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Build a Wireless ISP on Linux

Posted by Zonk on from the do-it-yourself-kit dept.

JuiceMan wrote to mention an article that goes into the the specifics of setting up a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) using Linux and a few easy scripts. From the article: "Wireless clients will have questions, and the Linux-based management tools I'll discuss will help you answer them. Here are some quick examples of how you can answer typical user questions - Question: 'Is the Internet down today? Why can't my browser find www.flakyhost.com?' Solution: First, check your wireless network with the scanap script; it will tell you about the wireless signal quality of all associated clients, including the one that's giving you problems. Then, check IP connectivity with the pingall script; it will tell you about the latency to your ISP's gateway, the DNS, and all your clients, including the problematic one. If these two scripts establish that your network is OK, try www.flakyhost.com."

79 comments

  1. www.flakyhost.com by spamspamspamspam · · Score: 4, Funny

    I still can't reach www.flakyhost.com!

    1. Re:www.flakyhost.com by Libor+Vanek · · Score: 0

      Where can I pick up sarcasm? Somebody is givin' it for free? .-)

    2. Re:www.flakyhost.com by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Alright... who wants some... who's next?"

    3. Re:www.flakyhost.com by Council · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Apparently, nobody's picked up that domain.

      Someone just did. It links to his blog, where he welcomes people to slashdot and poitns out that he's been banned from posting and doesn't know why.

      He appears to generally be a poster in good standing. I wonder why he'd be banned.

      And discussion of something that really happened involving the URL mentioned in the story, even as a joke, doesn't really strike me as offtopic. It's the kind of stuff people like talking about here. But whatever. Way down the page someone saying "hey, flakyhost can't be found" was modded 'troll'. Crazy, crazy world.

      --
      xkcd.com - a webcomic of mathematics, love, and language.
    4. Re:www.flakyhost.com by Super+Nicko · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You can guarentee that you will be able to reach it soon. Surely some /.'er (or evil spam host) will pick it up now!

    5. Re:www.flakyhost.com by Dorothy+86 · · Score: 1

      No need for hostility. All he needs to do is shop Smart. Shop S mart.

      --
      Game Overdrive - Gaming News
    6. Re:www.flakyhost.com by takeya · · Score: 1

      A lot of Pay wireless ISPs, like the WickedWifi ISP they have around here, they require you to input your credit card on a website that loads, and also allow you to access a few websites of
      local interest for free.

      The odd thing is, even though you can't reach webpages, you can still ping websites.

      Well, if you can figure out how to set up an ICMP tunnel on a dedicated machine in your home, you can configure your computer to use ICMP tunnelling (via a shell script to do/undo it if you're the lazy type), and use this internet for free.

      I found a tutorial over at NewOrder very useful in doing this.

  2. ONLY 1 QUESTION by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Why linux?

    1. Re:ONLY 1 QUESTION by suitepotato · · Score: 1

      Because it's 1337?

      Yeah, pretty much that.

      You could do the same with a dozen shareware, freeware, abandonware, and pay programs on Windows. But it wouldn't be 1337.

      --
      If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
    2. Re:ONLY 1 QUESTION by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It would also likely violate your license...

      and hence, be illegal.

  3. How about by hobotron · · Score: 1, Troll


    I know im arguing about usability in a Linux thread, but listen to me, dont tell me about 50 neat little scripts I can use to figure out what is YOUR problem why MY wireless ISP wont work.

    If you must resort to small apps to figure out what the problem is please name them better than scanap and pingall, call them Happy Fix and bundle them all together to report a coherent message to the user and the administrator.

    --
    There is truth in humor.
    1. Re:How about by datafr0g · · Score: 0

      50 scripts? Looked more like 10. Given that the complexity that being running a WISP can bring, and the fact that you wouldn't be using all 10 commands for every single fault, I disagree.
      How does that make the operator unqualified?

