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Open Node In A Bag
adelayde writes "You're a wireless network engineer and you work on the run. You need a kit that gives you flexibily yet is light and portable. Style is also important to you. This article (mirrored here) describes just the kit you need, based on modifying the Apple AirPort base station with suggestions for a range of handy antenna attachments and includes component part numbers and prices as well as a complete set of range test results. Just the Jobs for the wireless engineer on the go." Update: 04/08 00:06 GMT by T : Here's another mirror, thanks to the story submitter ;)
Clearly kismet is an essential component....no?
-Rob
This article is pretty pointless to focus on Apple. Unforuntately clueless people will read it and assume that in order to use wireless they'll have to drill and void their warranty. The fact is there are plenty of other products for which none of that is necessary.
/. ran one of these "Mod your Airport" articles however many years ago it was cool but the wireless product landscape was very different then.
The first time
I think anyone who calls themselves a "wireless engineer" should be able to figure out how to put an N connector on an Airport. Unless you mean "engineer" in the "sanitation engineer" sense.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
I wanted to read the article, but I couldn't. One thing to note, Linksys has Airport-like connectors, that you can plug a NIC into and go wireless.
Vertical
72 CD D7 52 D0 7E D8 47 44 91 D5 84 D1 59 F1 A9-This is my 128bit integer. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Some of the newer Airports (AirPort Extreme perhaps) have an external antenna jack. There's even a company selling a matching external antenna, no drilling required.
Unforuntately clueless people will read it and assume that in order to use wireless they'll have to drill and void their warranty. The fact is there are plenty of other products for which none of that is necessary.
My office got a shiny new "Airport Extreme" about two weeks ago. Not only does it have a built in print-server, but it also has an external antenna jack. I wonder how many Airports were returned to Apple service/repair with hole drilled in the sides before the company decided to spend the $0.07 to add an external jack...
Anyone else find it odd that after 12 comments posted, both the main site and its mirror are slashdotted?
Does anyone happen to have made a working mirror of this site yet? How many millions of hits does it take to knock down both a site and its mirror??
being arrested every time someone sees you carrying that thing thinking its a bomb?
i wish to commend the author on mirroring the site, for all those /.'ers that could not beat the rush to the site...
Both the original site and the mirror /.ed in under 30 minutes!
In Soviet Russia, the monkey spanks you!
Slow day today I guess. Maybe someone should triple post the IP header article again.
Troll? FlameBait? Yeah maybe. Like I said... booooring.
If this article confuses you, don't worry. It was posted yesterday in a much clearer fashion.
It's so good, it even mirrors the slashdotted state of the original...
Black and grey are both shades of white.
...of any mirror with "Flakey" in it's URL...
A Minesweeper clone that doesn't suck
No I'm not, and I don't even want to get started down that path to fantasy. I'll just be depressed again when I open my eyes and realize that I'm still in this tiny office , with a job description that is nowhere near as exciting as "wireless network engineer".
I go through these bouts of depression too much as it is with my constant, recurring, and haunting "you are a porn star that will be filming a scene with Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez....." day dreams.
Another mirror:
http://ds.dial.pipex.com/psand/airport/
For all the effort to do this, it is worth it to pay the extra 50 (or so) bucks and get the Airport Extreme with the antenna jack.
How much is your time worth after all?
If it's not worth it then by all means, go ahead and drill.
- Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
does anyone else think its a bad idea to name a server "flakey"?
Know what I like about atheists? I've yet to meet one that believes God is on their side.
but the term "Wireless Solutions Consultant" would be better fitting; after all you have first-hand experience to draw from.
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
More ways for me to crash my car while wardriving and endanger pedestrian warchalkers...
http://www2.es.psand.net/airport/
"Wireless network engineers on the run" generally use something like a PocketPC or Zaurus, together with a CF WIFI card and a collection of wireless and network tools. That's smaller than the AirPort, battery operated, and far more flexible.
Of the two types of Extrreme base-stations, one comes with an external connector as wella s a 56K modem. Where on the unit does the optional antenna connect?
Actually, if a "wireless engineer" showed up with an Airport with a hole drilled in the top, I'd kick him out and tell him to get some real tools. Check out some of Fluke's stuff for starters, like the OptiView. Professional engineers use professional tools.
