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Cheap Long Distance Wireless Networking
enkidu writes: "Over at this article on macintouch there are some people who show how to extend Apple's airport range to 7km using legal signal boosting antennae. Connections at 50km+ are also mentioned. With enough base stations, you could even build your own private ricochet network in your neighborhood. " This should work with any WaveLAN cards ...
looks like a fun hack.
Here is a Wireless HOWTO that covers just about everything including what and where to get wireless cards, antennas, cables, design, construction, amplifiers, etc. Look on the links page for all kinds of goodies wireless.
So, the "hack" here is that they drilled a hole in the side of their AirPort to enable them to plug the vendor-approved signal amp into the stock wireless card inside?
Yes, this will work with any WaveLan card. Of course it will, it's a Lucent product that's marketed for this purpose.
Call me back when you're homebrewing your own signal amps out of arrays of power transistors.
This is just like television, only you can see much further.
Actually, the Apple AirPort ***BASE STATION*** is a repackaged Lucent WaveLAN Silver. The $99 AirPort CARDS are so cheap because they're actually missing hardware. The reason those $99 cards require an iBook or certain models of Powerbook is because those models contain the rest of the hardware necessary for the AirPort card to be functional.
Let me be clear: The AirPort CARD that Apple sells at an MSRP of $99 IS NOT A FUNCTIONING Lucent WaveLAN card!
.@.
Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: I don't see why everyone assumes that simply because someone's using Apple hardware, they're not technically capable. Lord knows there are lots of clueless people on both sides of the fence, but there are also lots of intelligent hacker types who just like the way Apple's stuff works. The cases are great for the upgrede-inclined, everything works the first time, every time, and we can run Linux or Virtual PC if there's something we absolutely have to do in another operating system. And that's just the Mac users. Just because you're using an AirPort base doesn't necessarily mean that you use a Mac - AirPort is the cheapest 11 Mbps wireless networking doohickey out there. And it works with all the wireless cards that conform to the spec (which is most of them).
Slashdotters in general don't seem to get the idea that sometimes, once in a while, the best solution to a problem might come from somewhere other than Linus, AMD, or John Carmack. Sometimes Apple hardware is just the best and cheapest way to get a job done.
Or did I just get trolled?
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Not only is it not very fat, it's astonishingly narrow. IEEE 802.11 devices have a tiny little chunk of the radio spectrum - IIRC, only enough for 3 or 4 802.11 devices to be operating in the same area at the same time. This would be next-to-useless for setting up a neighborhood network, and it would probably bug the hell out of anyone else trying to use an 802.11 device nearby, as you would be effectively jamming them.
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I admit I don't know much about the inner workings about the AirPort, but I do know that it uses radio, and I know that there's a finite amount of radio bandwidth out there. I'm guessing here, but I imagine that the chunk of bandwidth reserved for the AirPort can't be very fat.
If everyone started extending the AirPort's range beyond what is allowed (the article quotes 4000 mW), then wouldn't the available bandwidth get congested really fast, causing collisions, and thus breaking connectivity?
Getting the AirPort to work at great ranges would be great at the very beginning, but everything would soon come crashing down. Those regulations and limits are there for a reason, you know.
begin 644
The AirPort and Apple arent the only systems that go wireless. There are others that support IEEE 802.11 DSSS standard.
Check out:
ZoomAir
BreezeNet
SkyLine
MaxTech
...among others.
Perhaps that could be done. I'd just like to point out that before people came along, whales communicated through relayed songs thousands and thousands of miles all over the Earth--and I'm sure they weren't just saying, "hi! hello! age check?" Of course, engine noise and hunting has completely destroyed any remnents of the original world-wide relay chat system.
[pink beam of light]
This is one step toward a fully distributed wireless IP but not the last.
Spread-spectrum wireless ought to take care of the congestion problem. If the power is low enough then the FCC has no business regulating it or requiring licenses--all they should do is certify that the equipment does not have too much noise.
Then each node ought to communicate with its closest neighbors, instead of to a central cell. This way each computer dedicates a bit of its bandwidth and disk to the network, similar to the way Freenet ought to operate, and analogous to the way homeowners are required in many areas to dedicate part of their land for a public sidewalk.
