Creating a wireless router with Gentoo and wireless...

Laptops?

I've got a lot hands-on in this department... :') and boxes of wireless stuff
to boot...

The way we handle it is... We avoid the voodoo hardware. That "super-g" 108mb
probably works perfectly in the lab where it was developed or perhaps in a
wireless lan in the middle of a desert. When it's used in everyday
environments, It's just plain old smoke and mirrors and good marketing. I
doubt you'd get any decent range with it, unless you happen to live/work whay
out in the boonies or sit right on the wap...

As for 11.g... it's getting better all the time. :') But in a busy environment
of more than a few users you'd have a hard time keeping connections at
the .11g speed. My experiences with it has proven to me that it has a good
habit of down shifting the link whenever it can. You happen to have any
neighbors with crappy 2gig cordless phone? You can pretty much forget .11g
speed connections unless net load is light.

As for .11b. This is the well established standard that the wold at large is
using and its the one I/we push. That is, unless a customer really, really
objects... Swooned by the voodoo... The .11b hardware brands of choice are
Orinoco and Senao for client laptops and the Aerialix nl-2611_ap3 access
point (build around the Senao SL-2511CD Plus Ext2 card). If you go with the
Senao hardware solution... you'll get 200mw reliability and performance that
is pretty much unmatched in the .11b arena. Priced right too. If you're into
marketing hype, a pair of Senaos running at the max rated txpower of 200mw
will have a range of up to 4000 feet. Plug in a couple of good directional
dishes and I'd be willing to bet you could add another 2000 feet without too
much problem.

What really effects reliability and performance is the environment. The faster
connections suffer when operated in noisy environments, add another wap or
better antennas. Other thing to consider also, is that most every lan
connection to the inet is plain old 10baseT... What good is .11g or superG
when you're bottle necked at the inet port? The only advantage the faster
speeds yield are transfers to or from other users or server in a network...
but the more you have of them, the less reliable they become.

Cheers. Sorry about the shameless plug for Aerialix.com, but I'm really happy
with what they sell and support. The stuff is bulletproof.

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Also, any recommendations for PCMCIA/PC-card wireless adapters that do
802.11g, or even the 108mb versions.

Thanks,

Joost

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*gulp*

I guess I shall be having quite a bit of fun/hair-tearing the next few
weeks. ;)

Any recommendations for a wireless 802.11g (54 Mbps) PCI card that
works _WELL_ in Linux? Thanks!

Howard

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Yes, it's possible to make AP from Gentoo, but ...(not easy).
U have to emerge linux-wlan-ng and read doc/FAQ, where it is written:

Q: Can I use my 802.11b card as an AP under Linux?

Yes, and in the true free software fashion, there are several
ways:

a) linux-wlan-ng supports AP operation by using special tertiary
firmware on prism devices. This firmware is not generally
available, however. Contact Intersil for licensing terms.

b) The Prism2 HostAP driver uses the special HostAP mode of the
prism chipsets. #

c) The OpenAP project, which involves flashing Linux on access
points. #

Good luck and let us know, how it goes !

noro

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All Wireless NICs (I think) can do peer to peer (ie. it's like using a
crossover cable between two ethernet NICs). Check the documentation of
wireless-tools on how to set it up.



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