Tethering on the N900 – Part 4 (Hotspot)
In case you didn’t know, the N900 is capable of creating a hotspot and share its 3G internet connection with other wireless devices. Sharing via a Hotspot is the top-dog of all tethering options. There are currently two ways available to get this set up.
Mobile Hotspot (Free)
Like all maemo.org downloads, this comes free – courtesy of the maemo.org community. Setup however, requires installation of a modified kernel (power-kernel), also available in Extras.
Kernel
1. Install the ‘Enhanced Linux kernel for power users’ package from the Application Manager.
2. Reboot.
3. To verify if the kernel was installed correctly enter ‘uname -a’ in X-Terminal. The output should be something like
$ uname -a
Linux Nokia-N900 2.6.28.10power37 #1 PREEMPT Wed May 26 00:24:03 EEST 2010 armv7l unknown
Un-install however requires a couple of commands on the command-line.
Mobile Hotspot
1. Install Mobile Hotspot from the Application Manager.
2. Launch Mobile Hotspot.
3. Select Connection.
4. Select Hotspot name and enter one.
5. Enable WEP encryption and enter a WEP code (at least 5 characters) if you wish. WEP is insecure anyway!
6. Click Start. When ‘Stop’ appears the hotspot is ready for service.
I often have issues with Mobile Hotspot. My wifi-router requires a reboot every time I run Mobile Hotspot at home. Not sure why that happens. You might also encounter some bugs but the app is still usable. It effectively hides all the complexities involved in the setup.
Joiku (Paid)
A paid application that offers a few more options compared to Mobile Hotspot. I think its on sale in the Ovi Store this month at $4.99.
I plan to close out the ‘Tethering..’ series with a summary that will present most (if not all) the tethering options that the N900 can bring to the table. I hope the posts were useful.
