Netgear Universal WiFi Internet Adapter WNCE2001 and open networks

http://www.netgear.com/landing/wnce2001.aspx

Bought it primarily to connect a very long-in-the-tooth laptop to a
secured 802.11N router at home and after achieving that without any
issues, I began to wonder if it could serve as a "portable Ethernet
jack" at local hotspots with unsecured networks such as public
libraries. No dice-it goes through the motions of connecting but it
doesn't pass an IP address from the router to the laptop's Ethernet
adapter as it's supposed to. Worse, I have to physically reset it after
that in order to get back into its web-based configuration program for
another try.

I know this thing is really intended for home use with devices such as
Blu-ray players and gaming consoles, but there's nothing on the box or
in the manual that says it *won't* work with a computer-and as I've
pointed out above, it *does* work on an encrypted connection (in fact,
I'm using it right now with my much newer Mac to write this). Nor does
its documentation indicate it won't or can't connect to an open router.
I'm just curious as to whether anyone else has tried this and run into
the same problems. Is mine bad or are they all like this?

On Sat, 23 Apr 2011 08:51:17 -0500, "Jonathan L. Parker"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>http://www.netgear.com/landing/wnce2001.aspx

<http://www.netgear.com/home/products/hometheater/networking-for-home-theater-and-gaming/WNCE2001.aspx>

>I began to wonder if it could serve as a "portable Ethernet
>jack" at local hotspots with unsecured networks such as public
>libraries.

It should work. It supports most any encryption. However, the "Push
N connect" thing probably will not work with any wireless router that
doesn't have this feature.

Make sure you're using the latest firmware:
<http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/16766/related/1>
Note the "known issues and bugs" list. Also see the FAQ.

>No dice-it goes through the motions of connecting but it
>doesn't pass an IP address from the router to the laptop's Ethernet
>adapter as it's supposed to.

Check your unspecified operating system and make sure you have
automagic or DHCP selected for obtaining the IP address. Also try
this with Windoze:
Start -> run -> cmd <enter>
ipconfig /release
(wait about 5 seconds)
ipconfig /renew
(wait until the icon in the system tray stops thrashing)
ipconfig (to see the result)
If the displayed IP address is 169.254.xxx.xxx, it didn't work and I
have no clue what's wrong without more info. If it's anything else,
you win. This is a problem with connection managers (including WZC)
as it thinks you're still at home. After connecting to this hot spot,
and dragging your laptop home, you'll have to do it again.

> I'm just curious as to whether anyone else has tried this and run into
>the same problems. Is mine bad or are they all like this?

I haven't tried a WNCE2001. I would be interested in the maximum
download speed you can get with it at home.

--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558