      --
      "Who says nothing is impossible? Some people do it every day!" - Alfred E. Neuman
    2. Re:How about by uglyduckling · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Actually, I think it was about 3 scripts... Doesn't sound like you have any experience running a network that's purely wireless with client machines that you have no direct control over. I did do that for 18 months, and never put the time in to write scripts like that - I had to log in to each access point, look at the signal strength to each client, scan through the logs to see if the connection was being dropped. I did all of that by typing a few simple commands at a prompt, but it was a pain in the a**.

      I'm not sure why you think this guy's networking skills are poor, but you seem to have overlooked the fact that he *wrote* those scripts - so he invested some time to save himself some time - sounds like a pretty standard geek response to me. If I every ended up running community wireless again, I would definitely spend the first few weeks writing some simple maintenance scripts before letting the neighbourhood know that there's (nearly-)free wireless available.

    3. Re:How about by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      you have to type commands?? maybe you shouldn't be a network admin. I mean if you can't write network utitllity programs at the ethernet frame level using raw machine code and custom elf headers,typed in binary on your custom two key keyboard then you really don't know enough about networks to administer one.

    4. Re:How about by jgorkos · · Score: 5, Informative

      I run a slightly larger ISP than the article author, but he's really nailed the essence of it.
      In the commercial world, you run carrier grade gear, with SNMP built into it, but I still have original (two+ year old customers) with WET-11 radios installed, and the author's script worked great.
      The most important thing I've learned running a WISP is that people treat it like a utility. When they turn the tap, they expect water, when they flip the switch, they expect light, and when they click "Go", they expect the internet. As the WISP operator, the sooner you stop treating it as a hobby and start treating your service like a utility, the longer you'll keep happy customers. Automating checks and finding problems before they occur is exactly how to do that.
      WET-11s usually fail in two stages, with Stage 1 being a gradual degredation of packet success rate, usually after a "close" (1/4 mile) lighting strike. Stage 2 takes about 4 weeks to reach,and it's total failure. The sooner you catch the degredation, the faster you can respond and keep your customers happy. The article author's scripts aren't too hard to extend and automate to make that happen.

      John Gorkos
      Wildcat Wireless ISP
      DeSoto, KS

    5. Re:How about by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 1, Funny

      typed in binary on your custom two key keyboard

      Bah, two key keyboards are for amateurs. I use a one key keyboard with synchronous communications at 16Mhz.

  4. I'm a bit torn. by mikeophile · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Another WISP provides (expensive) connectivity from a nearby mountaintop, so I decided to subscribe to that service and share the bandwidth and cost with my neighbors.

    On the one hand, yay for him, he's giving his neighbors bandwidth cheaper than his competition.

    On the other hand, I wonder how long he'd be able to resell that bandwidth once his upstream WISP found out what he was doing?

    1. Re:I'm a bit torn. by AndroidCat · · Score: 2, Funny

      Especially when the upstream runs the cheapskate script to locate the problem.

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    2. Re:I'm a bit torn. by datafr0g · · Score: 1

      The article doesn't mention whether they're a commercial, consumer or wholesale WISP. If they're non-consumer based which is probably more likely, then I wouldn't imagine they'd care.

      --
      "Who says nothing is impossible? Some people do it every day!" - Alfred E. Neuman
    3. Re:I'm a bit torn. by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Isn't it great that we live in a society based on free market capitalism yet when someone tries to compete with an ISP immediately someone worries about whether or not they're doing something wrong?

    4. Re:I'm a bit torn. by ciroknight · · Score: 1

      Well the answer's simple really. If you want to start a business around it, get a commercial-grade connection, and sell off. But if you're only serving to your neighbors and such, I really don't think they'd care very much; it only changes a few bucks they'd be getting otherwise. Just to be safe, you could get a "business-grade" connection and sign your neighbors as employees of your not-for-profit ;).

