[NTLK] Looking for a Bluetooth card

Steve Craft steve at craftsathome.net
Wed Aug 24 08:59:44 EDT 2011 

I think this proves the point that all (most?) (many?) of us would pay to
have a decent wireless connectivity option that works out-of-the-box.

I have 4 PICO cards, one for each Newton device. All in a drawer. I have 3
WiFi cards, one for each device that is "mobile". All in a drawer.



-----Original Message-----
From: newtontalk-bounces at newtontalk.net
[mailto:newtontalk-bounces at newtontalk.net] On Behalf Of Forrest Buffenmyer
Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 3:59 AM
To: newtontalk at newtontalk.net
Subject: Re: [NTLK] Looking for a Bluetooth card

Hmmpf. Well, I guess *I* sit down, corrected. =)

Seriously...Gavin, thanks for this information. I've been told by others
(not on here) that it was secure enough and they were wrong. I have read the
material I found in the links you've provided.

Fortunately the only thing that I use a MAC address for security on is my
MiFi unit...sadly, in order for me to get the Newton to work with it (so I
can use the wireless Orinico Gold card) I have to use MAC filtering, as the
MiFi doesn't offer WEP, only WPA. Therefore, then, all my other wireless
devices must ALSO use MAC address filtering to connect...so, now I'll have
to change it to WPA, which means the Newton won't be able to connect *sigh*.
I don't believe there's a way to change the connection security without
being USB cabled to the unit, so I can't "flip flop" when I use the Newton.

Thanks,

--Forrest

Sent from my First Generation iPad

On Aug 23, 2011, at 5:03 PM, Gavin Watson <gavin83209 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Actually, MAC filtering is trivially easy to bypass with Mac OS X or
Linux.  
> With ifconfig, a built-in tool on FreeBSD and OS X, all you need to do 
> is type these commands into a Terminal window:
> 
> ifconfig en1 down
> ifconfig en1 ether 02:11:11:11:11:ab
> ifconfig en1 up
> 
> This will broadcast your MAC address as the string at the end of the 
> second line.  Another thing to consider is that MAC filtering will not 
> stop anybody who has broken your network password from reading your 
> traffic.  It will only stop them from joining the network.
> 
> For further reading:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_spoofing
> http://www.zdnet.com/blog/ou/the-six-dumbest-ways-to-secure-a-wireless
> -lan/43
> 
> Despite all of this, though, I still use 128-bit WEP on my network 
> entirely because of my Newton.
> 
> Forrest Buffenmyer wrote:
>> I use MAC filtering when I use the Newton on MiFi...if you do some
searching here on the List, not too long ago this was a topic, and the point
as made that nowadays that's such an archaic method that most would either
a) not know how to circumvent it; and b) it wouldn't be worth all that
trouble. It's like stealing a car--if you make it difficult for thieves to
steal your car, they'll probably soon just give up and find one that's
easier to make off with.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> 
>> --Forrest
>> 
>> Sent from my First Generation iPad
>> 
>> On Aug 23, 2011, at 7:54 AM, online at atomiciguana.com wrote:
>> 
>>> I'll admit, it's partly a "because it's there". I actually have a Wifi
card, but the Newton only supports WEP. And these days, WEP is not much
different than having no security on the network at all. I'm hesitant to
roll my network security back to WEP, and I thought Bluetooth would let me
avoid serial and USB connections and still get data off and on my newton.
>>> Probably just the paranoid IT guy in me worrying too much.
>>> 
>>> -Aaron.
>>> 
>>>> Bluetooth vs. Wifi:
>>>> 
>>>> Search for "bluetooth pico" (on eBay) and you will find it's still
around $45 shipped from an Int'l seller. List observations suggests it is
also more difficult to implement and yet, limited in function and
capability.
>>>> 
>>>> On the other hand, Orinoco (WaveLan) Gold cards are running about $10
and are more readily available from local shippers. They provide access to
eMail, text and HTML data transfers, VCard exchange, file transfers from
your local network or the internet, and maybe a little web browsing.
>>>> 
>>>> Have you considered a Wifi card first or is this simply a "because it's
there" issue?
>>>> 
>>>> Just curious :-)
>>>> 
>>>> I am only aware the international seller on eBay known as guru2000. He
has had a supply of the Pico cards for several years. Others may have one of
these Pico cards (state-side) they may not be using and/or may want to sell.
Personally, I haven't bought one simply because Wifi has been all my Newton
has needed.
>>>> 
>>>> HTH...
>>>> Ron
>>>> 
>>>> On Monday, August 22, 2011 at 2:03 pm atomiciguana wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Is anyone selling a Newton
>>>> 
>>>> compatible bluetooth card?
>>>> 
>>>> A quick ebay search of the
>>>> 
>>>> models listed on 40hz.org
>>>> 
>>>> didn't reveal anything in
>>>> 
>>>> the US. Reply off-list, if
>>>> 
>>>> needed, of course.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Sent using Mail V and a Wireless Newton 2100.
>>>> --
>>>> RAParker
>>>>   |\/|\ @ Newted.ORG
>>>>   |/-|/ @ Quadzilla.NET
>>>>   |\ |  @ TahoeSunsets.COM
>>>> --
>>>> My name is R A Parker. I own a Newton and a Mac.
>>> ====================================================================
>>> The NewtonTalk Mailing List - http://newtontalk.net/
>>> The Official Newton FAQ     - http://splorp.com/newton/faq/
>>> The Newton Glossary         - http://splorp.com/newton/glossary/
>>> WikiWikiNewt                - http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
>>> ====================================================================
>> ====================================================================
>> The NewtonTalk Mailing List - http://newtontalk.net/
>> The Official Newton FAQ     - http://splorp.com/newton/faq/
>> The Newton Glossary         - http://splorp.com/newton/glossary/
>> WikiWikiNewt                - http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
>> ====================================================================
> 
> ====================================================================
> The NewtonTalk Mailing List - http://newtontalk.net/
> The Official Newton FAQ     - http://splorp.com/newton/faq/
> The Newton Glossary         - http://splorp.com/newton/glossary/
> WikiWikiNewt                - http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
> ====================================================================

====================================================================
The NewtonTalk Mailing List - http://newtontalk.net/
The Official Newton FAQ     - http://splorp.com/newton/faq/
The Newton Glossary         - http://splorp.com/newton/glossary/
WikiWikiNewt                - http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
====================================================================

More information about the NewtonTalk mailing list