Nintendo DS, Wi-Fi, and Mickey D's

[WorknMan]

I have never connected my DS to anything, but was interested in doing so. After listening to the RGR show (Nov 2005) where it is said you can connect at McDonalds for free, I figured it might be worth a try (Mario Kart DS), since I don't have a wireless router or the USB dongle thingie. However, when looking at the McDonald's site for free WiFi hotspots:

http://www.mcdonalds.com/wireless/find_hotspot/unitedstates/faq/freewifi.html

I don't see anything available to Austin, TX (where I live). Does that mean it is not available here? If it is available here, where can I get a list of McDonalds locations that have it and instructions on how to connect? The instructions for WiFI access on the McDonalds site mentions firing up a web browser and going to the WayPort page. However, given that the DS doesnt have a browser, I figure there's more to the story than this. It also mentions that some stores require a fee for access, but I thought the DS thing was free at all stores.

For those who have tried it, do people who work at McDonalds know anything about how this service works? From my personal experience, most McDonalds employees around here can barely speak English, so I'm not sure they would be much help in getting me hooked up if I simply walked in and asked :)

[Shane R. Monroe]

There is at least one there:

McDonald's
10732 RESEARCH BLVD
AUSTIN, TX 78759

Use the Nintendowifi.com site to find hotspots.

As for how to do it, man, its NOTHING. Fire up MK, hit NINTENDO WFC, let it find the hotspot, and you're on. You MIGHT have to go to the configuration screen and hit "Search for access point", but I think it will try WITHOUT one configured.

So damn easy ...

[WorknMan]

Well, I know where that is, so I decided to drive over there and give it a try.

I first tried unsuccessfully playing from the car. When I couldn't connect, I tried manually searching for the access point and was able to get on that way. But then I got booted when it was searching for other players. I guess the wireless signal sometimes isn't strong enough outside.

However, when I walked in, it was just as you described - instant gratification. About a minute and a half after turning on the DS from inside the building, I was racing ... and getting my ass kicked :) After two races, I guess two of the people who were racing with me dropped out and there was only two of us on the 3rd race. When the other guy got way ahead of me, I decided to power down and come home - I'd accomplished what I set out to do. Besides, 5 minutes in McDonalds is about all I can take.

Impressions: Well, it definitely works! Only downside is having to play at MicDonalds while surrounded by a bunch of screaming kids. If you're serious about online play, a wireless router or a dongle would be a wise investment :)

[Shane R. Monroe]

Hell yeah .. I'm glad you liked it and it lived up to my hype!

$34 for the dongle, $59 for a nice WAP ... its worth it.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Well I got my Nintendo USB connector a few days ago, The first thing I did was set it up at a friends house with a BT internet connection (He wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and he was suitably impressed), it worked great, smooth, easy, flawless. Then a couple of days later I set it up at my house. Installation went smoothly, but then I tried to connect error code: 52103, tried again same thing happens. Conntacted Nintendo help service advised the usual " the firewall may be blocking the connection etc" I'd already turned the firewall off to try it and still the same problem. Found out what the cause is though, bl**dy AOL. They don't support the service, they've stopped supporting Xbox live, ICS and now this. They are a disgrace I would change ISP's in a blink of an eye but we're tied into a 12 month contract which we can break but have to pay a lump sum for the remaining months (7 I believe).

Is there anyway that I'm going to get this working, i.e bypass the AOL software but still connect to the net. Changing settings? I don't really want to be left with a $40 peice of plastic.

[miner2049er]

Is there anyway that I'm going to get this working, i.e bypass the AOL software but still connect to the net. Changing settings? I don't really want to be left with a $40 peice of plastic.

Would an ISDN router not work or did they cripple that too?

[Shane R. Monroe]

Is there anyway that I'm going to get this working, i.e bypass the AOL software but still connect to the net. Changing settings? I don't really want to be left with a $40 peice of plastic.

I seriously doubt it.

The reason it doesn't work is because it bridges a connection to your network connection (or dial up adapter) to get access. Since AOL doesn't want to play nicely with the other children, you're pretty much screwed. :(

You COULD attempt MANUAL ICS on the AOL Dial Up Adapter, but I doubt it would work.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Would an ISDN router not work or did they cripple that too?

In the voice of mike reid "Sor' ted" Bypassed the aol software by using Microsofts internet connection setup wizard (lesser of two evils). Firewall still got in the way but that wasn't too bad. Routers don't work either, if you connect through AOL's software it wont work. How do they get away with it. Had a great match with some dude, slayed him. I wonder if I can get ICS on my comp and Xbox live for my brother, hmmm.

