Wifi access with Windows 95

Hello,

I have a Toshiba P1 laptop here with Windows 95 and a Belkin PCMCIA
Wifi NIC. Ive successfully connected to my home network including
enabling it as and internet sharing client. The internet sharing
host is a P11 desktop running Win98SE. I have Opera on the laptop
but no IE.

I now want to use it to access the Wifi connection at my local
library but Im hitting a problem. The NIC appears to be linking
OK to the library access point using the SSID supplied by the staff
there. Im pretty sure I had a good connection. Trouble is, thats
as far as I could get. The library staff were no further help,
they only know about Win2000 and XP.

My understanding is that I should see some sort of login screen
when I start up my browser, Opera. I think this is supposed to
replace the "Home page" of the browser. I dont understand the
mechanism involved in this and its not happening. Opera just
times out looking. Ive tried pinging ftp.demon.co.uk, just to
test the connection but its not recogised. I dont know whether
this is a Win95 problem, an Opera problem or what.

Any advise on solving this would be appreciated. Ive be looking
around on the web for leads but so far have found none.

--
Ian

""Ian."" <ian.freedomnet@spamwonderland.yuk> wrote in message
news:20070616.2123.25765snz@spamwonderland.yuk...
> Hello,
>
> I have a Toshiba P1 laptop here with Windows 95 and a Belkin PCMCIA
> Wifi NIC. Ive successfully connected to my home network including
> enabling it as and internet sharing client. The internet sharing
> host is a P11 desktop running Win98SE. I have Opera on the laptop
> but no IE.
>

Something does not make sense here.
wireless support is not built into win95 or early win98. According to all I
have read, you must upgrade to win98se in order to use wireless on the
client machine. I had to do this on my laptop, and it was quite a headache.
There are no pcmcia cards that I know of that list support for win95 or
early win98. Just about all list win98se and newer versions, but some are
xp/vista only

what exactly is your home network condiguration?
how does you host machine access the internet?
can you connect at home using a wireless router? this is certainly preferred
over using windoze connection sharing

> I now want to use it to access the Wifi connection at my local
> library but Im hitting a problem. The NIC appears to be linking
> OK to the library access point using the SSID supplied by the staff
> there. Im pretty sure I had a good connection. Trouble is, thats
> as far as I could get. The library staff were no further help,
> they only know about Win2000 and XP.

what is your signal strength at the library?
what ip address/gateway is assigned by the library?
what happens when you ping the gateway assigned above?
what happens when you ping an established site like yahoo.com?
are you using windoze or the card utilities to manage connections?

>
> My understanding is that I should see some sort of login screen
> when I start up my browser, Opera. I think this is supposed to
> replace the "Home page" of the browser. I dont understand the
> mechanism involved in this and its not happening. Opera just
> times out looking. Ive tried pinging ftp.demon.co.uk, just to
> test the connection but its not recogised. I dont know whether
> this is a Win95 problem, an Opera problem or what.

sometimes ftp sites do not respond to ping

>
> Any advise on solving this would be appreciated. Ive be looking
> around on the web for leads but so far have found none.
>
> --
> Ian

good luck - I gave up on this and upgraded.

Stuart

SM> ""Ian."" <ian.freedomnet@spamwonderland.yuk> wrote in message

SM> > I have a Toshiba P1 laptop here with Windows 95 and a Belkin PCMCIA
SM> > Wifi NIC. Ive successfully connected to my home network including
SM> > enabling it as and internet sharing client. The internet sharing
SM> > host is a P11 desktop running Win98SE. I have Opera on the laptop
SM> > but no IE.
SM> >

stuart_miller@shaw.ca "Stuart Miller" wrote:

SM> Something does not make sense here.
SM> wireless support is not built into win95 or early win98. According to all I
SM> have read, you must upgrade to win98se in order to use wireless on the
SM> client machine. I had to do this on my laptop, and it was quite a headache.
SM> There are no pcmcia cards that I know of that list support for win95 or
SM> early win98. Just about all list win98se and newer versions, but some are
SM> xp/vista only

Hello Stuart, thanks for your reply. The wifi card Im using is a Belkin
F506020G. It installed ok on Win95 and thats the first version of Win95.
Its just a plain PCMCIA card not a CARDBUS type. CARDBUS cards dont fit
in my laptop so I dont know about them but Id guess you'd be hard pressed
to find one of those that worked with Win95. Theres confusing information
knocking about but I think you need win98se at least as the machine
connected to the internet that shares its connection with other machines
but win95 or win98 is ok as a client. Thats what I have here.
Presumably, youve been successful at connecting your win98se wifi laptop
to your home network but have you got it working with a hotspot?

SM> what exactly is your home network condiguration?

Well, thats a big question ;) Which bit ?
I have a wireless access point connected to an ethernet hub and I
administer that from the Win98se machine. Theres an ordinary NIC in
the machine wired to the hub. Theres also another three machines
wired in. I can access the files on any of these machines from
the wifi laptop and vice-versa. 802.11B BTW not G.

