Alternative wireless management software

[bhtooefr]

OK, I've got a little problem here.

I'm running Windows 2000. Therefore, I can't run Wireless Zero Conf.

Access Connections doesn't like my WiFi card, and I can't exactly go get another one.

The Linksys software is total crap. And, I mean, TOTAL crap.

So, are there any third-party programs that'll work with a Linksys WPC11 v4, and are halfway decent (I liked XP SP2's version of WZC. If I could get something like that, that'd be great)?

[Nolonemo]

You're not very specific about what sort of capability you require. You could try out Boingo, its simple, let you save profiles for different APs, and is free from Boingo.com.

Or go to dslreports.com, join the Linksys forum there and ask your question, very knowledgable people there.

[bhtooefr]

Well, I'm looking for something with the same features as XP SP2's WZC, but for Win2K. And, no, upgrading to XP is NOT an option, or I would have.

Automatic switching between networks (that I've put in a list of valid networks) is the biggie. The Linksys software will only let me connect to a certain wireless network automatically (it lets me store different profiles, though). My high school is set up so that there's four different wireless networks (I'm trying to get THAT fixed, as well, though). So, I have to manually switch APs. With WZC, I can move between them automatically.

[Nolonemo]

Forget about Boingo then, but do try the Linksys forum at dslreports. Also, Funk software's Odyssey client appears to support automatic switching between networks. Free trial at funk.com. I don't know anything about it, though.

[Vindicated]

Try this: http://developer.apple.com/networking/bonjour/

It's made by Apple, released for Windows and Linux. It's Apple's answer to Microsoft's Zero Config utilitiy. Other then that I only know of www.NetworkMagic.com which is aimed at managing home networks (not profiles) and NetStumbler which is designed to aid you in finding wireless hotspots.

[bhtooefr]

FWIW, I did try Boingo, and it does the job about as well as SP2 WZC. I did have to undo the damage it did to Dial-Up Networking, though... (it forced itself upon me, so that I'd have to connect to a Boingo VPN to do anything, unless I killed it)

[Nolonemo]

Thx for the heads up about Boingo and dial-up.

[bhtooefr]

Basically, here's what happened.

After I installed Boingo, I could still get online with web stuff. However, every now and then, and whenever I did something on a port other than 80, it would ask to connect to the Boingo Wireless VPN.

So, to fix it, I did the following:

1. Opened the Internet Options control panel
2. Went to the Connections tab
3. Saw that the Boingo Wireless VPN was set to automatically connect
4. Set it to never connect to dial-up networks (I never use any, anyway)
5. Got out of there

The settings are holding up through reboots. I'm tempted to delete the VPN entry, but I'm afraid that the Boingo software will reinstall it...

[nikemen]

there is a ppc version of netstumbler, called MINI stumbler available on their website.

as well, a great for pay application is the wince, or something or other.

[nikemen]

cirond WINCE, or WINC is the one I was talking about,

their products can be found here.

http://cirond.com/winc.php

[kaplanfx]

are we talking about an intel chipset card here? If so, you can using intel pro-set. Its a bit better at handling connections than windows, although not as good as access connections, however the interface is pretty fugly but it doesn't have some of the weird problems that access connections has.

[bhtooefr]

First, off, no, it's a Realtek-chipset based card.

Second, I already found my app - I'm using Boingo.