Thanks for the suggestion though miner, btw City or United? (or neither)

Edit, RE. shane, AOL are dreadful I honestly didn't realise until they cut ICS and the online help ("nah we dont support it", mmm helpful), and where's tabbed browsing, gotta love them. I'm glad i've got it working but is the route i've taken going to cause problems, it seems ok (firefox is running smooth as silk) but I've not used it before. I'm guessing security is going to be an issue

[miner2049er]

How do they get away with it.

By offering fixed price unlimited use. (bribery). I hated it when I used a dial up trial 3 years ago. It got everywhere. You couldn't open anything without that bloody logo appearing. I used to use the software to connect then minimise it and use I.E.


Thanks for the suggestion though miner, btw City or United? (or neither)

Simply Red! (You hate me now right?)

Anyway, see you online (if the damn game ever turns up).

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

By offering fixed price unlimited use. (bribery). I hated it when I used a dial up trial 3 years ago. It got everywhere. You couldn't open anything without that bloody logo appearing. I used to use the software to connect then minimise it and use I.E.

We've been with it since aol 5 on 56k, and honestly I didn't mind it then (it wasn't great but I was happy enough), then they suddenly just started doing all kinds of crap. Then I started using Firefox and thats it when you go back to the AOL browser you see just how dreadful they are, and all the things people say about all comes flooding through. The way they put things across for example "WiFi is when internet waves travel through the sky, oooo".



[QUOTE]Simply Red! (You hate me now right?)

Anyway, see you online (if the damn game ever turns up).

Not at all, its nice to see a Man Utd fan that lives in Manchester. Plus if Rooney plays like he is at the moment Im happy, So long as the real winner is football thats all that matters (what a load of B*ll*cks :D )

Good luck against Burton Albion or Burscough. Tricky :p. See you on line.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Now that the I've got the service up and running and used it for a decent amount of time here's some of my thoughts on the services ('s) and the connector.

Wonderfully effortless, fast and steady.

The first thing that impressed me is how quickly it connected the DS with the online service secondly the range of the WiFi adapter, the device was in the bedroom and I was in the garden and the damn thing still had full bars. It works perfectly anywhere in the house, even in the bathroom (very important place ;) ) with two walls in the way. Mario Kart set on rivals found a match very quickly for the first two but took a while for the third person, this seems to be the case with continental and worldwide but its nothing major. The racing itself was just entertaining as I imagined it would be, there is a massive differnce between AI races and human apart from the difficulty level human opponants are more prone to mistakes, sneaky behaviour or strange behavoir (one guy could have owned me the speed at which he could go but insted he kept rubbing and bumping me :confused: ) Lag wasn't an issue on continental although worldwide suffered, not from game ruining lag but the type with where your fine but some opponants jump around irratically. I love seeing peoples emblems at the start (cheesy yes but still fun, mines still yet to be bettered :p ) overall fantastic fun and the lack of speech or text chat dosn't bother me.

The next game was tony hawk: American Sk8land which again is a fantastic experince online, its not as personal or close as Mario Kart its very often the case that you and your opponant will go your seperate ways and do your own thing until the time runs out. Its a score based challenge split into time catogories (30 sec combo mambo, standered 2 mins, 10 mins endurance etc) you start in a kind of lobby situation where its a freeskate mode, you can use this time to practise certain tricks or use it as a warning by setting some insane combo score. Next either you or you opponant (only 2 people at a time can play) sets the challenge and location, you or they then refuse or accept the challenge. As with Mario no major lag problems (although the end of game combo view does seem quite jerky). Now that side of the online in Tonk Hawk is great but what I really love and where this game differs from Mario Kart is the added little online touches. You can view the official high score board on your DS (updated Daily) when you select a high score you then see a replay of that run. you can download challenges set by the moderators and game makers. You can play a normal classic 2 minute run and upload your score onto the Sk8land website and be submitted for world rankings and most fun is you can make and share art with people online by uploading your board design and graffiti logo's to the site.

Sk8land user boards (http://www.american-sk8land.com/custom_data/listing/?keyword=&type=decks&search_x=51&search_y=14&search=submit&page=1)

http://img.american-sk8land.com/images/custom_data/126551.gif

http://img.american-sk8land.com/images/custom_data/106419.gif

My only concern is how hot the little connecter fellow gets, after extended use it really does get warm (ahh the smell of hot plastic)