Wireless internet

After a bit of thought, I committed to wireless internet with Clearwire. I'm pleased with the result. I have a faster internet connection and with no fuss!

Clearwire uses a network of transmitters throughout the area. Instead of running a wire to your home and supplying you with a "modem", Clearwire broadcasts the signal and supplies you with a "modem". (The modems are really routers.) The wireless router plugs in to your home network (or your sole PC) and you can start using it without any configuration. For those who are network admins, you *can* program the router for a specific subnet, for serving DHCP, and for port forwarding.

I still have the DSL internet service. I may keep it as a backup service, or I may keep it for the one client that insists on "no wireless".

PCs and networks

I attempted to install Linux on the old IBM A20p Thinkpad today. Several times. I tried Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and SuSE. Each of them failed. During one re-start, the PC displayed the message "Extended ROM failure" with some additional diagnostics. This is bad. The extended ROM is a ROM BIOS thing, not a Linux thing or a driver thing. I'm writing the A20p off as unusable. (I'm sorry to see it go. It had a nice keyboard and a fabulous screen. Today's laptops all have the wide -- or short-height -- screens, and the older, taller displays are better for programming.)

I also visited the local store -- CyberGuys -- and checked out replacement laptops. They have a few, but all in the short-height flavor.

While there, I looked into the Clear Wireless ISP. I have been considering them as a replacement for Verizon DSL, and they seem reasonable. They offer faster speed (4-5 Mbps) at a decent price ($45/month). I checked the configuration settings for the router and it will work with my home network.

So if I start Clear, how long do I keep Verizon DSL? Should I keep it as a backup? Or for work in the office? (The office wants no wireless connection.) A little more thought is needed.