Today I needed a WiFi connection for my laptop and was running into trouble. No problem, I thought: just use Dial-Up Networking with my N9. But for some reason the DUN service was not working on it, and I was getting desperate. So I turned to WiFi hotspot app JoikuSpot, which I had installed months ago but not yet used. Unfortunately, when I launched it, I got:
Wireless Network
Not allowed
The good news was that someone else got a WiFi hotspot working from their device, and I was able to get Internet.
A quick search later revealed the problem with JoikuSpot: “it causes the unit to go over the SAR limits set by the FCC” according to a poster on Nokia Discussions. SAR stands for “Specific Absorption Rate” and is a measure of device radiation. JoikuSpot apparently exceeds the limits that the US Federal Communications Commission deems safe.
I won’t get into the safety issue, but I would like to choose for myself if I occasionally need ad hoc WiFi (I think I exercise enough caution).
Thanks to the ever-helpful Nokia N9 community, I was quickly pointed to a solution after venting my frustration on Twitter. Maemo community member itsnotabigtruck posted a utility called ad-hac that gets around the FCC restriction. I downloaded the deb file, installed it, started JoikuSpot up and voila! it works now.
Just another great example of how awesome the N9 community is.
Editor-in-Chief. Making tech accessible since the Jurassic. Personal ramblings at texrat.net. Follow @texrat. Disclosure: current Nokia Developer Champion; presently holds NOK, BNSF stocks.
