Which ethernet card for MNetbook ?

[svallee]

I just ordered a malaysian netbook, and after browsing a *LOT* everywhere on the net, I' totally confuse : which wired ethernet card may I use with the MNetbook ?

I visited expansys.us, but only find two possible cards :

1) Psion 10Mb Ethernet Gold Card

and / or

2) Psion 56K 10Mb Ethernet Gold Card UK


With the first choice, I think it's not right, as I read somewhere the netbook doesn't support psion dacom card that are Ethernet only.

With the second choice, it's said it's for use in UK only, hence I'm in US. Is there really a difference ? I guess it only apply to the 56K modem part, but still ...

thanks for your answers !!!

[diem]

You are most of the way there. The 'UK-only' tag does indeed only refer to the modem, but it is only that the dongle will have the wrong plug on the end; this can be adapted if needs be. There are two things to look for when buying a Psion Gold Card for a netBook:

- make sure you get a PCCard one (16bit interface) not CardBus (32bit - not supported).
- if you can, go for a CombineIT card (big red logo, 'yellower' card) rather than a Dacom card - lower power requirements and work better with netBook.

[svallee]

Thanks for the info. But I checked both card price, and the difference is amazing :

Dacom 56K + 10Mb = 30$
CombineIT 56K + 10/100Mb = 270$

I think I'll go for a Dacom, for a cheap, quick solution. I don't mind about the modem, only the ethernet card. And 10Mb is enough for me for now, don't need more than that.

So, just to make sure I'm doing the right thing : I can buy a Dacom 56K+10Mb gold card and it will work without hassles in my Malaysian Netbook ?

Thanks !!!

[cshandley]

Sorry to disappoint you "svallee", but:

Diem said "if you can, go for a CombineIT card" for a reason! If you buy a Dacom card, you risk it not working with the Mbook.

AFAIK, there has been no reports of what card works in the Mbook (tho I am happy to be proved wrong...), but since the Mbook is known to have less current supplying capability than the latest Netbooks, it is wise to go for the less demanding CombineIT cards.

If you buy a Dacom & it works, *please* tell us! :-)

[sbedford]

The Dacom card (56k, 10Mb Ethernet) does work with netBook. I have one.

[netBookBabe]

Originally posted by sbedford
The Dacom card (56k, 10Mb Ethernet) does work with netBook. Is that a regular UK netBook, or a MalayBook?

Julie

[sbedford]

Malaybook

[svallee]

Thank you SOOO much for your confirmation, as I desperetelly searched on the net for this info.

Now I can order one with peace of mind. Thanks !

BTW, do you know where I can buy one, with US modem support ? The only place I know, Expansys.us (the US site), only offer UK modem on their DACOM 56K+10Mb. Bummer ... :(

[sbedford]

No, I am in the UK so haven't looked for others.
I think Expansys have the last "new" ones aroun (the box is actually labelled as a refurbished unit).

However, I have used a Psion Gold Card 56K modem only with a Windows NT 4 laptop in USA without problem. You wouldn't need anythiong else: the supplied phone cable has US type phone jack on the end (non unusual for modems sold in UK). There is an included US to UK adapter.

[svallee]

Oh I see. So basically in the worst case, if I get a UK-only plug on my cable, it's easy to find a UK-to-US converter plug.

And just to be sure about the DACOM 56k+10Mb with a Malaybook : the modem have been tested, but the Ethernet functionality also work without any trouble ?

[sbedford]

I have only used it for ethernet. It works OK - not stunningly fast - typically only 20Kbytes/sec or so browsing with Opera or downloading/uploading with nFTP.

Downloading files using ftp in Opera can be faster although this is even more noticeable using the Cisco Aironet 340 which gives a silmilar performance browsing but have seen upto 200Kbytes/sec ftp downloading using Opera (similar performance when used in a friends WinCE 3 machine downloading using Pocket Internet Explorer). In both cases using Mac as a software base station (see posting in WiFi (and Wired) Ethernet Issues).

Did get 200+Kbytes/sec using ftp server on Psion with the Gol Card but after a few initial successes, this has failed to work since.

I have just sent a fax to work. Made all the right noises. netBook reports that it it sent OK and I have no reason to doubt it.

