Zit Seng's Superwall

I just got around to upgrading the firmware on my Linksys WRT610N Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router. At this time, the latest firmware is 1.00.02.10 (also shown as 1.00.02 B10). I decided to check out the firmware updates because the last two days I was having some random network connection problems through the WRT610N. Then, last night, my MacBook simply refused to connect to the 5GHz 802.11n channel (though it might have been a problem with my MacBook afterall, because it was okay again after rebooting my MacBook).

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In the past, most companies don’t care. They do sell products with security features, but the features are turned off by default because they usually make the product more difficult to setup and use, and customers may get turned off by the complexity of getting the product to work. Fortunately, some companies are now trying to make security easy. They are putting some extra effort to take care of their customers’ interests.

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Last weekend, a Linksys WRT610N became the latest addition to the networking gear I have at home. It replaces my trusty old WRT54G which was starting to go bonkus after serving for many years.

I have been thinking about upgrading my wireless broadband router for some time. In fact, I was considering StarHub’s free Apple Time Capsule promotion last year. It does 802.11N wireless, Gigabit Ethernet wired ports, includes 500GB or 1TB of storage and printer connection sharing.

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The new school year at NUS has started. Many people are buying new computers. Some of them will be buying Macs, particularly since they have gotten quite popular in the last few years. Now, how do you get it working in NUS? Most official help resources are going to focus just on Windows XP or Windows Vista. So here you are, my concise guide to getting a couple of basic things setup to work in NUS.

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Have you ever wanted to share your 3G data connection with another device? You can easily setup a cabled or bluetooth connection for your notebook or PC. But what you wanted to offer 802.11 wireless connectivity to your friends’ notebooks or mobile phones? Well, there is a free software available that can turn your 3G mobile phone into a 802.11 wireless hotspot. Now you can easily “deploy” wireless internet connectivity wherever you go with just your mobile phone!

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One of the stumbling blocks to the use of Wireless@SG has to be the ease of logging in to the network. If you’ve found a Wireless@SG hotspot with working coverage and network access, you’re still faced with the challenge (though just a minor inconvenience) of manual login. Can we have automatic logins?

For phone users, you’d appreciate the difficulty of manual login from your phone’s browser: keyboard entry is difficult, the screen is small, etc. It seems mighty inconvenient if you just needed to quickly check something on a website. (Compare this with 3G, where your phone’s authentication to the network is automatic.)

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Just taking a quick swipe at a pet topic: Wireless@SG is lost. Lost as in it doesn’t know where it is. I was at NUH today. Surprise, Wireless@SG was working and I could login. But bigger surprise: The SingTel web page said “Welcome to Toa Payoh”! NUH in Toa Payoh? Luckily we don’t depend on Wireless@SG to get our bearings.

That’s how it is with captive portals, you are redirected to a web page to login, and there you have to type your username and password. Can you imagine how inconvenient it is to login from a mobile device such as a mobile phone or PDA? Even if it does have a tiny weenie keyboard? Is there an auto-login client for Wireless@SG? Can IDA sponsor someone to write a client for Symbian OS and Windows Mobile?

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I recently came across a new high-speed wireless development that promises over 10Gbps of bandwidth, or some 100-times the speed of current Wi-Fi networks. While existing Wi-Fi operates at 2.4GHz frequency, this new technology uses 60GHz millimetre wave radio technology. What’s interesting about 60GHz is its oxygen absoption properties: 60GHz electromagnetic energy is absorbed by oxygen molecules much like a piece of food in a microwave oven.

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Wah, I thought Malaysia boleh. This morning on CNA I watched how a Malaysian astronaut has gone into space. It must have certainly been a proud moment for all Malaysians. Then from a ping.sg link on 4G wireless broadband in Malaysia, I thought, wah not bad leh. How is it that Singapore is loosing out in mobile broadband?

Alamak, someone needs to inform iZZinet, the Malaysian operator of this new mobile broadband service, what 4G is. For a start, check out the Wikipedia definition. Oh no, iBurst, the technology that iZZinet uses, is classified as pre-4G. The “4G” service sold by iZZinet operates at a mind-boggling 1Mbps downlink speed. Yes, that’s right, 1Mbps. Anyone wants to guess the downlink speed for a modest 3.5G technolog humbly known as HSDPA?

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