Biglobe and WiFi?

[stsparky]

My mother-in-law wanted to surprise me with getting on the internet.

She signed up for Biglobe which locks us into a single user PPPoE mode it seems ...

I'm trying to hook up a Correga G & B wireless router and while I can see the damn thing as a wireless access point - I seem to be locked out from using the internet via it.

I am freezing my big American butt off typing this in the entry. Will try a longer ethernet cable later this evening.

The family is all Mac now - and that seems to confuse everyone else too.

http://corega.jp/index.htm - their website

Does anyone have any ideas?

[RoxFontaine]

Oh, boy. Mac users and their "problem free" computers. If hadn't said that, I could have helped you. I use Biglobe too and we had the same problem setting up. You'll have to find the setup page on your mac. There is a numbered address that you can type in your browser to access it. Your company should be able to instruct you on how to do it and what the number is.

[ミュー]

What is with the Mac-hating? Macs have problems relating to forgetting to rebuild permissions and shit, it's no secret. I use a Mac because it's the only laptop that will withstand being treated like shit with good specs. The visuals are nice, but I have no problem switching into Windows mode... to play games!

[Digital Masta]

What is with the Mac-hating? Macs have problems relating to forgetting to rebuild permissions and shit, it's no secret. I use a Mac because it's the only laptop that will withstand being treated like shit with good specs. The visuals are nice, but I have no problem switching into Windows mode... to play games!

Sometimes I feel Mac is too "idiot-proof" for it's own good.

[RoxFontaine]

^ Exactly. OP9 is known for it's derails so here we go....

A friend of mine got an iMac as a gift. We tried to install some music software on it. After a good hour and a half of being unsuccessful, we gave up. I installed the same program on his old PC laptop in a matter of minutes.

A friend of mine that is a graphic artist is always telling me to switch to Mac. I always refuse. Her laptop recently broke down. She sent it in to Apple for repair. They sent it back with something else wrong. She sent it back to Apple again. They said she needs a new logic board.

What.....the......fuck? The logic board died during return shipping? I don't think I need to tell you how much a new Mac logic board costs.

In the meantime her friend gave her a tower to work with. It needed some new parts though. So she ordered all the parts and installed them and was ready to get back to work. Too bad that computer died too.

[stsparky]

Oh, boy. Mac users and their "problem free" computers. If hadn't said that, I could have helped you. I use Biglobe too and we had the same problem setting up. You'll have to find the setup page on your mac. There is a numbered address that you can type in your browser to access it. Your company should be able to instruct you on how to do it and what the number is.

I've been through that - it's the standard 192.168.1.1 router address.

I can see the damn wifi router thing - it won't let me on it though even though I've jumped their silly hoops. I'm past angry at it. I'm using a 10 meter ethernet cable now - so now I'm away from the frozen entry way where the phone connection is.

As to those of you with issues regarding Apple - try calling the Customer service line and asking for an ombudsman to resolve your problem.

[ST185]

The wireless connection might by encrypted at the moment. You may need to access the AP via cable initially but you might also need a l/p to get into the thing.

I'm not sure how you'd do this on a Mac, but you need to find the IP address of your machine. Usually you can get the gateway address also when you look for your IP address. The gateway address is the address for your router. Although 192.168.1.1 is commonly used, I have seen devices use 192.168.11.1 (Buffalo) or 192.168.2.1.

Since OS X, as I understand it, is a form of Unix, try running the ifconfig command from a command prompt and see if that gets you anything about the gateway address.

[Pierrot le Fou]

I've been through that - it's the standard 192.168.1.1 router address.
That's the problem -- you need to check the instruction package that came with the software from biglobe for the connection. It should have some special address you need to enter to get some sort of special code to activate your account or somesuch nonsense, and I'm pretty sure you have to enter that special number into your internet settings and/or your router settings (probably the latter?).

For those of you shitting on macs with anecdotal evidence, c'mon. I've had my laptop for almost 5 years now. The hard drive died a year back (and warned before it was going to go kaput), and the power cable frayed (a common problem after several years of heavy use apparently), but otherwise is going fine.

