |
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iMav
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Joined: 13 Feb 2005
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Location: Columbus, WI
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:11 pm Post subject: Re: Stupid question about wireless |
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| philpro68 wrote: | | Is there any such thing as usb wireless? It would be awesome for the mini if you could plug in a wireless usb doomaflotchy. Presto Network! |
Nope. But there IS bluetooth. 
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philpro68
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Joined: 14 Jul 2005
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Location: Maumelle, Arkansas
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:30 pm Post subject: Re: Stupid question about wireless |
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| mavherzog wrote: | | philpro68 wrote: | | Is there any such thing as usb wireless? It would be awesome for the mini if you could plug in a wireless usb doomaflotchy. Presto Network! |
Nope. But there IS bluetooth. |
I'm sorry, what is that? is it like a usb blue tooth adapter for mac? I just did a search, and their are tons of wireless usb adapters for PC. Gosh how great that would be for the mini!! Sounds like a multi-million dollar idea for someone with the know how! If it happens, remember you saw it here first and give me my cut!  |
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iMav
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Location: Columbus, WI
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:56 pm Post subject: Re: Stupid question about wireless |
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| philpro68 wrote: | | mavherzog wrote: | | philpro68 wrote: | | Is there any such thing as usb wireless? It would be awesome for the mini if you could plug in a wireless usb doomaflotchy. Presto Network! |
Nope. But there IS bluetooth. |
I'm sorry, what is that? is it like a usb blue tooth adapter for mac? I just did a search, and their are tons of wireless usb adapters for PC. Gosh how great that would be for the mini!! Sounds like a multi-million dollar idea for someone with the know how! If it happens, remember you saw it here first and give me my cut! |
I must not be understanding what the OP is talking about. I thought he was wanting some sort of wireless extension of USB. There are certainly tons of USB-based wireless NICs out there (and even some that have drivers for OS X).
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Susurrus
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Joined: 05 May 2005
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Location: Providence, Rhode Island
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 1:16 pm Post subject: Re: Stupid question about wireless |
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| philpro68 wrote: | | Is there any such thing as usb wireless? It would be awesome for the mini if you could plug in a wireless usb doomaflotchy. Presto Network! |
I have no idea what your question is about, but there is a wireless version of USB. I don't believe it has any products based on it yet, but I do believe that it has been ratified as a standard. Bluetooth is pretty much THE wireless peripheral standard, though, but it has many limitations. First and foremost, it is open to attack even if your device is paired, though I am not sure if encryption changes this. It also only supports a few protocols such as wireless headset, FTP, electronic business card transfer, and some others. I don't think Bluetooth supports a pure data transfer mode like FireWire or USB do. The problem with this is that it is not extensible without at least a firmware upgrade, sometimes a hardware upgrade. Not all devices support all of these protocols either. Speeds are also very slow with Bluetooth; BT 1.1 doesn't transfer enough bandwidth for wireless headphones I believe. BT 2.0 does for sure.
I believe wireless USB works just like USB in that it is merely a data transfer protocol, but that data can be manipulated in anyway once it reaches its destination. USB wireless is also much faster than BT.
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philpro68
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Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 82
Location: Maumelle, Arkansas
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 2:28 pm Post subject: Re: Stupid question about wireless |
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| Susurrus wrote: | | philpro68 wrote: | | Is there any such thing as usb wireless? It would be awesome for the mini if you could plug in a wireless usb doomaflotchy. Presto Network! |
I have no idea what your question is about, but there is a wireless version of USB. I don't believe it has any products based on it yet, but I do believe that it has been ratified as a standard. Bluetooth is pretty much THE wireless peripheral standard, though, but it has many limitations. First and foremost, it is open to attack even if your device is paired, though I am not sure if encryption changes this. It also only supports a few protocols such as wireless headset, FTP, electronic business card transfer, and some others. I don't think Bluetooth supports a pure data transfer mode like FireWire or USB do. The problem with this is that it is not extensible without at least a firmware upgrade, sometimes a hardware upgrade. Not all devices support all of these protocols either. Speeds are also very slow with Bluetooth; BT 1.1 doesn't transfer enough bandwidth for wireless headphones I believe. BT 2.0 does for sure.