Internet traffic can then hop from node to node, routing around congestion and taking advantage of least-cost routes. Any landlines or satellites used ought to belong to the public and be free to use by all.
I don't know if this is communism or anarchy or libertarianism or just free market capitalism in the extreme, but it sounds to me like the future, and a very interesting one!
For more info on such a project, please see: http://wireless.oldcolo.com/biology/dave-bio.htm, and consult Dave Hughes, one of the real pioneers of computer-based communication.
I'm not opposed to the Macintosh experiments. But we ought to spend some time thinking about how we can take advantage of some of the new technologies such as what Hughes is using, in order to expand our Freedom and use the Internet in a way that maximizes democracy and personal power, at a time when media giants are trying to take it over and make it safe for e-commerce.
Without actual access to the modified equipment, we cannot be sure that it meets the general requirements of 18 CFR 18.305 (or section 3 generally)
For 2.4GHz ISM transmitters, used by consumers, under 500W, the transmitter field strength can be no greater that 25 mV/m at 300 m. Replacing a 9tested) nondirectional antenna with directional could cause this limit to be exceeded in some directions
but how can they (or other LANs) use the ISM band? It was my understanding that ISM was intended for quite different use, and that telecommunications was specifically excluded. Isn't a network 'telecommunications"?
I've heard the 2450 MHz mentioned as a LAN freq. before. Is it possible Apple was just being lazy in referring to it as by the general name ISM, when there's a specific authorization for this use elsewhere in the law. Or is everyone just relying on the fact that ISM is relatively unregulated?
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 4, 301, 302, 303, 304, 307.
Source: 50 FR 36067, Sept. 5, 1985, unless otherwise noted.
Sec. 18.107
(a) Radio frequency (RF) energy...
(b) Harmful interference...
(c) Industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) equipment. Equipment or appliances designed to generate and use locally RF energy for industrial, scientific, medical, domestic or similar purposes, excluding applications in the field of telecommunication. Typical ISM applications are the production of physical, biological, or chemical effects such as heating, ionization of gases, mechanical vibrations, hair removal and acceleration of charged particles.
(d) Industrial heating equipment...
(e) Medical diathermy equipment...
(f) Ultrasonic equipment... for industrial,
scientific, medical or other noncommunication purposes.
(g) Consumer ISM equipment... Examples are domestic microwave ovens, jewelry cleaners for home use, ultrasonic humidifiers.
(h) ISM frequency....
(i) Marketing... covers leasing, sale, etc
(j) Magnetic resonance equipment...
Does someone know the law on this? Because if it's a matter of squatter's rights, the FCC states that even if they certify the equipment, they can yank the equipment off an ISM band, if they decide it isn't a ISM use.
Sec. 18.111 General operating conditions.
(a) Persons operating ISM equipment shall not be deemed to have any vested or recognizable right to the continued use of any given frequency, by virtue of any prior equipment authorization and/or
compliance with the applicable rules.
__________
If you can go to bed, knowing you did a valuable thing today, you're very lucky. If you can't... it's not bedtime
Here is a list of other interesting wireless links
found at FreakTech
Plasma antennas are radiofrequency antennas that employ plasma as the guiding medium for electromagnetic radiation.
DIRC is a self learning, intelligent, and self organising network of small transmitting and receiving stations.
Impulse Radio a whole new wireless medium.
AIRNET Adaptive Interferometric Radio Network Enhancement Technology.
Webgear card pair can be had from outpost.com for $169.
Don't use the Linux drivers on the webgear site, just upgrade pcmcia-cs to 3.0.14-22.
Set up a private subnet on the Linux box and don't bother with the access point -- use peer to peer. There's no advantage to using the access point.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
What's more, the Lucent cards have an external antenna jack on the side of the card. Saves you a little work.
Before ripping a product apart with a dremel tool, check to see that you aren't re-inventing the wheel.
- Some Id10t
(Note: There are no x's in my email address.)
is it legal to actually use it in this manner?