As far as the installation based on a single program? Oy vey. Try setting up a PC versus a mac on a university network. Tell me which one is easier to handle then.

[Digital Masta]

For those of you shitting on macs with anecdotal evidence, c'mon. I've had my laptop for almost 5 years now. The hard drive died a year back (and warned before it was going to go kaput), and the power cable frayed (a common problem after several years of heavy use apparently), but otherwise is going fine.

As far as the installation based on a single program? Oy vey. Try setting up a PC versus a mac on a university network. Tell me which one is easier to handle then.

I'll have you know I have my eye on an 8 core Mac Pro thank you very much.

Sure I wouldn't get it if I didn't have bootcamp but there are just certain programs that are Windows only that I use.

[Pierrot le Fou]

Back when I was a lad (pre-Windows), we had a bunch of NEC lying around generally. No problems. My dad taught me how to service them, install new disk drives (3.5" floppies! WOW! High tech!), new power supplies, etc. Then as I moved into adulthood and got my own computers, I had a decent Compaq that had its hard drive die a year in, the CD drive die a year and a half in, and fan problems that killed it around 2 years in.

The next computer was a Dell that lasted 3 years, though the monitor died one year in, the RAM got corrupt around year two, and it died via a motherboard problem after my mother started using it when I came to Japan.

The real clincher though was at work. I was working doing QA for a printer software company outside Boston. My main PC was a hunk-of-junk win98 machine for e-mail, Excel and bug logging. My second PC was a Linux box for software testing. For further testing, we had a bunch of Solaris machines scattered around. Then there was a Mac for testing Japanese font support.

My PC crashed all the time. It was old, a piece of crap, and I had plenty of experience with crashing PCs as a PC user at home. The Linux was nice for doing repetitive tasks (I wrote a perl script to do most of my job for me), but for a personal PC? No thanks. The Solaris machines were obviously well beyond the price range of a normal PC. The Macs, despite their odd lack of a disk drive, had the fewest problems.

I was decided.

I figured that if the thing lasted 3 years, even with the added cost, it would be worth it. I got applecare to make sure it would last, and presto! I had a new machine pre-Japan. What sealed the deal was setting it up. I turned it on, it detected the wireless in my house, and presto! I was all set up.

The only problems I've had:
I had to upgrade the OS once (this was painless, but lots of software was designed for 10.4+, and I had 10.3)
Safari 1.0 sucked (poor Japanese support, poor everything, so I downloaded FireFox)
Said dead HD (3.5-4 years in)
Said dead power cable (4.5 years in)
In the time I've owned it, using it every day, never turning it off, it has crashed under a dozen times. Just think about that. A dozen times.

I don't do fancy stuff, I don't need fancy software, I just need the damned thing not to give me headaches.

[Digital Masta]

You've had some shitty PC experiences. I mean wow...:eyepop:

Back when I was a lad (pre-Windows)

My first computer was pre-Windows...wow that was a long time ago.

[Plekto]

Those power cables do tend to eat themselves. If it's the "yo yo" type, the problem is that the thing is meant to be used with the cable fully unwound. It doesn't get proper cooling to the inverter in in the center of the "yo yo" otherwise.

Other than that, all you'll need to likely replace in the next year or so is the CMOS battery, but those are really easy to do(pop off keyboard, take out, put in, replace keyboard).

P.S. Macintosh is BSD Unix now on an Intel processor. Just there is Apple's own shell and hand-holding involved. But you could easily opt for virtually the same thing with a normal PC running BSD.

[Pierrot le Fou]

The cable frayed around the plug which is one of the reasons they changed the design on the new MacBooks. It shouldn't be a problem with the current generation (nor should the hard drive, as that seems to have been addressed to, though we'll realistically have to wait a couple years).

[stsparky]

BTW - It took 5 minutes to sort out - but it is sorted. Life is good.