I believe wireless USB works just like USB in that it is merely a data transfer protocol, but that data can be manipulated in anyway once it reaches its destination. USB wireless is also much faster than BT. |
I was just wondering if the airport extreme card was the only option for connecting the mini wirelessly? This is why I was asking about the USB wireless. |
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Susurrus
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Joined: 05 May 2005
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Location: Providence, Rhode Island
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 2:38 pm Post subject: Re: Stupid question about wireless |
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| philpro68 wrote: | | Susurrus wrote: | | philpro68 wrote: | | Is there any such thing as usb wireless? It would be awesome for the mini if you could plug in a wireless usb doomaflotchy. Presto Network! |
I have no idea what your question is about, but there is a wireless version of USB. I don't believe it has any products based on it yet, but I do believe that it has been ratified as a standard. Bluetooth is pretty much THE wireless peripheral standard, though, but it has many limitations. First and foremost, it is open to attack even if your device is paired, though I am not sure if encryption changes this. It also only supports a few protocols such as wireless headset, FTP, electronic business card transfer, and some others. I don't think Bluetooth supports a pure data transfer mode like FireWire or USB do. The problem with this is that it is not extensible without at least a firmware upgrade, sometimes a hardware upgrade. Not all devices support all of these protocols either. Speeds are also very slow with Bluetooth; BT 1.1 doesn't transfer enough bandwidth for wireless headphones I believe. BT 2.0 does for sure.
I believe wireless USB works just like USB in that it is merely a data transfer protocol, but that data can be manipulated in anyway once it reaches its destination. USB wireless is also much faster than BT. |
I was just wondering if the airport extreme card was the only option for connecting the mini wirelessly? This is why I was asking about the USB wireless. |
Okay. The answer to that question is yes. There are two options including wireless USB adapters or using a router as an adapter. If you don't have the Airport Extreme and BT kit built-in you can also purchase it aftermarket. I don't know the support for third-party USB 802.11g adapters, but I know Apple has some on their site.
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ninjamini
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Joined: 18 May 2005
Posts: 465
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 3:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Aren't there 802.11b thumb drive size devices. There should be. |
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jared52
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Joined: 11 Jul 2005
Posts: 29
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:22 pm Post subject: |
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I have done some digging and I found this:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/15997
I bought a MA111 on Ebay for $22 shipped. I hope it works as it is listed in the plist file mentioned in that article. I'll let you guys know. |
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Susurrus
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Joined: 05 May 2005
Posts: 1303
Location: Providence, Rhode Island
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:26 pm Post subject: |
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| ninjamini wrote: | | Aren't there 802.11b thumb drive size devices. There should be. |
Yep, that's what we're talking about. There's no point in buying a b one though, might as well get the g.
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e3mw
Senior Member
Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 250
Location: Tupelo, MS
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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| ninjamini wrote: | | Aren't there 802.11b thumb drive size devices. There should be. |
I know there are lots of thumbdrive 802.11 dongles for PC, but i've yet to find one that works with Mac (hopefully those drivers that jared52 mentioned work.) I also have a BT dongle that I really hope works on my mini. Using these dongles will save lots of $$ when it comes to stuff I probably wont use all that often but might need from time to time. 
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Susurrus
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Joined: 05 May 2005
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Location: Providence, Rhode Island
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 6:37 pm Post subject: |
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| e3mw wrote: | | ninjamini wrote: | | Aren't there 802.11b thumb drive size devices. There should be. |
I know there are lots of thumbdrive 802.11 dongles for PC, but i've yet to find one that works with Mac (hopefully those drivers that jared52 mentioned work.) I also have a BT dongle that I really hope works on my mini. Using these dongles will save lots of $$ when it comes to stuff I probably wont use all that often but might need from time to time. |
You could just buy the internal kit; it'll come to be about the same price by the time you get both a BT and WiFi USB drive.
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Junior, Brown University
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nolandempsey
New Member
Joined: 26 Jun 2005
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 2:34 pm Post subject: |
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| So you CAN use a router as a wireless network adapter? Cause I found one thats cheaper than any wireless bridge I've found. |
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homerjatmoes
Senior Member
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 323
Location: Elmira, NY
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| Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 2:54 pm Post subject: |
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802.11b is perfectly fine if you are just using a home network to surf the net and ocasionally transfer files. I also used a 802.11b network untill recently. I was able to wirelessly stream iTunes to my stereo using an Airport Express with encryption without a hiccup.
I just purchased a Belkin Pre-N and am replacing a mini pci card in my wifes laptop to make the network all 802.11g.
The only drawback to using 802.11b is that WEP is the only encryption available and the don't seem to like it when the router does not broadcast the ssid. |
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devo
Veteran Member
Joined: 23 Jan 2005
Posts: 5290
Location: Dunwoody, GA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 3:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Can't you turn the SSID off in the control panel? You can with my 54G router from Belkin. |
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