Re: Stupid wireless questions
On Wed, 2002-09-04 11:03:49 +0200, Yves <yves@rougy.net>
wrote in message <[🔎] 1031130230.418.24.camel@titan>:
> Le mer 04/09/2002 à 10:19, Rogério Brito a écrit :
> >
> > Well, I have some questions here regarding wireless cards,
> > with which I'd appreciate if I got any help.
> >
> > 2 - If one would purchase a PCMCIA card for a x86 notebook,
> > which brands would be recommended, regarding the quality
> > of support under Linux (and also availability)?
>
> I'm not an expert, but I think orinoco cards works fine and have an
> external antenna plug. It can be usefull...
On the other hand the prism2 cards provide software access points and
better monitor mode (e.g. for wardriving) and are cheaper.
> > 3 - Can anything base station be used in place of Apple's
> > expensive base station? Would there be any loss of
> > functionality?
>
> I have an airport card in my ibook, and I have used non-apple bases
> without problems.It's just a matter of channels. My card is a french
> one, so I only have access to channels 10 to 13. If the base is a US
> one, on channel 6 for instance (very common), it can't work, you have to
> switch it to channel 10. Unless if someone know how to "extend" an
> airport card (in which case I am _very_ interested...)
afaik this restriction is in the firmware, get a german or us firmware
and have fun - but think about legal issues (is WEP allowed in france?)
> > I'm not exactly sure if I understand the concept of a base
> > station. To me, all descriptions that I read sound just like a
> > dedicated router (and possibly doing NAT) with ability of
> > connecting via waves (and possibly through ethernet). Is that
> > right?
>
> Sounds like the same to me. However, the firmware in the wireless card
> in the base is somewhat different. ( Yes, open a base, and you will
> probably see a pcmcia connector with a standard 802.11b card in it ;-).
> There is a few more electronics, but the radio part is there...). If the
> firmware is the same, you will have to run in "Had-Hoc" mode which is
> less interesting...
A basestation - or access point - is only a bridge between the cable
annd wireless part. It has a complex software making roaming possible,
extending the bandwith with more than one basestation via ethernet,
and manadgeing the connections (encryption), but mary hardware builders
extend this software with routing, nat and other features you might
like.
> > If it is, then a base station could be substituted with, say,
> > an old computer with another (cheap) wireless card, right?
>
> Yes, but I _think_ (not an expert though), you will have to flash the
> card. Instead you will have to be in "Ad-Hoc Mode" which one permit to
> clients to talk together without a base. But this mode doesn't support
> stats so no signal strength and so on... But I'm sure it's doable...
use a prism card which can be set in accesspoint mode. as rule of the
thumb - if you cant' cover the area you whish to with one access ponint
or have many hosts accessing the wireless network, you should make a
concept with access points and a switched fast ethernet backbone, if not
the old box dose.
AVE!
phils...
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