7book LAN connectivity

[MrSums]

I have just upgraded to 7book (- yeehah). The main reason for doing so was to connect to my Home LAN and get Internet connectivity through my broadband. I hope to be able to do this via a wireless connection.

What connectivity can I expect? My home LAN is based around a Linux server. Will I be able to see NFS ? or will I be limited to FTP?

Has anyone achieved this yet? any recommendations?

Kind regds

MrSums

[diem]

There is no NFS client for the Psion that I'm aware of. As you suspect, you will be limited to FTP, though 'limit' is hardly a fair word when compared with the serial connection to a single PC you've been stuck with up 'til now ;)

[wanman]

Hi MrSums,

Can you provide a little more info on your home network / internet connection:

1) broadband or adsl?
2) how does modem connect to server? usb or ethernet
3) how do your pc/s connect to the server? cable or wireless
4) Is there any particular reason for running your home network on a linux server?
5) what other o/s are you using? on individual pc's
6) what lan card are you hoping to use with your 7book?
7) what was the build of your old 7 personality module (751, 754 or 756)
8) what do you want to achieve with the network connection with your 7book? just quicker internet connection?

I run cable broadband at home and link my pc's together via a router. The cable modem plugs directly into the router and the router's MAC address is the only one I have to register. All my other PC's then connect to the router using DHCP connection. This enables them go online independantly or together as required.

If I want to connect to the internet with my 7book I use a CombineIT Psion 10/100LAN +56K modem card. Plug it directly into a spare port on the router and it connects immediately 100mb connection speed.

I can PING my 7book from any PC but you cannot make a network connection via Explorer (which is a shame as a 100mb connection would certainly speed up the backup times !!) About time Psion upgraded their Psiwin to allow network connections !!

Kind Regards

Si

[MrSums]

Si,

1. Broadband
2. Ethernet
3. Cable at present, but I want to bring in Wireless
4. Stability, cost, efficiency, ease-of use. What more would you like? I have a small server (about twice the size my 7book!) which acts as:
- router
- firewall
- mail server + spam assassin
- ftp server
- NFS server
- NT server (Samba)
- Web-server (I use it for development, not for hosting, although it is perfectly capable)
- VPN to office

Total cost of the server including all software £350 + VAT. I know of people who spend £100+ on just a router (have they never heard of FreeSco? but that's another story).

5. I run dual-boot Linux/Windows on my Laptop. My son's machine is Windows ME (urgh). My other machines run a mixture. Office is pure Windows for the moment (but not for long)
6. I am looking at the Avaya (Lucent) /Orinoco combination. Expanys have a starter kit for £190+VAT
7. Don't know - I think it was the 756. Does this matter?
8. I want to achieve Internet connection mainly. Being able to just open the 7book and browse or check mail would make the Laptop pretty redundant for most days. If I can't get NFS, then I will not be able to use the same e-mail service as I do at present, but that would be small price to pay.

Kind regds

MrSums

[wanman]

Hi MrSums,

The build of your machine may matter. My 7 was a 756 which probably offers the closest netbook compatibility (especially when you are looking at wireless). Originally the 7 and Netbook had separate MB's but these were rationalised into a generic board. The 7's PCMCIA slot was and may still be restricted to support a maximum current draw of 300mA. We still don't know how this was/is achieved. The netbook was set at 650mA which gives it a wider compatibility with wireless and cable pcmcia cards. We do know that there are some wireless cards which do work with the 7book (build751) and I would check out the PC Card Compatibility thread for more info on this.

How do you currently connect your Psion to your server (serial cable or network cable with normal LAN card?) If you currently have a LAN card in your 7book what type/brand is it.

If you are trying to connect to the internet using your serial cable then I would have another search on this forum as there have been threads on this and I think there may be other software you need.

If you are connecting using a LAN card, how is it set up. DHCP or pre-allocated TCP/IP address. Can you Ping your 7book from the server or PC? Can you Ping your network PC's using FIFinger (Epoc app available from Freepoc) from your 7book?

What is your current email service?

Regards

Si

[MrSums]

Si,

Can you tell what the orginal build was without fitting the old m/b back?

At present, I don't connect the 7book to my home network at all - only through a docking station at work for Outlook/printing. No do I have any LAN card - that was why I started looking through this forum for clues as to which to buy.

My Home network is set up for DHCP (back to the Linux server !!).

When I said e-mail service, my Linux server runs Fetchmail & Procmail which bring all the family's mail in, chucks out the spam and puts it in their respective mailboxes for them - but the mailboxes are held on the Samba drive and if the 7book can't connect to that, I will not be able to use that particular route.

Kind regds

MrSums

[wanman]

Hi MrSums,

The build number should be on the personality module you removed (hopefully you still have it). There will be a white sticker on one of the chips. It will confirm 751, 754 or 756. If you bought your 7 new up to a year ago then it probably is a 756 model.

If your home network is set up as DHCP then you should be ok. Are you running your linux machine as a proxy server? if so then these settings will also have to be set up within Opera on your 7book aswell. To connect, whether you are wired / wireless you need to launch Opera and when it asks for connection settings, you just select your LAN/Wireless card and it should connect straight away. I have never connected via a seperate server so you may have to set up the relevant access rights on the Linux server. I am not sure if this will be necessary or if it is possible so if anyone else out there is connecting via a server (linux or otherwise), please confirm if this is the case.

Even if you manage to connect and PING you 7book / connect to the web, you will not be able to add your 7book as a network place so that you can view it's drive or swap files. EPOC is not compatible with this form of communication.

In this respect, I doubt you will be able to access your mail currently stored on your server (in the same way you would not be able to access your MS Outlook mail if you were running MS Exchange Server). The only way you could access your mail, would be if you were to route your sorted mail to an external pop3 or IMAP4 account.

Apologies if this is not what you wanted to hear.

Regards

Si

[MrSums]

Si

No sticker attached - don't know whether it just fell off at some time.

I just thought - the server can run a POP server as well, so if I think carefully about it, I may get that working too.

Looks like I will have to raid the money-box

MrSums

[wanman]

Certainly sounds that way. If you can set your mail server as a POP3 account then that may be the best choice, but I haven't a clue how you would do this or how/if your psion would still be able to connect to it.

One thing is for sure, if you find out, then please post it here so that anyone else wanting to know how will have the benefit of your experiences.

Good luck on your quest !!

Regards

Si