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Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector

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The Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector

The Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector is an accessory, developed jointly by Nintendo and Buffalo Technology, which allows Nintendo DS and Wii users without a Wi-Fi connection or compatible Wi-Fi network to establish one via a broadband-connected PC. Inserted into the host PC's USB port, the connector functions as a wireless access point for the Nintendo DS and Wii, permitting the user to connect to the internet and play Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection games online.

Functionality

The USB Connector is based on the RT2500 chipset and as such is different from most other Wi-Fi adapters in that it can operate as a software access point (also referred to as a soft AP). Few adapters can do this under Windows, as Windows lacks both the software necessary to configure a soft AP and capable drivers for natively supported hardware. By bundling the USB Adapter with their own proprietary software, Nintendo was able to overcome this and at the same time greatly simplify the otherwise complicated process of putting a supported device into soft AP mode, configuring it, and routing Internet traffic over it.

While not officially supported by Nintendo, the USB Connector can function as a standard wireless adapter by using modified Ralink or Buffalo Technology drivers. In addition, these drivers also provide support for Windows 9x, 2000, and x64.

Fixes

There are a few glitches that come up when installing. Most can be fixed by going to Nintendo Wifi Home (External Link 11) but there are a few that are more persistant then others. One in perticular has caused pain for many people. If your Nintendo USB Wi-Fi Connector installs to a certain point and then gives you the message "Please Connect the Nintendo USB Wi-Fi Connector to your USB port." You look and see that it is in fact connected and click OK. It then gives you a message saying "Error during Installation" and quits. There is an easy cure that has work most of the time. It is not shown on the official site yet so here it is.

- Go to Network connections, select the adapter that is used for your Internet connection. - Right click, select Properties - Now check if you have "QoS Packet Scheduler" installed/checked. If yes, then select it and click the Uninstall button. This might make your internet connection drop. Don't worry it will reconnect. - Now that "QoS Packet Scheduler" is uninstalled, try to run the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector installer. - After the installation is complete, you can reinstall the "QoS Packet Scheduler" (click Install... , Services, then select the "QoS Packet Scheduler" from the adapter Properties window).

This method is contributeed to the hard work of YAMADAKUN on the NOA Forums. We thank you for showing us that we have not wasted $40 American dollars. Original posting is External Link 11



Criticism

The only operating system officially supported by the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector is Microsoft Windows XP. It does not officially work with the 64-bit version of Windows XP, nor any previous version of Windows, Windows Vista, Mac OS X or Linux [1]. Consequently, many users of unsupported operating systems have voiced their dissatisfaction. While various websites have suggested fixes for the connector, Nintendo has yet to announce an official solution. However, unofficial older Windows drivers and Mac OS X drivers are under development. OpenBSD supports the adapter via the ural driver and has done so since the 3.9 release [2].

Users have also complained of excessive heat from the connector.

The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connector will not officially work with an AOL connection, however many unofficial hacks have been developed in order to make the Wi-Fi connector work with an AOL connection.

When used with Nintendo's official software the SoftAP functionality acquires an internet connection by forming a Bridge with the network adapter in the PC that provides internet access. Unfortunately Nintendo's bridging strategy prevents access to any network shares also on that PC by other computers within the local network.

Wii shop will not work with Dial-up.

Also the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB does not work if certain anti-spyware software is installed on the computer.

Packaging

The USB connector includes a USB extension cable and software CD. Software updates are available online.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nintendo_Wi-Fi_USB_Connector&oldid=116494669"