----- Original Message ----- From: "Benedict Verheyen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 7:21 PM Subject: Re: wireless LAN in place of existing cabled one
> > BruceG wrote: > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "BruceG" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 5:39 PM > > Subject: Re: wireless LAN in place of existing cabled one > > > > > >> > >> ----- Original Message ----- > >> From: "Benedict Verheyen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 3:16 PM > >> Subject: wireless LAN in place of existing cabled one > >> > >> > >>> Hi, > >>> > >>> my current LAN looks like this: > >>> > >>> cable ----- eth0 (public ip) -server > >>> modem eth1 (192.168.0.1) > >>> | > >>> hub > >>> | > >>> | > >>> pc 1 > >>> > >>> My server runs dhcp, apache, exim, fetchmail, webmail and so on. > >>> Now the wife is fed up with the cable running through our living > >>> room up the stairs to my room where the server, the hub and pc1 are. > >>> Now we (she) wants to go wireless. I asked a local dealer and he > >>> works with D-Link equipment more specifically the Di-714P+ or > >>> the Di-614+. This would be the future setup: > >>> > >>> cablemodem --- router --wireless-- server -- hub -- pc 1 > >>> | > >>> -----wireless-- clients > >>> > >>> I have some questions about this: > >>> > >>> > >>> 1. The server acts as a gateway now where eth0 is an ip from my > >>> isp and eth1 is a fixed internal ip where a DHCP daemon is listening > >>> to distribute ip's to the clients (currently pc1 but 1 other pc will > >>> follow > >>> and will be placed downstairs). Now i think i can still use the > >>> server as gateway with the new setup but i will not be able to > >>> secure the LAN with the firewall script that runs on it, correct? > >>> I mean any incoming traffic can immediately go to the wireless > >>> clients without going through the server first, right? > >>> Is there anyway i can solve this? I thought about putting the server > >>> between the cablemodem and the router to accomplish this. > >>> > >>> 2. I saw that there a 2 big differences between the Di-714P+ and the > >>> Di-614+: the Di-714P+ has printer server support (i don't care) and > >>> the built in firewall stuff has SPI (Stateful packet inspection). Is > >>> this > >>> the same as what you would get with iptables? The 614 seems to > >>> lack this. > >>> > >>> 3. Is the network traffic encrypted by default? > >>> > >>> 4. What kernel options do i have to activate to be able to use a > >>> wireless usb card (DWL-120+) . Usb is already compiled in. I'm > >>> not even sure these will function under Linux. Any place i can > >>> find out? > >>> > >>> Thanks > >>> Benedict > >>> > >> > >> Benedict, > >> > >> Double (and triple) check that your wireless cards are supported > >> under Linux. I bought a Linksys 802.11B card only to find out the > >> version I bought (2.6) was not supported, but 2.5 was. My desktop > >> was dual-boot, and it worked fine under Windows. > >> > >> I then bought an 802.11B wireless card that attaches via USB > >> slot. Not supported. Didn't work under Linux. Worked fine under > >> Windows. Then I bought a Liinksys 802.11 A/B/G PCI card and built > >> the madwifi drivers. That one got a signal and kinda worked, but was > >> EXTREMELY slow due to poor reception. > >> > >> To avoid the whole mess, I picked up a wireless media adapter. It > >> has an Ethernet port on it, and just bridges you into a wireless > >> network. It worked, but kept dropping signals. So I returned it. > >> (and all the previous stuff). > >> > >> I finally picked up a wireless bridge. A Linksys 802.11B WET11. > >> It has great signal reception and works extremely well. No dropped > >> sessions, no timeouts. If I use a hub or switch, I can have multiple > >> PCs in the same room and go wireless downstairs. > >> > >> My setup is different than yours: > >> DSL in --> Westell DSL Modem/Router ---> Linksys BFSX41 Router with > >> 4 LAN ports. > >> > >> LAN Side: wired clients downstairs > >> Linksys 802.11G WAP for wireless clients > >> Linksys 802.11G Cardbus card for laptop > >> Linksys 802.11B WET11 Bridge for upstairs > >> clients > >> > >> I have heard of people that use their PC to serve wireless clients. > >> That's