[lug] 802.11b wireless

[Sean Reifschneider]

On Thu, Feb 28, 2002 at 02:16:12PM -0700, J. Wayde Allen wrote:
>I'm setting up for a conference and there are hard wired ethernet
>connections in the conference room connected to a dhcd server.  I've also
>got an 802.11b pcmcia wireless card available.  I'm thinking that it

The wireless stuff operates in two modes.  One is "managed", which is where
the laptops themselves talk directly to an Access Point.  This is the
way that most locations offer wireless networks, and with Access Points
being in the $150 range there's good reason for it.  Usually the APs will
also offer bridging to the ethernet segment, so you're pulling IPs from the
same address space and it just looks like you're on exactly the same
network.

In managed mode, if two wireless machines want to talk to each other, the
traffic goes through the AP.  In extreme cases, this can double the
effective range (or more) because both machines don't have to communicate
directly with each-other.

The other mode is Ad-hoc, and is where machines talk directly to each-other
without the use of an AP.  Unfortunately, this doesn't always work.  For
example, the Prism II cards that efm and I are using won't talk to
each-other in Ad-hoc mode, and will only talk to newer model Orinoco cards
(the older ones used a different Ad-hoc protocol, apparently).  This is
largely due to the Linux driver for these cards, I believe.

So, in theory, with the right cards, you could have good success with
setting up your wireless card in Ad-hoc mode and having it be useful for
some of the conference attendees.  However, you'll need to really publicize
the fact that it's running Ad-hoc and what the settings are -- everyone
will be expecting it to be operating in Managed mode, I'd bet...

Kevin may have some more comments on this, as he originally set up his home
network in Ad-hoc mode, but has switched to using an AP instead.

Sean
-- 
 I hear a cow jack-knifed on the Harley Memorial Bridge...  There was milk
 everywhere.  -- Stephanie, _Newhart_
Sean Reifschneider, Inimitably Superfluous <jafo at tummy.com>
tummy.com - Linux Consulting since 1995. Qmail, KRUD, Firewalls, Python