Yes. It is legal to use it in this manner. We in the village have one wireless link that uses old WaveLAN cards to shoot 5 miles (that's 8km). These frequencies are very picky. If you have trees in the way, you have to either use a higher gain antenna or cut the trees down. Snow can cause problems. However, despite the problems, it sure is a lot faster than a phone line, and cheaper on a monthly basis.
We're using 24dB dish mesh antennas on each end due to the tree problem. W/o the trees in the way, we could easily shoot the 5 miles with a simple yagi 15dB antenna on both ends.
Once we get out tower permit, we'll be putting up the anetenna to about 50' above the ground and, hopefully, switching back to the yagi and trying to bring on someone who is 8 miles away. Right now the antenna is only about 20' above ground level. We figured we'd need about 20-30 more to get above the trees. 10' above the roof is easy. 30-40' is much harder.
Ahem. Actually it is *NOT* FCC legal. It seems that there really are very few professional wireless networking people commenting on here, and to those of you who are reading this and feeling as pained as I, this reply is for you!
I will explain the regulations here and hopefully clear up a lot of other misconceptions as well.
The fines for this stuff, BTW, are very very large especially if you muss up and they get you for spurious emissions or accidentally putting out 10W of power or the like. And when you're blasting this thing over a radius of 3 miles, it's not like you're being quiet about it!
2.4 gHz Telephones, 802.11 Wireless Networking, various medical devices, and microwave ovens transmit in the public domain ISM band. This band is a 22Mhz frequency range centered at 2.4gHz. ISM-band equipment may have a total EIRP (Effective Isotropic Radiated Power) of 36dB.
This EIRP number is calculated as a maximum of 30dBi with up to 6dBm of gain at this power. The nice catch is that for every dBi of power you subtract, you can add 6dBm of gain!! This power output can actually be equivalent to about 4W of legal power depending on your antenna gain... as long as your dBi output is less than 30dBi.
So, regulation-wise, yes. It is possible to use 2.4gHz 802.11 radios to go up to 30 miles legally, but why cant you modify your WaveLan/AirPort to go 30 miles? The reason is this:
Because the ISM band is a public-use band, The radio, the antenna, the cable, and the amplification equipment MUST ALL BE CERTIFIED BY THE FCC AS A SINGLE UNIT!!! This means, that if a particular high-gain antenna and/or amplifier is certified to be attached to the Apple AirPort (of which there are none except its internal antenna) then you may legally use it.
The WaveLan range extender is certified for use with the WaveLan equipment, but the apple airport is not a lucent WaveLan Silver in the eyes of the FCC. Thus the wavelan range extender is not certified for use on the airport -- which is what the first modification describes.
The second modification describes attaching 'standard' antennas to the AirPort by manufacturing a special cable that will let you attach to the special connector on the WaveLan card. I should note here that the reason there is a special connector on this card is so that only certified antennas may be connected to it without voiding its warranty and lucent/apple's responsibility for its performance! Am I beginning to make sense here?
The point is simple. When you open the AirPort or your WaveLan card and attach antennas or amplification that is not certified for use with the radio, you are breaking the law. Now, I personally don't really believe in the "certified as a unit" crap the FCC dishes out on public frequency equipment, but it is still the law.
Now, to raise another point.
11Mb radios are currently all DSSS. There aren't any frequency hopping 11Mb radios yet, although the 802.11 standard provides for them. The DSSS radios may use channels that are 2mHz apart, giving them a total of 11 usable channels in the 22MHz ISM band. The problem with this is that there are only 3 non-overlapping channels So to all of you out there who just think that you can extend your range all to hell and back, don't be suprised when four other people in your zip code do the same thing and find that none of you can even use your DSSS WLAN's!
Frequency hopping is another story altogether. FHSS 802.11 radios operate at up to 2Mb and you can co-locate 17 of these radios in one room and you won't interfere! If you want to be very cool to other WLAN users in your area, do check out FHSS radios, as they are much more practical for most WLAN applications. Honestly, if speed wasn't such a big deal to everyone and their dog then we might not even have 11Mb wireless until the Frequency hopping hardware catches up.
Please be responsible with your 802.11! If you don't, you're going to turn the wireless networking industry back to licensed microwave transmitters, and you'll probably just piss yourself off because all the public spectrum is gone.
~GoRK