Setting up a WIFI hotspot for your iPad

In my last blog post I promised to recount my experiences setting up a WIFI hotspot in my home so I could use my iPad 2. Since I didn't get 3G, without a WIFI connection this lovely piece of machinery is just a very expensive paperweight, and at only 1.33 lbs not a very efficient one at that!

Yesterday morning, the first thing I did was look at routers on Amazon.com and see what scores folks had given them. The D-Link DIR-601 Wireless N 150 Home Router stood out right away. It had many glowing reviews and was said to be easy to install, just what I was looking for. I would have bought the router from Amazon but it would have taken a couple of weeks for shipping and I wanted one that day.

Two electronics stores in my area I thought would probably have routers were Future Shop and Best Buy. I called Future Shop first but the sales associate said that they didn't have the D-Link DIR-601 in stock and that, in any case, I didn't want that one because it was an older model and he mentioned a couple of other routers I might be interested in. One was twice the price of the 601 and the other had received abysmal reviews on Amazon.com. I thanked him for his time and called Best Buy.

The sales associate I spoke with at Best Buy confirmed immediately that the store had the D-Link DIR-601 in stock but, when I got to the store, I realized he had told me it was selling for 10 dollars more than it actually was. Odd that, but it was a nice surprise. I didn't get any help in the store and was nervous that I would need something else—cables, etc.—to setup the router.

I put my worries aside and bought the router and brought it home. I stared at the unopened box for a minute with butterflies the size of rhinos in my stomach. When I opened the box the first thing I saw was a DVD that had "begin here" in bold white letters on its packaging. I ran the DVD and it stepped me through the install. It only took me about 10 minutes to get my wireless network up and running. I had a bit of a tussle when it came to figuring out the correct password for the network but once that was sorted out I had my very own WIFI hotspot!

If anyone is nervous about setting up WIFI in their home I would highly recommend the D-Link DIR-601 Wireless N 150 Home Router. It does everything I want it to and it was simplicity itself to set up.

Now I'm looking at all the marvelous applications available for the iPad. Hmmm, choices, choices ....

Below is a picture I took on my iPad as I walked along the seawall.