SM> how does you host machine access the internet?
SM> can you connect at home using a wireless router? this is certainly preferred
SM> over using windoze connection sharing

Yup, everything I read suggests that you're right about the router but
at the moment Im accessing the internet via dialup. Theres a modem
connected to the Win98SE machine. Not fast and inefficent when accessed
via the client Laptop, but usable. I dont have broadband yet.

SM> > I now want to use it to access the Wifi connection at my local
SM> > library but Im hitting a problem. The NIC appears to be linking
SM> > OK to the library access point using the SSID supplied by the staff
SM> > there. Im pretty sure I had a good connection. Trouble is, thats
SM> > as far as I could get. The library staff were no further help,
SM> > they only know about Win2000 and XP.
SM>
SM> what is your signal strength at the library?

good; about 80%

SM> what ip address/gateway is assigned by the library?
SM> what happens when you ping the gateway assigned above?

Good point. I should try to find this out from the library staff
if I can find someone who understands what a gateway is.

SM> what happens when you ping an established site like yahoo.com?

pinging ftp.demon.co.uk has worked for me before but I will try
another next time and also try pinging a raw ip address, just in
case, DNS is a problem.

SM> are you using windoze or the card utilities to manage connections?

Theres only one card utility, the Belkin configuration program. Thats
what I use. Its where one enters the SSID, see the signal strength,
switches off WEP etc.

SM> > My understanding is that I should see some sort of login screen
SM> > when I start up my browser, Opera. I think this is supposed to
SM> > replace the "Home page" of the browser. I dont understand the
SM> > mechanism involved in this and its not happening. Opera just
SM> > times out looking. Ive tried pinging ftp.demon.co.uk, just to
SM> > test the connection but its not recogised. I dont know whether
SM> > this is a Win95 problem, an Opera problem or what.
SM>
SM> sometimes ftp sites do not respond to ping
SM>
SM> >
SM> > Any advise on solving this would be appreciated. Ive be looking
SM> > around on the web for leads but so far have found none.
SM>
SM> good luck - I gave up on this and upgraded.

The Laptop couldnt handle 98SE. The thing I really dont understand
is how the hotspot login page comes to be seen in the browser. Is
it some sort of pop up?

--
Ian

""Ian."" <ian.freedomnet@spamwonderland.yuk> wrote in message
news:20070617.2142.25767snz@spamwonderland.yuk...
> SM> ""Ian."" <ian.freedomnet@spamwonderland.yuk> wrote in message
>
> SM> > I have a Toshiba P1 laptop here with Windows 95 and a Belkin PCMCIA
> SM> > Wifi NIC. Ive successfully connected to my home network including
> SM> > enabling it as and internet sharing client. The internet sharing
> SM> > host is a P11 desktop running Win98SE. I have Opera on the laptop
> SM> > but no IE.
> SM> >
>
> stuart_miller@shaw.ca "Stuart Miller" wrote:
>
> SM> Something does not make sense here.
> SM> wireless support is not built into win95 or early win98. According to
> all I
> SM> have read, you must upgrade to win98se in order to use wireless on the
> SM> client machine. I had to do this on my laptop, and it was quite a
> headache.
> SM> There are no pcmcia cards that I know of that list support for win95
> or
> SM> early win98. Just about all list win98se and newer versions, but some
> are
> SM> xp/vista only
>
> Hello Stuart, thanks for your reply. The wifi card Im using is a Belkin
> F506020G. It installed ok on Win95 and thats the first version of Win95.
> Its just a plain PCMCIA card not a CARDBUS type. CARDBUS cards dont fit
> in my laptop so I dont know about them but Id guess you'd be hard pressed
> to find one of those that worked with Win95. Theres confusing information
> knocking about but I think you need win98se at least as the machine
> connected to the internet that shares its connection with other machines
> but win95 or win98 is ok as a client. Thats what I have here.
> Presumably, youve been successful at connecting your win98se wifi laptop
> to your home network but have you got it working with a hotspot?
>

I used the laptop ( compaq presario 1245, purchased in early 2000 ) only at
home with the wireless router. The battery would not hold a charge, and I
could not see buying a new one. Before I could take the machine somewhere
that had a plug in, the monitor cable quit working. I purchased a new
machine right away, as there were so many problems with vista that I decided
to get a unit with XP on it. So, quick answer is, never tried.


