tenpastmidnight blog
Making hay while the sun shines
» Sunday, November 23, 2003 «
Hardware
Two new bits of hardware make it in to my world...
A D-link router on loan from my friend Paul, so when I nab my PC back from my mother I can plug them both in to my internet connection without having to mess around with cables all the time. The router (a DI-614+) is good and has wireless, should I have anything else to try it with before I give it back. It was a doddle to set up, but only after I let my NTL connection settle down. At first, I used the cable modem to look some stuff up, connected direct to my laptop. Then, when I plugged the router in, I couldn't get it to connect. I did a factory reset (a matter of poking a button with something pointy) and it didn't make any difference. However, trying it again in the morning without first using the connection perked everything up and it's now working fine. I think NTL didn't like me suddenly changing the hardware connecting through their modem, probably because they record the MAC address of the computer on my end, and the router didn't match what they were expecting.
Now, it's all working fine with very little effort, though I've borrowed the network patch leads connecting everything together and have to give them back to another friend tomorrow. Still, I've got a week or two before I have to connect two computers up at once, so I'll be able to get some cables before then.
The other bit of kit is a Bandridge PS/2 to USB convertor which allows me to plug my old PC keyboards in to my Apple iBook. Plugged it in and it worked straight away. I can now use my big Microsoft 'Natural' keyboard if I've got a lot of typing to do. The keyboard on the iBook is fine, but I'm a big chap and I find if I type on it for a long time my upper arms start to twinge. I don't think it's anything to do with the keyboard apart from it's size - 12" is just a bit too small for me.
With the adaptor I can use pretty much any PC keyboard. I've got an older, very 'clicky' one which has an old DIN style-socket (the thing 'IBM-compatible' PCs used before PS/2 became common) so the signal has to go through two adaptors before the signals get to the computer. I didn't think it would work but I'm finishing this post using it and it seems to be fine. Very handy.
A D-link router on loan from my friend Paul, so when I nab my PC back from my mother I can plug them both in to my internet connection without having to mess around with cables all the time. The router (a DI-614+) is good and has wireless, should I have anything else to try it with before I give it back. It was a doddle to set up, but only after I let my NTL connection settle down. At first, I used the cable modem to look some stuff up, connected direct to my laptop. Then, when I plugged the router in, I couldn't get it to connect. I did a factory reset (a matter of poking a button with something pointy) and it didn't make any difference. However, trying it again in the morning without first using the connection perked everything up and it's now working fine. I think NTL didn't like me suddenly changing the hardware connecting through their modem, probably because they record the MAC address of the computer on my end, and the router didn't match what they were expecting.
Now, it's all working fine with very little effort, though I've borrowed the network patch leads connecting everything together and have to give them back to another friend tomorrow. Still, I've got a week or two before I have to connect two computers up at once, so I'll be able to get some cables before then.
The other bit of kit is a Bandridge PS/2 to USB convertor which allows me to plug my old PC keyboards in to my Apple iBook. Plugged it in and it worked straight away. I can now use my big Microsoft 'Natural' keyboard if I've got a lot of typing to do. The keyboard on the iBook is fine, but I'm a big chap and I find if I type on it for a long time my upper arms start to twinge. I don't think it's anything to do with the keyboard apart from it's size - 12" is just a bit too small for me.
With the adaptor I can use pretty much any PC keyboard. I've got an older, very 'clicky' one which has an old DIN style-socket (the thing 'IBM-compatible' PCs used before PS/2 became common) so the signal has to go through two adaptors before the signals get to the computer. I didn't think it would work but I'm finishing this post using it and it seems to be fine. Very handy.