[cshandley]

I've just spoken to Expansys, and someone looked at the Swedish CombineIT cards and confirmed it does indeed say "CardBus".

So I cancelled the German CombineIT card that was holding up my order. I should recieve the Dacom 56K+10Mb card tomorrow, and will report if it works in my 7book (model 756).

Fingers crossed that I managed to convince the girl on the phone that they should update their website to indicate these CombineIT cards are CardBus...
---
Chris Handley

[cshandley]

I am happy to report that the "Psion Dacom Gold Card 56k+Fax 10Mb Ethernet" works fine with my 7book (model 756).

It is possible that the motherboard may have been replaced when my 7book screen problem was repaired, so that I can't guarantee the same success for other people.


I got the Micro FTP Server running on my 7book, and was able too copy files at 200KB/sec, which I am quite happy with. The Micro FTP Server appears to have broken timestamp (date) support, so I am investigating a Java based FTP server (I have found 3 that *ought* to work).

A brief attempt to use my (working) Socks Proxy/Router with Opera did not work, which puzzles me.

Anyone have any ideas how I could get full internet access through my computer's 56K modem? Ideally it would not need Windows-specific software.

---
Chris Handley

[marek]

Hi Chris,

I guess, you've got the UK version of the card, haven't you? (At Expansys web page there are also French and Swedish versions of the same model.)

Could you, please, tell us, what kind of modem cable (if any) did you get with the card? Somebody suggested, that it is RJ-11 with detachable UK adapter. (As I need RJ-11 -- that would be also great for me.)

Was RJ-45 cable included as well?

Wishing you happy networking

Marek

[cshandley]

Originally posted by marek
I guess, you've got the UK version of the card, haven't you? (At Expansys web page there are also French and Swedish versions of the same model.)

Could you, please, tell us, what kind of modem cable (if any) did you get with the card? Somebody suggested, that it is RJ-11 with detachable UK adapter. (As I need RJ-11 -- that would be also great for me.)

Yes, I got the UK version.

It was supplied with a cable ending in the US-style phone connector, along with a suitable UK adapter plug.

You can plug any ethernet (not coax!) cable into it.

Sorry, I can't remember what RJ-11 & RJ-45 mean, I hope the above is clear enough?
---
Chris Handley

[ktkawabe]

Hi Chris and marek, I'm a bit confused.

Chris, from the original question of yours, I thought your sitation is as follows:
You have a working TCP/IP connection between your desktop PC and 7Book. You have an internet connection from your PC using an analog modem. What you'd like to do is to "share" this internet connection with your 7book, for example you want to browse web on your 7book via the following route:
7book-goldcard-ethernet cable-PC-modem-internet.

If this is the case, the cable type is irrelevant because you already have a working physical connection. But before proceeding any further, my question is if my understanding about your present status is correct.

Regards,
Keita

[marek]

Thanks for your answer, Chris!

(Yes, RJ-11 is the US-style phone jack, and RJ-45 is the one for Ethernet -- similar, yet somewhat broader.)

Hi, Keita!

My question was not related to Chris inquiry. (I'm afraid, I cannot contribute to it.) Just thinking of getting a LAN card for myself.

Best wishes for both of you

Marek

[ktkawabe]

Hi marek,
Sorry I was completely misunderstanding your question.

And Chris,
I assume my guess was not that bad. And what I'm not sure is if Opera supports SOCKS (SOCKS needs application-level support AFAIK).

I briefly searched SOCKS-related settings (like SOCKS servername, username and password) and I couldn't find them. And I don't know of any "SOCKS traverser/redirector" type of application (e.g. Socks Cap for Windows) for EPOC. If you're sure Opera does support SOCKS, then I recommend to look in the log of the SOCKS sever.

If Opera is actually incapable of connecting to SOCKS server, then your best bet is probably to use the newtwork-sharing feature of Windows. No additional software needed (if you're running Windows98 or newer).

Regards,
Keita

[cshandley]

Hello Keita,

Originally posted by ktkawabe
And Chris, I assume my guess was not that bad. And what I'm not sure is if
Opera supports SOCKS (SOCKS needs application-level support AFAIK).

No, I do not know that Opera supports socks. I just hoped that if it supports a
proxy (it does), then it would work with socks. Sadly I am lacking in
networking know-how, and really need to read a book which explains it all at
geek level.