> SM> what exactly is your home network condiguration?
>
> Well, thats a big question ;) Which bit ?
> I have a wireless access point connected to an ethernet hub and I
> administer that from the Win98se machine. Theres an ordinary NIC in
> the machine wired to the hub. Theres also another three machines
> wired in. I can access the files on any of these machines from
> the wifi laptop and vice-versa. 802.11B BTW not G.
>
> SM> how does you host machine access the internet?
> SM> can you connect at home using a wireless router? this is certainly
> preferred
> SM> over using windoze connection sharing
>
> Yup, everything I read suggests that you're right about the router but
> at the moment Im accessing the internet via dialup. Theres a modem
> connected to the Win98SE machine. Not fast and inefficent when accessed
> via the client Laptop, but usable. I dont have broadband yet.
>
> SM> > I now want to use it to access the Wifi connection at my local
> SM> > library but Im hitting a problem. The NIC appears to be linking
> SM> > OK to the library access point using the SSID supplied by the staff
> SM> > there. Im pretty sure I had a good connection. Trouble is, thats
> SM> > as far as I could get. The library staff were no further help,
> SM> > they only know about Win2000 and XP.
> SM>
> SM> what is your signal strength at the library?
>
> good; about 80%
>
> SM> what ip address/gateway is assigned by the library?
> SM> what happens when you ping the gateway assigned above?
>
> Good point. I should try to find this out from the library staff
> if I can find someone who understands what a gateway is.
>

You don't need them. Just look up your connection details. XP and 98 do it
differently, as I recall you right click on 'network neighborhood' and look
around, or do /start/run/winipcfg
try it from home first



> SM> what happens when you ping an established site like yahoo.com?
>
> pinging ftp.demon.co.uk has worked for me before but I will try
> another next time and also try pinging a raw ip address, just in
> case, DNS is a problem.

good idea. Ping the sites from home and record the ip addresses, then try
them from the library
you can manually enter a dns server, e-mail me and I can give you a list of
some.
remember that many servers are set not to respond to ping
>
> SM> are you using windoze or the card utilities to manage connections?
>
> Theres only one card utility, the Belkin configuration program. Thats
> what I use. Its where one enters the SSID, see the signal strength,
> switches off WEP etc.
>
> SM> > My understanding is that I should see some sort of login screen
> SM> > when I start up my browser, Opera. I think this is supposed to
> SM> > replace the "Home page" of the browser. I dont understand the
> SM> > mechanism involved in this and its not happening. Opera just
> SM> > times out looking. Ive tried pinging ftp.demon.co.uk, just to
> SM> > test the connection but its not recogised. I dont know whether
> SM> > this is a Win95 problem, an Opera problem or what.
> SM>
> SM> sometimes ftp sites do not respond to ping
> SM>
> SM> >
> SM> > Any advise on solving this would be appreciated. Ive be looking
> SM> > around on the web for leads but so far have found none.
> SM>
> SM> good luck - I gave up on this and upgraded.
>
> The Laptop couldnt handle 98SE.
that's what they told me - but it was just a matter of finding the drivers
for the video and the touchpad.
My copy of 98se was oem, so it would not upgrade, but it did a clean install
just fine

> The thing I really dont understand
> is how the hotspot login page comes to be seen in the browser. Is
> it some sort of pop up?
>

Last week I was travelling, and tried a few wireless hotspots. The hotel
across the street advertised wireless, and their signal was recognized. I
could connect to it just fine. When I opened IE or firefox it brought up a
hotel page which asked me for the access code, which of course I did not
have. It was working as a 'redirect' , it took me to the wireless service
providers page for the login, and I could look around at the providers
advertising, but could not get 'out' without the code.

I don't know how the public, open hotspots do that - I have never tried one

Stuart

stuart_miller@shaw.ca "Stuart Miller" wrote:

SM> > SM> what ip address/gateway is assigned by the library?
SM> > SM> what happens when you ping the gateway assigned above?
SM> >
SM> > Good point. I should try to find this out from the library staff
SM> > if I can find someone who understands what a gateway is.
SM>
SM> You don't need them. Just look up your connection details. XP and 98 do it
SM> differently, as I recall you right click on 'network neighborhood' and look
SM> around, or do /start/run/winipcfg
SM> try it from home first

I found my way through. I used the command line "ipconfig" to find
the gateway and the DNS ip numbers. I could ping them but got no
replies to pings from yahoo or any thing out on the internet. I dont know why
but I suspect a firewall was involved somewhere. When I pinged by
name, the DNS found the number, so that was ok.

SM> > The Laptop couldnt handle 98SE.
SM> that's what they told me - but it was just a matter of finding the drivers
SM> for the video and the touchpad.
SM> My copy of 98se was oem, so it would not upgrade, but it did a clean install
SM> just fine

My laptop is short on memory and HD space.

SM> Last week I was travelling, and tried a few wireless hotspots. The hotel
SM> across the street advertised wireless, and their signal was recognized. I
SM> could connect to it just fine. When I opened IE or firefox it brought up a
SM> hotel page which asked me for the access code, which of course I did not
SM> have. It was working as a 'redirect' , it took me to the wireless service
SM> providers page for the login, and I could look around at the providers
SM> advertising, but could not get 'out' without the code.
SM>
SM> I don't know how the public, open hotspots do that - I have never tried one

This was one of my problems, it turned out. I was expecting a login page
and there wasnt one. The hotspot is really public. However, I discovered
one cant access the web directly, one has to go through their proxy
server. That has to be entered from within Opera. Working now and looks
like pop3 works as well. Whether Ill be successful with a hotspot like
the one tried at the hotel, Ive yet to find out. Thanks for your help
and it does look as though theres some mileage with Wifi and Win95 :)


--
Ian