Friday, November 21, 2008

Color Classic internet connection over wireless?


Ever since I helped configure a wireless ethernet adapter at a friend's house I've pondered whether the Color Classic could be connected to the internet without a direct ethernet cable.

The folks at buy.com are offering a Belkin F5D7330 802.11g wireless ethernet adapter for $19.99 this week, so I decided to spring for the purchase and give it a try. The product description includes the following statements which give me a glimmer of hope:
  • Works with all Ethernet-equipped computers or network devices
  • Requires no drivers, setup, or configuration
  • Comes with a Belkin Lifetime Warranty and free, 24-hour technical support
  • Automatically connects to the wireless network by the touch of a button
One gotcha may be that it is USB powered (does not have an external adapter) but I plan to get around that with a spare iPod charging adapter with a USB socket that plugs into an AC outlet.

I'll report back on my progress after it arrives. If I get stumped I can always try their free technical support!

1 comment:

Glenn said...

The wireless hub arrived and it includes a power adapter so I won't need to provide a power source after all.

Out of the box it will connect to an unsecured wireless network without any configuration. To connect to a password protected network it has to be configured with a Windows-only application that's provided on an included CD. I used Parallels to run it on my MacBook Pro. Once I've done some testing I'll let you know if I feel confident enough to entrust the web server to using it.