a little beyond what I can do. > > > > I forgot to mention a few things. I wanted 802.11G for higher speeds, > > but that's not going to happen over longer distances (like downstairs > > to upstairs). I also found that you don't get 802.11G support without > > compiling madwifi drivers and using a card with the Atheros chipset. > > Mine was pretty expensive (I think $130 or so if I remember right - I > > bet I could have got a LAN drop run for that price!!!). > > > > Since I got an 802.11B bridge, I've read that ALL my 802.11G clients > > throttle down to 802.11B. I'm not sure if that is really so. If so, > > it would have been a lot less expensive to just buy an 802.11B WAP > > and cardbus card for my wife. > > > > If you don't mind using the DLink (or a Linksys) to do your routing > > and dhcp, you can often find the wireless routers cheaper than the > > special purpose wireless WAP. Especially if you decide to stick with > > 802.11B until there is more support for G. Your server would still do > > mail and web, it just wouldn't do proxy and dhcp if you go for the > > wireless router. > > > > My wife loves wireless on her WinXP laptop. To me, it doesn't make a > > bit of difference to my desktop. Actually, for LAN stuff it's slower > > than a LAN drop. > > > > While pricing wireless, also get the price to have a Cat5E cable run > > upstairs. You might be surprised. With the LAN drop upstairs you don't > > change anything on your servers, and still use a hub to support more > > PCs. > > Thanks for the warnings. I'm not going to buy any equipment without > either being sure it works or a "does-not-work-return" policy. > > Would i be able to connect such a wireless bridge on my cable modem > and then have the eth0 of the server connect to the bridge via an usb > wireless network card? I could then pop in another wireless bridge in > eth1 of the server and use that to serve the clients (also wireless). > Or isn't something like this possible? > > Anyway, it seems to me that the simplest thing would be to move > the server downstairs. Then eth0 would still be connected to the > cable modem and i could just install a bridge on eth1 and that would > be it (if that is what a bridge does). > But that's not going to happen since my server will not be allowed > in the livingroom. Might be for the best too. My son is starting > to walk so the server would be in for some kicking. > > Still a bit confused on what hardware components i need but > the wife is getting really tired of the cable. > I think she even deliberatly tries to ware out the cable: it runs > under a door as well and she loves to open and close that door :) > "Look honey, see, the cable is starting to fail here, look, look" > > Benedict > For the wireless bridge to work, it would need to connect to a WAP (wireless access point). Since your Server is upstairs, you could do something like this (assuming your cable or DSL is dropped off with an Ethernet connection, not USB): DSL line in to providers DSL Router/modem (with an Ethernet port, not USB!) ---> Ethernet port to a wireless router - Linksys BEFW11S4 costs $69.99 at Amazon.com. Check out the Broadband forums. Linksys forum is here: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/equip,16 The router has 2 "connections". An Ethernet port to your DSL modem A wireless connection for your home LAN | | V Linksys WET11 upstairs. $84.88 at Amazon.com The WET11 bridge has an Ethernet port for your PC, or connect it to a hub or switch to serve multiple PCs. A couple notes: The Wireless router can serve multiple wireless clients. You can connect a couple wireless bridges to it, or a wireless bridge and also support laptops with wireless cards. My WAP54G supports a bridge and a cardbus card. The wireless stuff I support a church has 2 WET11 bridges connected, a total of 5 PCs bridged in. It can support additional wireless clients. 802.11B is 10 MBPS. 802.11G can go to 54MBPS. You may be limited by distance. I figure since my DSL connection is 256Meg or so - 10 Meg is okay on the LAN side, although it can get slow doing backups over wireless. I'm sure D-Link can do the same using the a wireless router downstairs and a wireless bridge upstairs. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
