Pre Purchase question: Wireless Internet

[h.kumar]

Hello all,

I am planning to buy a N900. I have never owned a smartphone before. I have just a few very simple question. You may think these questions are stupid, but it will be helpful if you can answer these for me.

Question1: Will I be able to connect to internet using a broadband connection? Here is the scenario. I have a broadband connection at my home and I connect to internet with a wireless router. What I do with my laptop is this : First I connect to the wireless router. Then I connect to broadband using a username and password. Is connecting to internet possible this way in N900.

Question 2: Is it possible that I create a wireless network in my laptop(which is connected to internet), connect N900 to that wireless network, and then N900 will be able to access internet?

Question 3: In my college, we connect to internet through a proxy server. Will I be able to access internet in my college? That is, is proxy supported in N900.


I know that we can access internet through 3G, but 3G rates are high in my country. Wired internet is cheaper. Answers to these questions will decide if I will be buying a N900, as N900 is not as much of a phone as a internet tablet kind of thing. And if I cannot access internet on it, then its not worth spending so much money.

Sorry for these very basic questions.

[bockersjv]

1. Yes it is exactlly the same as a laptop in that respect, you wuill be abe to connect directly to the router using the user name and password

2. Yes, and you can do this the other way round too :D
3. Yes ther is proxy sever support.

[h.kumar]

Thank you very much bockersjv for the prompt and crisp reply. Now I have no doubts about buying N900. Its really wonderful device. Thanks again :)

[cfh11]

Love to see a new entry to the community, but this has me a bit concerned:

I am planning to buy a N900. I have never owned a smartphone before.

Please do yourself a favor and read extensively in this forum before making your decision. The n900 is a great device but it does not just "work" out of the box. You need to feel comfortable messing around with computers and coming here often for help. Prior experience with Linux doesn't hurt either :)

[sjgadsby]

What I do with my laptop is this : First I connect to the wireless router. Then I connect to broadband using a username and password. Is connecting to internet possible this way in N900.

The broadband login you perform on your laptop, is it part of establishing a PPoE connection? If so, you may be out of luck. Maemo does not support PPPoE over WLAN.

If that doesn't put you off purchasing a N900, you'll need to look into having another device--a router or your laptop--make the broadband connection for you and then share that connection out to your N900.

You can see the thread "How to create a PPPoE WLAN (WiFi dialup) connection?" (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=41469) for previous discussion of this issue, though there aren't any easy solutions within.

[johnel]

If you are prepared to "tinker" with the n900 then you will have alot of fun.

However, if you are looking for a full-featured phone then you need to consider your buying decision otherwise you maybe a bit disappointed.

For me, it's a great portable computer - I'm very happy with it.

What features will you be using and what other reasons do you consider the n900?

[volt]

Interesting though, the things you worry about is the points where the N900 is at it's best, mobile internet.

But read up on it's core "all-phones-have-it" functionality, because that's where it is weak - where you least expect it.

[Frappacino]

Be aware there it is VERY likely there will be no flash 10.1 for n900

So if you want mobile internet to access flash content on the web, avoid the N900 and go for something like a droid phone instead where flash is confirmed (at least for the future).

But if it is for normal webbrowsing (i.e. flash is optional for you) then the n900 is a decent choice.

Just be aware there is very little official support from Nokia - support is in the form of VOLUNTEER help from the forums - so be prepared to search through pages of forum posts to find answers (there are answers for most things).

I emphasize these things because from your questions you dont seem to be very computer literate (no insult intended) so I am not sure whether the n900, which is a hacker/coder's paradise, is suited for you.