Wireless Wake on LaN

[pmaxwell]

Hi

I'm just about to connect my home PC's with wireless. Plan is to have ISDN connectivity (not in broadband area) which I can use from both desktop / laptop. Don't want to spend hundreds on a wireless ISDN router (av £250 / $380) so looking for alternative solution. Easiest so far would be to have desktop connected via USB to ISDN and then use that as router.

However, as I want to use my other PC(s) wirelessly, can I get the desktop (in peer to peer or WAP mode) to respond to a WOL request ?

If not, any other suggestions. (BTW, haven't purchased any wireless kit yet pending the outcome.

Thanks

 

[bcastner]

Not with USB.

 

[manarth]

that said, my mother board (asus) supports "wake on USB request" - check your motherboard specs & the specs of the wifi adapter.

<marc> i wonder what will happen if i press this...[ul][li]please give feedback on what works / what doesn't[/li][li]need some help? how to get a better answer: faq581-3339[/li][/ul]

 

[bcastner]

His machine is not hibernating, its off.

Real problem is that the modem will not recognize a magic packet for what it is and trigger the USB line.

 

[pmaxwell]

The question is whether or not a PCI wireless NIC will support WOL so I can 'start' the PC from another location and use as my ISDN router.

 

[bcastner]

If you want the wireless to Wake the system, the answer is also no.

The reason in this case is different from USB. Most of the intelligence in associating ad hoc or infrastructure, authentication, packet disassembly, etc. is handled in software by the running computer.

This is not analogous to sending a UDP magic packet to an IP/Mac combination as in the case of a wired adapter.

 

[bcastner]

You could add a switch, a wired not wireless adapter in the desktop, an access point, and magic packet the desktop that way.

 

[pmaxwell]

Thanks - seems like option B of a WAP with a Cat 5 cable to my desktop NIC seeems like the other option. By doing this, I should be able to send a magic packet over wireless, through the switch in my WAP to my desktop NIC and go from there.

Thanks

 

[pmaxwell]

Ah.....now I'm confused. If found this linkr here (

http://www.orinocowireless.com/products/all/orinoco/client/802.11b_pci/index.html)

which indicates that this card supports WOL even when the PC is switched off.

Any thoughts ?

 

[bcastner]

You are closer, and that is a good find. Be very sure that your computer BIOS supports ACPI, PCI 2.2 or has a WOL header for PCI 2.1, that your OS gives you the options to allow the card to be power managed, and allow the device to wake the system.

If you turn the machine off it cannot re-awaken the PC. The card is limited to awakening the machine from hibernation mode, but not power-off.

 

[pmaxwell]

Not sure of the details but my system should support this. MB is MSI KTV3 (supports ACPI) and OS is XP Professional (SP1).

Only problem now is the cost - only place I can find in UK to supply has the card priced (incorrectly I think) at £140 / $230 !

 

[bcastner]

Let me know how it works out.

Sometimes the &quot;magic packet&quot; is tricky.
There are resources available if you get that far.

Best.

 

[thevillageinn]

can you get an external ISDN modem? and then use that in conjunction with a broadband wired & wireless router? Netgear, SMC, and ZyXel are a few brands which come to mind immediately. If you can get an external ISDN modem which offers a RJ45 output, it would be easy to connect to the WAM port on the broadband router, and then you would eliminate the reliance on the desktop to share internet access.

Since I'm not familiar at all with ISDN and it's modems, this is all just a suggestion.

 

[pmaxwell]

I was hoping to use USB to connect from my router (PC or WAP router) as this allows bonded channels. Since the earlier note, I have purchased a Buffalo Airstation 54G (WAP router) - this may not allow me to connect directly to my ISDN, but has other functionality I want.

Thanks again for the help guys.