Nintendo Wifi UK rollout - impressive!

T

Titanio

Legend
Sounds very good - partnering with BT Openzone and Cloud, to bring free DS access for 7,500 hotspots across the UK.

http://spong.com/detail/news.asp?mo...+Standard+With+DS+Wi-Fi+Plans+%96+Full+Report

Nintendo will set up over 7,500 DS Wi-Fi hotspots across the country. Gone are the fears that six might crop in Soho and three more in other boroughs. If you live near other people, you’ll be able to join in. Locations include McDonalds restaurants, Coffee Republic coffee houses, Hilton and Ramada Jarvis hotels, Road Chef and Welcome Break service stations, First Great Western railway stations, over 25 Student Unions and city centre BT Payphones and airports, football stadiums and even the British Library and Canary Wharf.
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Looks like everything is going smoothly with Nintendo's WiFi service. North American WiFi launch in a couple of weeks. I may have to get a second DS for this.
 
Just to add:
The NDS is compatible with every Wayport Hotspot. Plus Nintendo is yet to disclose a list of compatible routers...
 
Half in the UK eh? Guess that shows the importance of the UK market. Though I have to ask, who's paying for this? I'm sure Wayport aren't giving away the bandwidth out of the goodness of their own hearts. Surely there's some advertising going on somewhere, or maybe MacDonalds are covering the bill to attract more custom (like they NEED more custom!)
 
So will these Nintendo WiFi spots only be accessible via DS, or can you connect with your computer as well?
 
Clashman said:
So will these Nintendo WiFi spots only be accessible via DS, or can you connect with your computer as well?
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I'm guessing it uses the DS' propriatary protocol, and thus only supports DS', until it's hacked btw. Which I'm guessing will be done in about a year.
 
Ty said:
I'm guessing it uses the DS' propriatary protocol, and thus only supports DS', until it's hacked btw. Which I'm guessing will be done in about a year.
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..and then patched from the server side...
 
PC-Engine said:
..and then patched from the server side...
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How would this prevent hacking?

If a laptop is already spoofing as a DS, then what would the server patch do?

And unless they update the firmware of everyone's DS, then it will be using the same static protocol, even if the servers are updated.


Clarification:

Do you mean something else? "patched from the server side" = "patching the server" for you?
 
Ty said:
I'm guessing it uses the DS' propriatary protocol, and thus only supports DS', until it's hacked btw. Which I'm guessing will be done in about a year.
Click to expand...

You might have a point there:
Interview with Buffalo Technology

PGC: Can the USB Connector work with other 802.11b/g devices?

MS: Please remember that the USB Connector is under Nintendo brand. Therefore, I can't really make a comment on their branded product. Please ask Nintendo this question as well to make sure.
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It sounds a bit like a there're using a proprietary protocol, to me.
 
Can't be proprietary if DS works with your home 802.11 router, which it does (though with 'compatibility' issues it seems if Nintendo are to post a compatibility list).
 
Clashman said:
So will these Nintendo WiFi spots only be accessible via DS, or can you connect with your computer as well?
Click to expand...

You can access any public hotspot with a computer/laptop, but whether you can do so for free is another matter. Nintendo has arranged so that for DS it is free. For other things like laptops, in many cases, you pay.

These are not Nintendo specific hotspots. These are arrangements to allow DS to access existing hotspots for free.

Also, DS will work with your own router once you set everything up correctly. Nintendo will have guides to setting things up on over 200 specific routers on nintendowifi.com once it goes live - I'm sure in most cases it's trivial.
 
Though I have to ask, who's paying for this? I'm sure Wayport aren't giving away the bandwidth out of the goodness of their own hearts. Surely there's some advertising going on somewhere, or maybe MacDonalds are covering the bill to attract more custom (like they NEED more custom!)
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The majority of the bill will probably be taken care of by companies like MacDonalds yeah. Its well worth it to get millions more people into there 'resteraunts' (if you can call them that). I absolutely hate Macdonalds and have never set foot in one. But I'll be popping in whenever I pass by one if I can play online for free :)
 
hupfinsgack said:
You might have a point there:
Interview with Buffalo Technology

It sounds a bit like a there're using a proprietary protocol, to me.
Click to expand...

Interesting link. Sounds like a dongle.

Shifty Geezer said:
Can't be proprietary if DS works with your home 802.11 router, which it does (though with 'compatibility' issues it seems if Nintendo are to post a compatibility list).
Click to expand...

Two things. 1> I thought the DS has two protocols available to it. A bog standard 802.11b(or g?) AND their own proprietary one. 2> I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that it would connect to consumer routers via the 802.11 protocol but use the proprietary one for the Nintendo hotspots. This assumption could be completely wrong. /shrug.
 
Nintendo recently did a survey of what brand wireless routers/modems people were currently using in order to make their WiFi service accessible with DS using existing equipment. You will have to install a small AOSS app on your PC on your wireless home network. I'm assuming this app will be installed on PCs at thousands of Wayport, McDonalds, hotels etc. hotspots too. I predict this app can be upgraded with new antihack measures/patches and can be authenticated with the server side so that outdated hacked versions of the app won't work.

The Buffalo USB WiFi adaptor for PC/DS are for those who do not already have a home WiFi network adaptor.
 
So I have to have my PC on to use my Wireless router? DS only networks with PC's and not routers directly? Hope not. That's pretty lame IMO. It doesn't sound overly efficient to be running a n hundred Watt big-box PC just to play DS networked.
 
Shifty Geezer said:
So I have to have my PC on to use my Wireless router? DS only networks with PC's and not routers directly? Hope not. That's pretty lame IMO. It doesn't sound overly efficient to be running a n hundred Watt big-box PC just to play DS networked.
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Nope that's nonsense. It works with the routers without the PC on.
 
hupfinsgack said:
Nope that's nonsense. It works with the routers without the PC on.
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Are you 100% sure about that? What's the point of AOSS on the DS side then if you don't need it??? I'm guess the AOSS will automatically updated to the latest version when you logon.
 
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