Wireless networking

Hi all,

My friend and I are considering setting up a wireless link between our apartments. We live about 800 metres away from each other and have LOS. We live in the city in Sydney (William St.)

Currently, we're thinking of getting some 802.11g gear when it comes out mid-year, to take advantage of the faster transfer rates.

Just wondering if anyone has had any experience w/ 802.11x technology, and any recommendations.

Cheers,

stumpy

We just had some folks from Down Under post about 6 links in one of our search catalogs which are all sites dealing with Wireless Networking in Austrailia.

Jump over to http://www.TheCellPhoneStore.com and scroll down to the catalog. They have some pretty informative sites.

Also if you look on google by searching 'Wireless Networking 802.11' you will find alot of other non-prof wireless networking communities.

Have Fun

I'm more after first hand experiences.

I've read quite a bit about various setups etc, and know all about the communities etc, but I'm keen on hearing people's actual experiences with wireless. So far, most reports on it's speed have been very very poor.

Just trying to get as much info as possible before we shell out the $$.

while i dont have a wireless network, my mate does, and well, just to put it this way, hes not impressed. Trying to get a lan game going was a nitemare, as the speed was sooo slow compaired to tradition methods.

From this i no longer want a wireless network.

Very insecure on top of that. There are wireless sniffers that sucks in your information in transit. We just recently had a corporation in DC that got cracked through thier wireless network. From what I have read in the publications, it is pretty simple to do also...

Unfortunately most wireless setups don't come secure by default. Once secure though, they're quite hard to crack. But as usual, your average user doesn't know what they're doing.

Wow, I'm surprised by all the negative experiences...

I setup my wireless network in August (2002), and have nothing but great things to say about it... Although I do experience some periods of slower speeds, it's well worth the mobility offered by the technology.

Keep in mind that 802.11b is rated at 11Mbps, whereas 802.11g is 5x the speed, apx. 54Mbps... So for those who had bad experiences with speed, it was most likely due to the 802.11b network.

The best part about the setup is that I can take my notebook to the 3rd floor in the house, and still access everything (my router is located in the basement)... I've even played CounterStrike while on the 3rd floor, and had very little to no speed problems.

To address the security issue, as was stated by Stumpy, wireless routers come set with the default "open" security. The user needs to enable the WEP (wireless encryption protocol) security, which is either 64-bit or 128-bit... Another thing to disable is the "broadcast" option which broadcasts your wireless id...

Another smart thing to change would be the default LAN IP address, which is normally set to 192.168.1.1... Changing it ensures another level of security.

Stumpy, to answer your question... I would DEFINATELY consider going wireless!

I definately agree on both agruements, that of insecutiry and great service and speed:

However: Wireless Networks were mainly set up for portability and though the Network Infrastructure has over time left potential holes for hackers we need to take into consideration that those who set them up are making money hand over fist and not offering ongoing security support.

I myself being in the wireless industry and IT fields, have setup quite a few infrastructures for large companies and we even ahve to contract outside help to get the security correct.

80% of Wireless Networks do NOT have security firewalls with which to stop 90% of all crack atempts. And the poor statements from people about wireless networks is due STRICTLY to the fact that people have set them up, had bad experiences and start flaming the industry as a whole instead of taking the responsibility to one's self and admitting they did not either know about security or never pursued the learning curve..

It's not really too hard, obviously if you are running anything worth keeping prying eyes away from you should really spend the couple hundred bucks to protect it. "Do You Put Oil in your Auto?" Why? To protect the engine from excessive heat and wear! Same goes for Wireless Networks, PUT THE FIREWALL IN PLACE! To keep the hacks and cracks out!

As for me I give Wireless Networks an A Not an A+.
Why? Obviously it works wonders for particular applications e.g. wireless cafe's. but for the portable office and wireless offices who have prying eyes, they deserve to get hacked for not spending the money to protect theyre investment!!!!

Later all

Wireless is rocking! I run it at my apartment now. There are currently 4 wireless networks surrounding me in my entire complex... My neighbor and I are using it to play games across the link.. We have a 54mbit connection.. and it is secure.. we're using 128 bit encryption on it and change the password once a week to make sure that it's secure..

I enjoy using the wireless because I can use the laptop in any part of my apt or at my friends apt and not have to worry about connectivity :b

there are all sorts of connectivity options as far as antennas. if you're wanting to just go across the street then I would recomend something like a single directional antenna, or you could even go with an omnidirectional.. my friend and I are using two omnis <8dbi, 2.4-2.4835 GHz> antennas for ours.. they cost anywhere from $50 to allt he way up to $10k

check out http://www.synertechstore.com/antennas.html for more information on antennas

but as for my personal experience.. I love it

I have been involved in getting fast internet connections to the more remote villages in Norfolk (England that is). I think i have seen the future of the Net. Community wireless mesh networks check out:
locustworld

with directional antenne you can get upto 30 miles. You guys in the states have less restrictive radio laws so you should be able to reach much further.

Not true. In order to use the bandwidth required for that kind of wireless network you have to buy the "Spectrum" as they call it <The radio wave frequency range you're going to use> or you have to purchase at least PART of it, even then the FCC has regulations as to what distance they can broadcast at, etc.

I work for a wireless company.. Right now Sprint PCS owns the largest chunk of CDMA spectrum...

this from the reg, on a study on WLAN security (or lack thereof) recently conducted by RSA.

Why are there so many clueless people out there?

As with the early internets setup by ARPA, security is not the main concern. It is the free sharing of information.

In any case it is not rocket science to setup 128bit WEP encryption on these networks, which is not unbreakable but does require, time, knowledge and effort.

Once these networks are in place they could provide 11mbps right now. 54 mbps is also available, who knows what it will be at in a few years time. Copper is dead because it has been killed off by money grabbing international telco's who what to reap the profits without sowing the seeds. With this technology we can bypass the big telecoms companies and reclaim the internet back for the people.
The big '.com crash' occured because big business were blinded by dollar signs and tried to use a network that was built on free exchange of information to make money.

Exactly - WEP is SIMPLE to setup - yet 63% of companies are not doing it. People are going to get screwed bigtime over this. Hacking, fraud etc is a piece of cake on an open network, esp if the data is not encrypted - and if they aren't following simple instructions when setting up their WLAN, then it's a safe bet their data ain't encrypted (by encrypted data, i mean SSH).

And now the "Wi-Fi" standard of 54mbps is dead. All the wireless manufacturers are going the way of, as you say, the cooper guys. Greed. They all jumped the gun, getting their 802.11g stuff out before the WiFi Alliance standardised the protocol. Now we are locked into buying certain brands, instead of having the ability to openly share/use whatever equipment we choose.

Frustrating.

I still think its funny that I can sit outside one of the local hospitols and access their lan, and the internet...