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Implementing WiFi in the Real World
John Jorsett writes "Seduced by the siren song of wireless access throughout the home, many a user has experienced the discrepancy between the manufacturer's advertised claims (150 feet indoors, 300 outside) and real-world implementation (the living room and upstairs bedroom may as well be on different continents). In steely-eyed determination to exercise his inalienable right to network access anywhere on his property, MSN author Paul Boutin hired a Wi-Fi engineer to help him bathe his property in 802.11 waves, using only mass-market consumer hardware."
I don't have internet either. Thanks, Paul, I just looked up your address. Who's up for some wardriving?
Never argue with an idiot, he'll just lower you to his level and beat you with experience.
This is how to do it in 3 steps:
1)Buy a Wireless access point
2) Plug it into a network.
3) Visit slashdot to see how you should have done it.
There is no god
Later that month Mr. Boutin's beloved cat, Fluffy, was taken to the vet after sprouting a second tail.
"It's not all that concerning, no more than this third ear I've grown," said Mr. Boutin of his cat's irregularities.
MSN author Paul Boutin decides apple makes the best products
MSN author Paul Boutin hired a Wi-Fi engineer
Even my mom was able to setup her 802.11b card to use my access card. Are Microsoft employees that daft ?
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Getting an engineer to come and help? A few Pringles cans would have been a heck of a lot cheaper. Geez, those Microsoft guys, always reinventing the wheel.
A Slate article advocating the purchase of AirPort Extreme??
How long until this guy gets 86'ed?
In the meantime, I think he's got a great point. We use Airports in and around our department at my university because a) educational discount and b) easily extendable whenever a new hall would like to be added to the network of base stations.
Mordor...a magical, mythical land where women are more rare than dragons--but where every man would rather find a dragon
Next time I'll bring my coffee to his house to warm it up in the morning.
--Mike--
The first time you dispose of a tedious backlog of e-mail while kicking back in your favorite lawn chair...
Just make sure that your kids don't decide to COWABUNGA all over you and your pricey laptop...
never bring a twinkie to a food fight.
i know this will be beaten to death, but it really is great to be able to cancel your DSL service after a neighbor leaves his wifi unencrypted.
when my phone service was dropped, i threw a d-link access point on the back fence and ran a 50' ethernet cable in through the back window. thanks Laura'sP4! i appreciate your having broadband and a linsys router!
and thanks mr. boutin for not mentioning WEP encryption!
go get it
Everytime I have grabbed my checkbook, and gotten ready to head out for wireless...the articles say "in a few months_____________", the new standard, the longer range, etc. is going to come out, and render my purchase just foolish, and I will be so embarassed I didn't wait.
.g standard is ratified, I'm sure one WAP for only $199 would cover his whole house, and garage and his patio too.
Gee - If he had waited until "this summer" when the new
But, the one coming out after that....
to help him bathe his property in 802.11 waves
How many hits per second during a typical slashdotting session again ? Poor Paul Bouttin must have received a good dose of radiation by now.
Paul, the iodine pills are in your left drawer. Good luck buddy !
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
I'm completely unwilling to come over to his house and configure his AirPort Extreme until he works on that attitude. Looking askance at hardware/software that just works: let him use solutions through his corporate overlord.
Obviously - if you read the article you will see that you need THREE Airports - only $600 or so!
"Paul Boutin hired a Wi-Fi engineer to help him bathe"
taking things out of context is always more fun than adding insightful comments
YOU SUCK BALLS!
And what stoopid trade-off he's proposing. Sure, Airport stations can be both AP's and bridges. But, as he notes...
There's only one major caveat on the AirPort: You'll need a Mac to configure it. Since you'll only need to do this once, though, it's not a big problem. Only a small percentage of us own an Apple computer, but we all know someone who does and never stops reminding us. Not only will your Mac Buddy come over and set up your AirPorts, he'll be hurt if you don't let him. Go ahead, ask him and see.
WTF?! What kind of trade-off is this for a PC owner? Thanks, Paul, you saved me from (gasp!) buying two kinds of hardware, but now I have to call my smug "Mac Buddy" over every time I want to manage it. AND, this smug Mac Buddy of mine has administrative rights on my LAN. I better stop calling him smug.
Airport is great, Macs are great, but this is a horrible solution for the mission he set up for himself: Propose the dead-simplest full-coverage wireless home network for your average (i.e. Windows-using) person.
Ok, so the wireless network, 802.11b or whatever won't do what it is supposed to, go all around your little house. Back when we all had Ham licenses, we had 1000 watt maximums, and could go all around the world. I had only 30 watts, and my signal went to Europe from the Southeastern USA. Seems like this is like the CB'ers problem, only 5 watts. How about pumping your wireless network up to 100 watts, and then you'll go all over the house, yard, etc.
Use a password, and also put some boxes of colored chalk out front for those a go'in warchalking. Have the neighborhood kids set up a Kool Aid stand out there, too, so someone will make some spending money off this.