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Your Own Linux Wireless Access Point
prostoalex writes "Peter Seebach decided to build his own Linux-based 802.11b wireless access point. The article on IBM DeveloperWorks talks about the hardware and software requirements, implementing the operating system on the CompactFlash card, loading Apache and Perl onto the server. The build-it-yourself wireless point is not going to be cheaper than commercially available products, but its educational value is immense." And HaeMaker writes "We have all seen the 802.11b/g booster made from a Pringles can. Well, these guys have taken the idea, put some math behind it to find the optimal can size and have turned it in to a cool product."
Toshiba Magnia SG20
Certainly, rolling your own is a learning experience but this is hard to beat. Where to you get a switch to put in a roll-your-own box?
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
For OS X users I've used KisMAC to find wireless networks with a lot of success. It even has a built in decryption utility, how inconspicuious!
There's also iStumbler and MacStumbler, which I haven't used. And ALL of these have yet to hit v1.0 btw.
the life of CF is limited by writes - for something like this, which should be fairly static (if you keep the boot device RO), it is acceptable.