I want to extend some thanks as I post this information, so pay attention to who gets thanked here - three people in particular - Mark, a Voip Community member and reader here, Phoneboy Dameon welch-Abernathy, and David Beckemeyer, aka MrBlog, the PhoneGnome guy for those of you who haven't been paying attention.

Yesterday, a reader, Jack, sent in this question -

Reader Question: PhoneGnome, Wireless, Linksys and Airport network

Here's a reader question I can't answer -

Ken.
I am having trouble finding a wireless bridge to work with my PhoneGnome and Apple AirPort Express system I have at home with our Apple Macs (my wife's G5 iMac and my 15" PowerBook G4). I followed your lead, investigated PhoneGnome, and bought one. The tech folks at PhoneGnome suggested I get a Linksys wireless-G bridge so I could maintain my AirPort network. I did. I got a WBP54G. But when I went to install it, the accompanying CD only works for PCs with Windows. I both called Linksys phone support and wrote Linksys email support.  But
no one could help me, they said, unless I was using a PC. I asked to go up their tech chain, but I guess a $50 customer doesn't carry much weight. I can't believe that a company like Linksys with its resources, expertise and connections would have a device that works only with Windows.

But I am still determined to get the PhoneGnome working in my wireless set up, but I need some direction. Thanks.

Before I could even respond, another reader, Mark, jumped in with a comment offering some assistance. Then Phoneboy (don't let the nickname fool you, Dameon is one of the sharpest people I know), jumed in with this post offering some insights. You have to understand that Dameon had the same gear around, wasn't using it, went and grabbed it and tried to help figure it out cause besides being really bright, he's one of the genuine nicest guys you'll ever meet.

Then today I got email from Jack, the originator with the question -

Ken. The latest: it is working. I had let the phonegnome support folks know what was going on on your discussion board and Dameon Welch's. They reply with a suggestion:

"I don't know if you tried it yet, but there's a small chance,if your net is open, that the bridge will just automatically find it and operate properly, just by plugging it in."

Well, I did. And, behold (with but a little tweaking), I am now a voip user.

Knowing what a huge monolithic company PhoneGnome is (not!), I'm guessin that was David trying to assis Jack in getting things working.

Bottom line, community of interest helped get someone up and running on VoIP gear they were struggling with quickly and painlessly. It's a real demonstration of just how much we all can and do help one another.

Thank you Mark, Dameon and David for the kind of engagement, involvement and just general interest in seeing people succeed that keeps me excited about being involved in the online tech community. You guys are awesome! Kudos


Technorati Tags: Problem Resolved, PhoneGnome, Wireless, Linksys, Airport network, Phoneboy, David Beckemeyer