      --
      "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
    5. Re:I'm a bit torn. by div_2n · · Score: 5, Informative

      For a WISP, it's a different story than for a wired line ISP. A WISP only has so much bandwidth for a given frequency whereas a wired line ISP can keep adding massive bandwidth. In order to make a tower site cost-effective, "overselling" the bandwidth is the only way to go at low cost consumer prices. The law of averages says that at any one time, not everyone will be pulling data.

      If someone resells to their neighbors, then they will be more likely to peg their bandwidth slice all the time. As someone else made mention, it isn't a big deal if it is a commercial account because the WISP probably charges a premium for a CIR on the bandwidth as opposed to charging a minimum for a consumer MIR.

      CIR = Confirmed information rate (guaranteed bandwidth)

      MIR = Minimum information rate (best effort bandwidth)

    6. Re:I'm a bit torn. by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 2, Insightful

      In order to make a tower site cost-effective, "overselling" the bandwidth is the only way to go at low cost consumer prices.

      Or you could just limit the bandwidth per day/week/month.

      The internet was designed to be an ad-hoc peer-to-peer network. ISPs need to keep this in mind when they try to restrict reselling. It won't work, because the network wasn't designed to allow it.

    7. Re:I'm a bit torn. by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 3, Informative

      I doubt such an ISP allows reselling of bandwidth. No consumer-grade service allows this in the TOS, a carrier grade connection is required because, as the previous poster noted, you are reselling an oversold connection. A carrier grade connection is a guaranteed bandwidth connection, meaning not oversold.

      A lot of the reason the first ISP in question is expensive is because they have to buy a carrier grade connection and resell that, and it basically cannibalizes their ability to pay for the carrier connection.

      Besides, undercutting the competition using that competition's service, without paying for the rights to do so isn't a fair thing to do, as I noted above, it's actually being parasitic. The fair thing to do would be to buy a proper carrier connection, then resell it.

    8. Re:I'm a bit torn. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When last I checked, SpeakEasy allowed re-selling of your connection, through their own billing system. You hook up your friends, wirelessly perhaps, and they did the billing, cutting you in for a percentage. A while ago, it was 50/50, but I think now it is someting around 75/25 in your favor.

    9. Re:I'm a bit torn. by lucifuge31337 · · Score: 1

      CIR = Confirmed information rate (guaranteed bandwidth)

      Bzzzzzzt.

      CIR = Committed Information Rate

      --
      Do not fold, spindle or mutilate.
    10. Re:I'm a bit torn. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not necessarily true. A fixed wireless service like the author describes does not operate like a Verizon DSL provider. Our fixed wireless provider in Greater Los Angeles charges several hundred dollars a month for T1 speeds through a line-of-sight radio connection. Allowing reselling of bandwidth on the other end is part of their business model, as it opens up a whole new customer base who would otherwise be priced out. By contrast paying 29 bucks a month to your local cable company and reselling service probably violates your contract and is not the scenario the being described in TFA.

    11. Re:I'm a bit torn. by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 1

      Besides, undercutting the competition using that competition's service, without paying for the rights to do so isn't a fair thing to do, as I noted above, it's actually being parasitic.

      I disagree. What is unfair is selling a service and trying to convince your customers not to compete with you.

  5. Re:How about you read what I said by hobotron · · Score: 1, Insightful


    I was refering to client administration. You might want to explain to everyone that encounters a problem why they need to run one of those 10 scripts and what it does, but I smell a support nightmare.

    A lot of people love to concentrate on making something really machine efficient but they soon forget the human element. If you want to run an ISP and not think about the people I dont think I would be leaving it to the "more qualified"

    --
    There is truth in humor.
  6. Hacking the Linksys WRT54G by herve76 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Remember this previous article:
    http://slashdot.org/articles/04/06/01/0640250.shtm l?tid=126&tid=137&tid=193&tid=215&tid=95

    I think the best way to install a wisp is still with WRT54G.

