Dialup WiFi?

from the something-for-everyone dept

Fri, Aug 27th 2004 12:17pm — Mike Masnick

Just because you have a really slow, not always on, internet connection to the outside world, it doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to set up a home network or surf "wirelessly" on your laptop. Sensing the power of niche (and shrinking) markets, some company has apparently come up with a dialup WiFi hub. That's right, plug it in to a phone jack, have it handle the dialing, and surf away... at 56k, but without wires. Seems almost... pointless. Update: And, as has been made abundantly clear, there are plenty of products on the market that already do this, though, they most are also regular WiFi boxes as well. The point on this one seems to be that it's just dialup.

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8 Comments

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Aaron, 27 Aug 2004 @ 12:37pm

Dialup Wi-Fi
By 'some company' did you mean Apple? The Apple AirPort has always had this capability.
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saleh, 27 Aug 2004 @ 12:48pm

Been available for a long time
The Lucent (later Orinoco, later Agere) RG-1000 was available almost 5 years ago, and it had dial-on-demand modem capability.
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David Nesting, 27 Aug 2004 @ 12:49pm

Apple's been doing this since Day One
Apple's Airport products have always had a modem jack specifically to dial-up to a regular ISP and provide network connectivity to wireless clients.
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Curmudgeon, 27 Aug 2004 @ 1:01pm

No Subject Given
Pointless? Yeah, just like a cordless phone is pointless. There's definitely value in browsing without wires, regardless of speed. Witness the people who flock to GPRS and 1xRTT connections, and the people before who were die-hard CDPD fans.
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Loraan, 27 Aug 2004 @ 1:06pm

D-Link can do this too
I was at a product seminar a few weeks ago where a D-Link rep. touted their 802.11g Access Point's ability to do this. It doesn't have a built in modem, but a serial port that can be attached to a modem.
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jayrtfm, 28 Aug 2004 @ 8:28pm

you missed the point
you said "the point on this one seems to be that it's just dialup. "
from your link:
>>device is smaller then a paperback book for easy travel and also has an Ethernet port
from the www.alwaysonwireless.com website:
>>WiFlyer also doubles as a portable broadband wireless access point when an Ethernet connection is available
seems to me that this is a usefull product
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Jaime Munoz, 7 Sep 2004 @ 1:18pm

need 2 know more about
im the IT of a food corporation and needing to connect someway beetween my computer and other acting as a POS network trought my cellular phone. i know there is a way do realize it. i will be very glad if somebody can help me.

Thanks a lot
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monireh shafiee, 10 Sep 2010 @ 9:15am

hello.....i am in iran.....i have dial up internet only.......hmmm....and it is expensive
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