Karaoke Forums

No, I am not using ad-hoc networking. I am using a software hot-spot in windows 7. The network connection is reliable (barring interference) almost all of the time.

The network was still working fine. The problem was that when CH shuts down, the server for the kiosks also shuts down, the kiosks don't handle that very well and have to be re-booted. Even if I was printing tickets, that wouldn't be possible until I restart CH, restart the Remote Request Server and then restart the kiosks.

I am using old (5-7 years) Panasonic ToughBooks for kiosks. They do have touch screens and rubberized keyboards. I found them on e-Bay for around $70 each on average. I use D-Link usb adapters so that the older XP systems can "talk" to the current wireless N secured network.
I've also used, and had customers use Iphones, Blackberries, and HTC Droids. They still have to use a kiosk to enter their "performer profile" but after that they use their devices instead of my kiosks.

When the time comes that 10" tablets drop below $100 in price (kindle is already $139), I'll go book-less and have singers "check-out" my songbooks. Maybe I'll just keep a hard copy of the master list.

Ok, I'm curious on the kiosk you guys are using. do they need to be hooked up to the host computer directly? or do they have wi-fi capabilities as well? I'm suffering specifically to the touch screen units some of you have been referring too . And if so, what are some of the model numbers and makes ?

What documentation do you have to support that statement? Wireless networking == Wi-Fi == 802.11. There aren't two different things supported by every laptop. It's all 802.11, aka wireless networking, aka wi-fi. Yes, it has an infrastructure mode and an ad-hoc mode, and there are many differences in security layer and speed depending on the iteration of the standard. But they are all the same thing.

If you want a wi-fi connection that your patrons can instantly connect to with their smartphones, good luck with regular router.

I Mistyped what I meant.... rather than "wi-fi router" I should have said "wifi Hotspot" I believe what this person is looking for is a way for others to connect to a karaoke system with a smartphone...

However, these kiosk systems are NOT "hotspots" you can access with your phone. (You can make them into one... but what a pain in the arse!)

...or you could just run a couple of wires out the COM port.

Most PCs don't come with COM ports any more. Much less the software that allows you to easily use them.

I think he was being sarcastic.

There's a ton of USB>Serial stuff out now that lets you use com ports all day long. Man, I so don't miss the days of switching jumpers for port 3f8 and irq 4 and ooh wait, my sound blaster card is using irq's 7 and port 220, gotta make sure there's no conflicts. Oh what was that VGA irq again? 3? Can't use that.

So much easier these days.

I think he was being sarcastic.

There's a ton of USB>Serial stuff out now that lets you use com ports all day long. Man, I so don't miss the days of switching jumpers for port 3f8 and irq 4 and ooh wait, my sound blaster card is using irq's 7 and port 220, gotta make sure there's no conflicts. Oh what was that VGA irq again? 3? Can't use that.

So much easier these days.

Oh that's a good laugh on me. I wasn't being sarcastic and it just goes to show you how old my karaoke machines are. I never even looked for a COM port on the little Windows 7 moster I'm typing on and now that I do... well, there isn't one. Look to the west, that bright red glow is me.

My first computer was a Trash 80 model I, circa 1978.. then a few years later i'd eagerly await the next issue of Compute! magazine to arrive so I could see what kinds of cool programs I could type in that month.. first on my trusty VIC 20, then on my Commodore 64.

I cut my 'online' teeth logging into BBS's at 300 baud, and who could forget the great D-Dial seven line systems run on Apple II hardware.. seven people chatting at the same time.

I remember getting my first 1200 baud modem in the mail that i'd ordered from one of those cornball 'Protecto Enterprises' ads.. although there were very few local systems I could dial into that supported that high a speed.

The good old days.

I didn't have that experience, my first computer was in "95", an HP (which was on the recall list ) had AOL phone line connection with a blazing speed that could download a program in 24 to 36 hours. The funny thing is that computer is still in use today!