We fly back to the US Monday. :(

Maybe try for another 2 1/2 week trip in September. Will alert all when.

[Chuckles]

Is it Bi-Globe or is it Big-Lobe?


Both sound kind of kinky, really, but I can't really figure out which it's supposed to be.

[stsparky]

Is it Bi-Globe or is it Big-Lobe? Both sound kind of kinky, really, but I can't really figure out which it's supposed to be.

I think NTT tried to kanji-zise Big Love.

[RoxFontaine]

My first home computer was an Apple IISE. My first laptop was an Apple G4 Titanium. I used the iMac all throughout technical training and I use Mac at just about every studio I visit.

You said it yourself, PLF. You don't do enough on your Mac to encounter the problems I'm talking about.

It's all personal preference and what one's needs are. My Mom asked me what laptop she should get for my sister (who's pretty much a maniac) and I told her Mac all the way. I don't REALLY hate Macs. I just prefer PC for my needs. I'm still running my desktop with Windows 2000 Pro. With all the music software I run, this thing is a dream. The only thing I've done to it in the 4 years I've had it is upgrade the RAM.

[Pierrot le Fou]

I've got zero problems with people who want PCs because they need some specialized software that just doesn't exist on macs, just like I don't have any problems with Linux users who actually use Linux to the best of its ability/enjoy fiddling around with parts of their OS.

Most users (I'd say upwards of 90%) would be perfectly fine on a Mac, but just don't know any better. That's fine, because if 90% of computer users were Mac users, there'd be so many viruses that one of those splendid aspects of Macs (few viruses) would go away.

You give and take, and all that.

[darighaz]

I think the biggest thing PC's have against them is the utterly crap workmanship that goes into the mainline boxes. Dell/Compaq puts HORRID parts in their machines, and only recently has started to suck less. Which isn't to say they're doing good yet.

[Micah the Great]

I think D-Link routers use 192.168.0.1.

My first PC was a Packard Bell with 500 mb hdd and 4 mb of RAM and Windows 3.11 (for workgroups). It was sufficiently boring... until i got Wolfenstein 3D.

[Kyletherealninja]

I love my iBook. I'm not getting rid of it until it breaks or I run out of HD space that can't be freed up. I'm a casual computer user - no graphics editing, music recording, or any of that stuff. I just do the internet and write school papers, and the occasional emulated SNES game. Macs suit me just fine.

I find the Mac Fanatics annoying, but the Mac Haters are just as bad. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there are many people in the middle.

[darighaz]

I dont perticularly care what comp i use so long as it does what i want it to with minimal effort.

I game a lot, ergo, PC's are the way to go for me.

I can also objectivly list a number of things i dislike on macs, but at the end of the day, if it works who cares.

[stsparky]

My first home computer was an Apple IISE. My first laptop was an Apple G4 Titanium. I used the iMac all throughout technical training and I use Mac at just about every studio I visit. ...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/80/Aztec_%28Apple_II%29_title.png
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4f/Swashbuckler_game_title.png
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2d/Cavern_Creatures_title.png
I created games for the II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datamost) - and ported others to the C-64. Here's a short list of some of the games I was involved with:

1. Aztec (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_%28computer_game%29)
2. Swashbuckler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swashbuckler_%28computer_game%29)
3. Cavern Creatures (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavern_Creatures)

I've worked on tons of computers - I simply can't read Japanese at a technical level and my darling wife is a touch afraid of computers.

[RoxFontaine]

Throoooooowback! I've made a mistake though. The computer I remember definitely didn't have color.

edit: Found it.

Macintosh SE:

http://www.oldmac.de/macse01.jpg

I remember playing Shufflepuck Cafe all the time on it. LMAO!

[stsparky]

Deja Vu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Déjà_Vu_%28video_game%29) is the game I remember most in the SE era. I have my Mac Plus in the closet at the house and a Quadra 610 somewhere at the folk's place.
Here's the new and the old at home in Santa Monica.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2399/2178655815_73921cf482_b.jpg