Use your mobile as a wifi 'hotspot' (JoikuSpot Premium)

Member Name: Patman99

Product:	JoikuSpot Premium
Date:	25/06/09 (194 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy to use (once set-up), cheaper than a dongle. Works with Linux too.

Disadvantages: Have to configure each connecting PC.

What is JoikuSpot Premium?, well, basically it is a program that can turn your symbian-powered mobile phone into a wifi hotspot.
I have a contract with '3' part of which is for unlimited mobile internet. This comes in useful when away from home (and my broadband connection). With JoikuSpot Premium installed on my mobile, I can surf the net on my laptop whilst connected wirelessly to the phone, which in turn is connected to the net.

There is a free version of JoikuSpot available to try, however, this only allows connections to non-secure sites, so accessing Ebid or facebook can't be done. The 'Premium' version, which costs a one-off fee of £17.80, does allow access to secure sites, so it becomes extremely useful.

Options within JoikuSpot allow you to set-up the IP Gateway address (the IP Address that the connecting computer looks for), and the WiFi hotspot name (both of these functions are handy if you are setting it up as an extension to/emergency backup for your existing network). Also within the settings you will find the option to ser the security of the the network , the options being 'Off', 'WEP Open' & 'WEP Shared Key'.

Connecting a wireless device in order to access the net does require a little fiddling, in Windows (XP) you need to configure the computer to connect to 'any available network' (this is done by opening the wireless network icon on the qick launch bar, and selecting 'advanced network configuration' from the left-hand menu, from this, click on the 'wireless' tab & then select 'All available networks' (this is at the top of the list, above 'Ad-hoc' & 'Infrastructure')). Whilst in 'ANC' you will need to manually set-up a network address for the computer (along with the network address of JoikuSpot). This is neseccary because JoikuSpot doesn't act as a DHCP server, so won't issue network addresses to connecting devices.

If you don't configure your PC, then you won't be able to access your new WiFi hotspot as Windows automatically configures itself to connect to 'Infrastructure' networks, whilst JoikuSpot is an 'Ad-hoc' network. This is a bit of a pain, but once done, you don't need to do it again.

It is worth noting that there is a special version specially made for '3' called '3Spot', however, if you install this, you are required to sign-up to one of 3's broadband packages, and when used, it tells 3's server that you are using a laptop instead of the phone itself. The non-3 specific version doesn't require any of this extra costs, and when used, fools the system into believing that you are using your phone to surf the net, not your laptop.

Summary: A handy little utility, especcially if you have unlimited mobile broadband.

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