Misc What is the cheapest way to get my DS on the internets?

[theplasmastorm]

I have a router running on WPA2 and stuff, and my poor little ds isn't compatible with the security. I've been tuning it down to WEP so that my ds could connect, but I've always been paranoid about my router being raped by some random black-van-hacker that I'll only do it near midnight for only a few minutes (I would then turn it back to WPA2).

I don't think my laptop is equipped with whatever special chip it needs for it to broadcast signals that my ds can read. Intel PRO wireless 3945ABG
Nintendo's official wifi usb thing was discontinued and I was thinking about buying some third party one. I'm just afraid that my ds won't recognize it for whatever reason... I've looked on ebay and they're fairly cheap anyways.

Anyone had any luck with some inexpensive 3rd party usb thingy?

 

[Schizoanalysis]

I have the official Nintendo one.

It works fine... just the internet speed is so slow it is painful to use... so I never use it...

PlayAsia sell a third party one, and the reviews may tell you if it works or not...

 

[sn0wfish]

just be careful though.. some of them is a pain to get working. Like my Datel WifiMax

Edit: If you're afraid of the using WEP, maybe you could lock the connection with the DS's MAC address? So only your DS could connect to the router?

 

[VLinh]

How come the NDS Lite dosent support WPA, I tried doing it but it keeps rejecting my ds. I can switch between both types but its quite painful

 

[tk_saturn]

just be careful though.. some of them is a pain to get working. Like my Datel WifiMax

Edit: If you're afraid of the using WEP, maybe you could lock the connection with the DS's MAC address? So only your DS could connect to the router?

Doesn't do much, there's little to stop someone changing their MAC address to that of your DS.

You can also turn off SSID broadcasting, but again i'm not really sure it would slow down a determined hacker.

 

[Rydian]

If they're doing anything but reading a "how to hack WEP" tutorial on youtube or whateverthefuck, then MAC filtering and hiding the SSID won't stop it... then again if you're targeted by an actual hacker, either they're just going to use you as an internet source while parked outside (or whatever), in which case you have no worry, or they're actually after your ass, in which case you have a lot more to worry about than your wireless security method.

If you're paranoid, change it to WEP, and once a day check in your router's settings for the DHCP table. That shows every computer and device that's currently connected to your network one way or another, and IIRC DHCP leases last for 24 hours by default (at least on a standard linksys router), and you can usually change that setting. If it's at the default 24 hours, then on that list you will see any machine that connected to your network in the past 24 hours.


Popular security suites such as norton and such can interfere with those USB wireless devices, which I think is a reason nintendo stopped selling them, since nintendo can't very well tell your parents "You have to get rid of your virus protection so your kids can play online video games".

 

[tk_saturn]

If you're really worried, buy a second cheap wireless router.

Have your main router using WPA2, and the second using WEP. When you want to use WiFI on your DS power on second router, and then switch it off when you are finished. Enable MAC filtering and it should perfectly secure as long as your DS is connected to it, as every MAC address connected must be unique. They won't be able to change to your MAC address until your DS disconnects from the router, and by then you would have already powered off the router.

It's the simplest solution, otherwise see if a neighbour has a router using WEP security...

 

[Masked Ranger]

How come the NDS Lite dosent support WPA, I tried doing it but it keeps rejecting my ds. I can switch between both types but its quite painful

The short and simple answer is it doesn't. Medium answer, Nintendo only made it WEP.

 

[zuron7]

The cheapest way is to use those Dongles but they are too slow and can't be used with everything.
So I recommend using a Wi-Fi router.
The choice of the router is yours as long as it supports the specs of the DS.

 

[dnniwa485]

money wise i recommend a wireless AP router

why? if you sum it up all, the electricity that you used while computer is on vs a AP router. Router is obviously will save electricity and less hassle to make a connection to internet (router do those jobs to be ready to connect to the internet)

while PC is, you need to launch necessary application for to be able AP to be ready. Or worst you might need to mess up a little on your PC's network configuration and might lead to trouble if you done something wrong. (while router, if theres somethings wrong.. reset function will do the trick)