Network socket

[graham.hughes]

I was recently staying in a hotel, in room with only wired ethernet (no wifi). I had to resort to using GPRS (at international roaming rates) to get connected.

I appreciate that adding a wired ethernet interface would add significantly to the cost of the Redfly, but a USB to ethernet adaptor is not so expensive to buy as an optional extra for anyone who wants that.

I imagine supporting such a device would be a massive software upgrade, but it would seem to add quite a lot to the RF's usefulness for a business traveller.

Graham.

 

[anon159272]

RJ45 port would be great, and shouldn't be hard to implement other than the physical placement of the jack in a case that I would imagine is pretty crammed. WM has drivers for all kinds of network connections built in (settings -> connections -> Wifi - Network Adapters). "NE2000 compatible" has been on that list for as long as I can remember.

The other existing solution is a pocket router. I have the Dlink one; I used it in Hong Kong. It just creates a little Wifi access point in your room. Then you're not tied to the desk in rooms that only have wired ethernet, but it does consume more battery power to use Wifi on mobile devices. Life is all about tradeoffs.

 

[itsy]

I would love to see this as well

Would be interesting if a Compact Flash Ethernet card would work with a USB adapter.

 

[graham.hughes]

This thing? That's a handy piece of kit. But it's a bit more than I need. Well, since it is currently the only option, it is actually exactly what I need, I'm just not sure I can justify ?50. A ?15 usb adaptor would be quite enough, if it could be made to work.

I wouldn't expect Celio to change the hardware... keeping the price down must be a key objective for them (the Redfly being already in the same price bracket as some lower-end netbooks). But the more options we can add to the usb ports, the more we can tailor it to our needs.

Graham.

 

[BengtBeier]

Can't imagine a ethernet to usb adapter to actually work under Windows mobile. I suspect you'd need drivers to make it work which obviously wouldn't run under windows mobile...

And as Wifi and 3G can normally be used it probably wouldn't justify the price of an inbuilt adaptor.

 

[BengtBeier]

Ok, it seems I was wrong actually. I just stumbled across this thing here: http://www.windowsfordevices.com/news/NS9231315053.html

I believe that'd do exactly what you want!

 

[graham.hughes]

Interesting... well spotted!

I wonder if the Redfly's USB sockets actually appear as a USB host adaptor to the the phone, or if they connect through some Redfly magic that only supports mouse and memory stick. I suspect the latter, in which case Celio would need to do some work to make it possible. But only software work, not hardware. I realized there would be need for a driver, but I was assuming that there was a standard USB protocol for network adaptors, so only one driver would need to be developed.

 

[BengtBeier]

That is indeed an interesting question. Windows Mobile does definitely have the capability (software wise) to support USB host functionality built in. The reason why only a few phones use it seems to be that it needs different (and probably more expensive) hardware to make a USB host as opposed to a client.
I'd believe that the USB ports on the Redfly should work like normal USB host ports simply because that's how I'd do it - surely developing own drivers would be more work than using what's already there... But can't be sure...

Which makes me think that maybe Celio should be the ones testing this - I mean if it works, this would be another selling point, wouldn't it?

 

[jwebb56]

Where's one of the handful of Celio employees that monitor this forum? They should have weighed in on this thread by now.

 

[BengtBeier]

After thinking about it a bit more, I believe having the possibility to attach a Redfly/Phone to a wired ethernet might be more important than I though immediately:

One of the central marketing points for the Redfly is that it can be used as a lightweight terminal to access a virtualized environment. At the same time, there are a lot of companies which deploy applications that way but they might only offer wired ethernet in their offices or won't allow access to the network from the outside.
Thinking about this, I imagine that especially the Redfly dock in combination with such a ethernet adapter could be a great way to establish workstations in those circumstances. All you'd need to have at a place would be the dock with the ethernet adapter, a screen, keyboard and mouse and every employee could simply pop in their phone and have direct access to their applications. I mean, think about the advantages: No stationary computers or thin clients, very low costs for the hardware (only a dock and an ethernet adapter), hardly any administrative costs, secure, quick and easy access to applications for employees (if the Redfly had an option to automatically launch the virtualization client software when a phone is connected, logging in could be as easy as popping the phone into the docking station)...

I mean, this could be a real winning solution here!

 

[graham.hughes]

I agree, I think there are quite a few situations where a wired connection makes more sense, and it's a feature that laptops/netbooks can potentially offer and the Redfly can't. If it can be implemented in software alone, it would be a significant feature.

 

[Aware]

I can't remember the last time I wanted or needed to connect my laptop to a nework via ethernet. For at least 6 or 7 years I've either used wireless or tethered to my cell phone.

 

[Tiredone]

While my girlfriend who is also a Redfly user was in the hospital they provided wired Ethernet internet access but NO wifi is allowed NOR is 3G or other wireless signals. If there was a usb connectible Ethernet dongle and a driver available she could have put her Tilt in Airplane mode and happily used it for hours on end. There are times when wireless is simply not available but wired is.

 

[graham.hughes]

I've quite often stayed in hotels that provide only wired access in the room. (Maybe there's wifi, but only in the lobby, or only if you pay €20 for 24 hours access.) As BengtBeier mentioned, there are IT departments who feel that wifi is not secure enough, or who don't like to supply their WEP key to outsiders who have to come and work in their office for a few days. And plenty of countries where mobile data is expensive (especially if you're roaming).