Part of our policy is to cut down on wires, so until you get some better cross-atlantic wireless shenanigans sorted out, theres not a lot we can do...
Theres a link on the page to an article on the airport extreme
Style? Real engineers don't give a f*ck about style. If it gets the job done, who cares how it looks?
Style is also important to you
Hrm. These must be Apple engineers.
OoOooohhhhhh.... look at that sexy titanium powerbook in the drilling photo!
I think i am going to cummmmm......
This is a pointless /. story.
1. First of all, this 'airport', is really just an RG1100 with a different cover. Sure, you can connect antennas to it. But it's not a "MAC Only" think it's a "Windows thing" that just so happens to have MAC OSX drivers. Google on rg1000 + linux/windows. You'll find several java config tools. Moron.
2. Anyone who really has the title 'wireless network engineer' would know that building homebrew antennas just isn't worth the time. most of them end up sucking, and it's MUCH cheaper to just purchase one online.
3. Anyone who cared about the FCC regs wouldn't do this.
4. To do real LOS tests, you want antenna systems with known gain & radial patterns.
5. You'll want kistmet, as some other posters highly under-rated posted.
or looking inside the cantena when its powered?
Always check the laws for radio transmissions in your country before publically broadcasting radio signals.
:) hehe
so funny
Brokaw: This just in, a recent Slashdot posting appears to have provided links to mirrors, reportedly within the posting itself. Is Slashdot finally taking responsibility for proactively avoiding the dreaded "Slashdot effect"? We turn to our Internet correspondent, Last Mile, for analysis. Last?
Mile: Thanks, Tom. After a series of early morning explosions across the continental United States, in which unsuspecting webservers literally burst into flame following attempted access by over 45 million Slashdot readers, the spiritual head of Slashdot, who goes by the "Internet name" of Commander Taco, has apparently said, "Enough is enough."
CmdrTaco: "Enough is enough."
Mile: By approving a posting which provides multiple sites to serve the same webpage, a process known as a "load sharing" can prevent the kind of catstrophic overloading of webservers traditionally associated with having a link on Slashdot. Will this overloading, called "Slashdotting", become a thing of the past? Only time will tell. Back to you, Tom.
Brokaw: Thanks, Last. Up next, XML: is it as good, or as bad, as it's creators claim? Stay tuned.
The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. - Mark Twain
Does that picture remind anyone else of drug paraphenalia? Looks like some sort of hookah, maybe a small bong on the left...
sig.
umm, read the article. The article was written by a guy in Barcelona, Spain not USA.
US laws don't apply in Spain (yet... is Spain with the US or against it?...). Fair comment to suggest people should check their national laws on microwave antennae but "Off Topic" to suggest a Spanish poster should be aware of US law.
Just another note on point #2: if you're going to build yourself an antenna (which is perfectly doable if the topic interests you), be sure you do it properly. A poorly made antenna, not tuned for the frequency you're transmitting on, can reflect much of the RF energy back into the transmitter. This has the effect of slowly frying the amplifier circuitry in your equipment. It's still worth it to experiment, if you're into experimentation, but if you're going to be doing this a lot, or many times, buy a SWR meter. Your equipment will thank you. (Generally a home-brew antenna is not a cheaper solution in the long run due to the shorter lifespan of transmitting equipment connected to poorly tuned antennas.)
And for those that are interested in hacking things together in this regard, I recommend that you take a few hours to learn some basic RF theory and get yourself an amateur radio license. Depending on the license and your skills, you can hack together an 802.11-style solution on amateur bands and legally skirt many of the power restrictions these devices face (in exchange for other restrictions about how you can use it).
I didn't say this explicitly in my other comment, but there's an efficiency loss here too. If your antenna is reflecting a lot of the energy back into the transmitter, that's energy that isn't being pumped out into the ether. Build your antenna well, and your transmitting coverage area could increase dramatically over a similar, untuned antenna.
I do hate sums. There is no greater mistake than to call arithmetic an
exact science. There are permutations and aberrations discernible to minds
entirely noble like mine; subtle variations which ordinary accountants fail
to discover; hidden laws of number which it requires a mind like mine to
perceive. For instance, if you add a sum from the bottom up, and then again
from the top down, the result is always different.
-- Mrs. La Touche
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