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Internet Access at Mermaids Dive Center, Pattaya, Thailand

Connection details for new scuba diving intern students

General:

• Mermaids dive school uses a secure wireless ‘wi-fi’ network for day to day business access to the internet and for online training materials, mounted on a large file server system.
• Reception of this internet service extends for approx 50meters around the dive center into nearby bars and restaurants.
• This secure wireless network internet service is also made available for student use free of charge.
• A maximum of 40 users can use the system at the same time.

Connecting to the Internet:

• This is carried out on arrival by Mermaids Engineer. Providing your computer is a reasonably up to date model, entering the code settings to access the internet network resources into your laptop and into the Mermaids file server takes only 15mins.
• It is important to note though that your machine can only connect to the network if the following criteria are satisfied:- 

1. It must have the Microsoft Windows XP SP2 (Service Pack 2) operating system installed. This update can be downloaded free from the web at  http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ (*)
2. It must have all current Microsoft Windows hardware and software ‘critical security updates’ installed. These are downloadable free of charge at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ (**)
3. It must have an IEEE-802.11g wireless LAN card fitted. Note: IEEE-802.11b is not supported because of WEP security problems (***)
4. The IEEE-802.11g wireless LAN card must have the latest software & firmware updates supporting the use of WPA-PSK encryption protocols installed.(****)

Technical Notes concerning updating older laptops to work with modern secure wireless networks:

 (*)           Upgrading to Microsoft Windows XP SP2

·          By downloading the free Windows SP upgrade from the web. This is free but can take 10-20 hours of accompanied download time to implement licking dozens of ‘click to accept this agreement’ buttons on a slow telephone connection.

·          You can also order this upgrade free of charge on CD from Microsoft  at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/sp2/cdorder/en_us/default.mspx

·          You can have a licensed copy of ‘Windows XP SP2 Professional’ operating system installed on your machine at local computer stores for around 8,000THB/US$200. Installing and updating a new WIN-XP installation over WIN-XP SP1 can take many hours. Unlicensed versions are also available from software ‘clone’ shops but are not recommended for European residents due to Microsoft anti copyright fraud actions.

(**)         Installing all ‘critical security updates’

·          This downloads essential code used by the Windows XP, the wireless LAN and other internet security software. These are normally available as a free download from the web. Since finding and downloading these files can often take 1-10 hours. Please download and install these before arriving at Mermaids.

·          If these are not downloaded most computers cannot access the network.

 (***)      Wireless LAN IEEE-802.11g.

·          Your computer must have some means to connect to the wireless network.

·          Only the ‘secure’ MAC addressed WPA-PSK implementation of the IEEE-802.11g ‘wi-fi’ communications standard is supported at Mermaids. Earlier ‘non-secure’ 802.11b versions are not supported.

·          ‘Wi-fi’ cards normally just plug into the side of your computers ‘card-bus’ slot or USB type-II slot.

·          These are available locally for around 2,000THB/US$50.

·          Installation and configuration of one of these cards and the necessary driver software takes approx 15mins-1 hour

 (****)    Wireless LAN Card software & Firmware upgrades.

·          Many older wireless LAN cards do not support WPA-PSK security protocols and cannot be used.

·          To enable this communication technique the wi-fi card must have all the latest software drivers and firmware installed, especially those related to implementation of the WPA-PSK encryption algorithm

·         Downloading and installing the latest software & firm aware updates (if available) takes approx 1 hour.

Mermaids Dive Center Wireless Network Specifications