Wireless Home Networking - Index of

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Part IV: Using a Wireless Network
Going Wi-Fi and portable with Nintendo DS
Nintendo has a nifty handheld gaming console
called the Nintendo DS (it’s Nintendo’s competitor
to the Sony PSP) that features, among many
things, two screens. (Imagine driving in a race
while looking simultaneously out your windshield
and at a bird’s-eye view of your car on the track.)
Like the PSP, the DS has built-in support for
Wi-Fi network connectivity. This connectivity is
now used for hooking up with other nearby DS
users — using a feature of the DS called
PictoChat, which allows you to share drawings
and have text chats.
To make it even easier to get your DS online,
Nintendo has its free Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
service. This service allows you to connect the
DS to your home Wi-Fi network to play a number
of online games being launched with the service
(just as you can connect your Wii to your home
Wi-Fi network).
The coolest part of this service is that Nintendo
is in the midst of launching thousands of free
Nintendo DS-accessible hot spots around the
United States to connect to online gaming when
you’re on the road. The biggest issue you’ll face
with the DS on the road (and this is true for a lot
of portable devices, as we discuss in Chapter 16),
is that you can’t log into Wi-Fi hot spots that
require you to sign in on a Web page for full
access. Nintendo’s own hot spots (they aren’t
actually building their own, but rather have partnered
with some hot spot providers) won’t have
this limitation (you’ll be able to log in automatically).
Go to www.nintendowifi.com/ to find out
where Nintendo has hot spots near you.
Dealing with Router Configurations
So far in this chapter, we talk a bit about the services and hardware you need
to get into online gaming using your wireless network. What we haven’t covered
yet — getting online and playing a game — is either the easiest or the
hardest part of the equation. The difficulty of this task depends on two
things:
� The platform you’re using: If you’re trying to get online with a PC
(whether it’s Windows-based or a Mac), well, basically there’s nothing
special to worry about. You just need to get it connected to the Internet
as we describe in Chapter 9. For certain games, you may have to do a
few fancy things with your router, which we discuss later in this chapter.
If you’re using a gaming console, you may have to adjust a few things in
your router to get your online connection working, but when you’re
using a game console with many routers, you can just plug in your wireless
equipment and go.
� What you’re trying to do: For many games, after you establish an
Internet connection, you’re ready to start playing. Some games, however,
require you to make some adjustments to your router’s configuration.
If you’re planning to host the games on your PC (which means that
your online friends will be remotely connecting to your PC), you definitely
have to do a bit of configuration.