[olpc-help] Unable to connect to internet

[Steve Holton]

Hi Jerry-

Those are the three 'mesh' portals the XO creates for itself wherever it
goes. They aren't Internet connections, but they let XO's connect to each
other.

What you're looking for is a Wireless Internet Access Point (WAP). It would
show up on the neighborhood screen just like the meshes (but wouldn't be
purple) and connecting to it gets you to the Internet.

The ones you've already seen are Wireless Access Points other people own.
The lock  means you can't use it without knowing their key.

There are two ways forward. You can find a wireless access point someone
else owns and are willing to let you use, or you can buy your own wireless
access point and connect it to your own Internet service.

T-Mobile has offered a 1-year contract of free Internet access at their
wireless 'Hot Spots' to people who participated in the OLPC Give One Get One
program. Many of these are at Starbucks coffee shops and the like. If you
were doing this, you (or your granddaughter) would go to a Starbucks and the
T-Mobile wireless access point would show-up on the neighborhood screen like
a mesh portal.

Alternately, you could purchase your own wireless router. There are many
different brands, most cost between $50 and $100. This presumes you already
subscribe to a broadband Internet access service.  Check the wireless access
point compatibility chart here before you buy:

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Wireless_Access_Point_Compatibility

If you think you already have a wireless access point, but it is 'hidden' so
the XO can't see it, there are several technical solutions we could try. I
won't bore you with those yet. ;-)

One other caution: the XO wasn't really designed for a broadband-rich place
like North America; it's designed to connect to a School Server and get most
of it's content from there. The web browser runs differently, and things
like Flash (necessary for web sites like Club Penguin or WebKinz) won't work
without a bit of technical setup.

Let us know how it goes.

On Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 7:49 PM, Jerry Dossenbak <jerbet at fuse.net> wrote:

>  When I go to the neigborhood the only sports that show up are the 3 mesh
> sites.  There are no others.  How do I connect.  Occasionally one locked
> spot appears but  have no idea how I go about getting a key.  Have read the
> support page and honestly everything is above my head.  Could you help me
> and simple non-technical language.  This is for my granddaughter and
> although she enjoys using the available activities she really would like to
> get on the internet.
>
> _______________________________________________
> community-support mailing list
> community-support at lists.laptop.org
> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/community-support
>
>


-- 
Steve Holton
sph0lt0n at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/community-support/attachments/20080430/83e2acca/attachment-0001.htm