wifi8x

This is the home of wifi8x, the future TI-84 Plus/Silver Edition driver for USB wireless ethernet adapters.

The goal is full 84+/SE internet connectivity with wireless USB adapters using the Atmel AT76C5XX and Ralink rt2500 chipsets.

Progress updates, beta downloads, etc. will go here (eventually).


plans

Unfortunately, not all USB wireless ethernet adapters are created equal. There are many, many different chipsets out there, not only from different vendors, but sometimes from different revisions of the same product.

To make matters worse, ethernet adapters require a huge amount of power, far more than the 100mA the calculator can provide.

To combat these problems, you can create the >100mA power circuit for a few dollars or use a self-powered hub in between the calculator and USB device.

Further, I only intend to support one, maybe two chipsets (namely the Atmel AT76C5XX and Ralink rt2500 series). This means you will have to find a very specific ethernet adapter to use wifi8x (or maybe you're lucky enough to already have one).

Why these two chipsets? Because I own both. :) The Ralink chipset offers a little more low-level flexibility and opens up the possibility of calculator<->Nintendo DS communication. Also, both have open source Linux drivers that I can study.

And even more, the official Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector, which is fairly easy to find right now, uses the Ralink rt2500 chipset.

This project is a huge undertaking, so I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. :) But feel free to check back from time to time; you can be sure I'll do my best.