If Opera is actually incapable of connecting to SOCKS server, then your best bet
is probably to use the newtwork-sharing feature of Windows. No additional
software needed (if you're running Windows98 or newer).

Sorry, I'll rephrase my question. Is there any easy way of sharing internet
that is NOT Windows specific? (I do not use Windows!)

I am using an obscure OS (Amiga but running on PC hardware), but there is a lot
of Unix software ports which may be useful.

I have read some stuff which suggests that DHCP may be a solution, but I don't
understand what DHCP precisely does (and so how "automatic" it is possible for
it to be for various internet programs).

Regards,
Chris Handley

[ktkawabe]

Hi Chris,
sorry for confusion, but from your words ("Ideally it would not need Windows-specific software") I guessed you could use Windows-specific software, meaning you're a Windows user who prefers not to use Windows-only solution. And I thought there's no point in using additional software if you're using Windows anyway.

And as for Amiga, I can hardly say it's obscure because among my Psion-related friends Amiga is strangely popular (I know at least 6 such Amiga-AND-Psion users) though I've never used one.

Returning to your question, what you're looking for is not an application, but a TCP/IP stack with NAT (aka IP-masquerading) capability I guess. Googling showed me that MiamiDx has such NAT feature, though I cannot assure that it should work. If you're curious about the NAT mechanism, try to google "how nat works".

I don't know how easy or difficult it is on Amiga, either. On Linux it's easy as far as the amount of work is concerned, but that's only true when you already have a good understanding of what NAT is and what you want to do. That shouldn't be too different in Amiga I guess.

I'm sorry I don't have any real knowledge of Amiga, but I hope this helps somehow.

Regards,
Keita

[pthwaite]

Well, I have ordered the Sweedish 56k Combine IT ethernet card & a Dacom 56k Ethernet card from expansys. I'll try both on my Netbook, (if the sweedish one doesn't work on the netbook it should work in my laptop so not wasted).

What I would like to know is what motherboard I have which harks back to another thread which still seems a little vague on the subject.

I got it in October and it was supposed to be a version 10, but it came with the 156 operating system which I've updated.

:confused:

[ifor.evans]

Originally posted by pthwaite
Well, I have ordered the Sweedish 56k Combine IT ethernet card & a Dacom 56k Ethernet card from expansys. I'll try both on my Netbook, (if the sweedish one doesn't work on the netbook it should work in my laptop so not wasted).

What I would like to know is what motherboard I have which harks back to another thread which still seems a little vague on the subject.

I got it in October and it was supposed to be a version 10, but it came with the 156 operating system which I've updated.

:confused:

Which Expansys site did you find the Dacom card on? My SWEDISH CombineIT Card should be arriving today. I'm dreading seeing the words CardBus on it. I thought I was safe having seen the picture on the website which most definitly showed PCCARD.

Regards

...Ifor

[pthwaite]

The UK site. The Swedish one arrived today and yes it says combine IT and it says cardbus.

So far even the modem doesn't work in the netbook. Fine on the Laptop though.

Hope to get the other one tommorrow.

Why can't psion advertise in an easy place to get to, which ones work? trying to trawl through the teklogix site is a real pain even logging on seems to take 3 or 4 goes for some reason:confused:
Howard

[pthwaite]

Right the Expansys UK bought Psion Dacom netglobal 56k fax and Ethernet card (refurbished) arrived this morning and it certainly works as a modem on teh netbook. I have to set the comms to 57k baud and not 115k though otherwise it says "not supported"?.

(This is of course as per the teklogix site says too though)

I haven't tried the ethernet yet.

Hope this helps;)
Howard

[diem]

Originally posted by pthwaite
Why can't psion advertise in an easy place to get to, which ones work? trying to trawl through the teklogix site is a real pain even logging on seems to take 3 or 4 goes for some reason:confused:
Howard

Because Psion Digital no longer exists, and the employees with that knowledge are all gone :eek:

The netBook was built by Teklogix (a relatively late acquisition in the Psion history) and the PC Cards by Psion Dacom (an offshoot of Digital), therefore there is no longer one single company who posesses such knowledge.

The Psion user community (i.e. us) is fast becoming the de facto source of knowledge about their devices.