Hi All!
I recently removed and replaced the stock Jornada720 dial up modem with a thin Esp8266 running as a open-to-wpa2 wifi-repeater.
The result has taken the J720 in WinCE mode from worthless Internet 'paperweight" to a nifty Paperback Book equivalent by using Frogfind.com to download all sorts of project guttenberg ebooks which I have saved to the storage card and view in either PIE4 or better yet, AIReader2.
And it's all stand alone: no RasPi proxy server
(like WRP for WinCE mode or VNCviewer in Devuan-Linux mode
) is needed. Futher, although it requires an Aironet wifi card or equivalent in "open" wifi mode the Esp8266 can be restricted to only 1 client and dhcp can be set to allow only one ip and mac address. It is an open-to-wpa2 repeater accessible from the browser at default 192.168.4.1 ip, and the ssid connection may be connected or disconnected both from that and even more so from Telnet
(such as Pocket Putty
).
So... connect to your home router, download your desired content, then turn off the ESP8266 connection or put it into "deep sleep" mode, etc. as you read it. Turn the J720 power off and walk away for a while, wifi is off so no worries, return later to resume with instant on and reconnect automatically. Pretty nice to be online in WinCE mode again!
I used a Robodyn Wifi-Nodemcu Esp8266 which is thin enough to readily fit under the J720 Keyboard and it is powered by an adjacent 5v capacitor... so it turns on and off when the J720's power button is pressed.
The Esp8266 circuit board needs to be trimmed with wire cutters about 1/4 inch
(on the antenna end
)and then fits perfectly into the modem recessed area.
Best thing... it looks like a normal Jornada720 with usual wifi card... no dongles, or adapters,etc. Combine this with a WRP proxy server and view complete web pages
(7 to 30 sec page refresh rate depending on WRP server cpu speed
)... even log onto sites as HPCFactor and post responses!
(It's tricky and slow, but it actually works in WinCE mode.
With dual boot option, boot into Devuan-Linux for high speed web browsing and full featured RasPi desktop... as I'm doing now... when you want "full Phaser-Power." But WinCE + Esp866 will get you a basic internet connection as is. Photos, tips and tricks to follow...
joval ...posted from a J72
(8
)/Devuan/WPA/RasPi/Vnc Hybrid HPC
Edited by joval 2022-02-13 2:55 PM