    Hervé Fulchiron
    Zinside, Provider of Open Source solutions
    http://www.zinside.com/

    1. Re:Hacking the Linksys WRT54G by otter42 · · Score: 1

      You're absolutely right. Forunately, as near as I can tell without trying it on a WRT54G, his scripts should work with little to no modification.

      For instance, WRT54G uses iwconfig, so the grepped output in the scanap script is already perfect.

      I've been doing this sort of WISP analysis for a long time with rrdtool, and can even look at pretty graphs for each client showing how long it's been connected, what sort of throughput it's had, and the quality of the connection over the course of the entire year.

      --
      www.eissq.com/BandP.html Ball and Plate System. Amuse your friends. Crush your enemies.
    2. Re:Hacking the Linksys WRT54G by papasui · · Score: 2, Informative

      While the WRT54G may make an acceptable client to a WISP network, running the WISP off one is asking for problems. For starters they get pretty toasty after a while and the processor can't handle the load of a larger network reliably. If your going to go all out and actually start your own ISP at least use a little common sense and purchase hardware designed for that purpose.

    3. Re:Hacking the Linksys WRT54G by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 1

      I think the best way to install a wisp is still with WRT54G.

      I've tried with this unit and I disagree. The radio is weak. There aren't any store-bought wireless networking units that have a sufficient radio for easy long distance.

    4. Re:Hacking the Linksys WRT54G by mikeymckay · · Score: 5, Informative

      The best way to build a WISP with a WRT54G is using the Freifunk Firmware (based on openwrt.org) which builds a routed mesh network with any WRT54G flashed with the same firmware. It is really simple and totally open and free - unlike the Sveasoft weenies. Some howtos on my blog:

      How to setup OLSR (a mesh protocol) with Freifunk firmware on a WRT54G
      Sharing broadband with a WRT54G
      Really simple antennas for the WRT54G

    5. Re:Hacking the Linksys WRT54G by numbski · · Score: 1

      The radio is weak.

      Um...no? It has a 250mw radio in it, but comes stock running at 50mw. DD-WRT will allow you to set it to run at a more sane strength. My issues are cpu and ram related. And heat.

      If you really want to use wrt54g for this, at least make custom enclosures, provide better heat dissipation, and hack a flash connector onto it for more disk space. Still....not sure that is such a good idea.

      --

      Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).

  7. Re:How about you read what I said by datafr0g · · Score: 1

    I agree. I've done IT support for a tech company and noone would care about me asking them these kind of questions. In saying that, it's free so I can't complain. I don't think I'd use it though.

    Here's some sample questions (from your users) and answers from the site.

    * Question: "Is the Internet down today? Why can't my browser find www.flakyhost.com?"
    * Solution: First, check your wireless network with the scanap script; it will tell you about the wireless signal quality of all associated clients, including the one that's giving you problems. Then, check IP connectivity with the pingall script; it will tell you about the latency to your ISP's gateway, the DNS, and all your clients, including the problematic one. If these two scripts establish that your network is OK, try www.flakyhost.com.

    * Question: "Yesterday I downloaded from www.flakyhost.com at speed X. Why do I only get speed Y now?"
    * Solution: To determine if your network is saturated, run the countlog script. It will tell you the day's transaction load history by client and by hour.

    --
    "Who says nothing is impossible? Some people do it every day!" - Alfred E. Neuman
  8. nice article by narkotix · · Score: 0

    Very good article there, simple enough so that it just explains basic principles. Although im in a windows only shop, its good to see what you can do with linux with relative ease (although the same can be achieved with windows but using third party sofware that usually isnt free).

    --
    We played dungeons and dragons for 3 hours.....then i was slain by an elf
  9. Cheap wireless gear (a little OT) by sczimme · · Score: 4, Informative


    Starting yesterday (Sunday), Staples is selling the Linksys BEFW11S4 802.11b AP/router (w/ 4-port switch) for $9.94. Linksys 802.11b Cardbus adapters are now $4.94. Please note these items are 802.11b only. (I imagine they are trying to clear out the older gear.) These prices are for in-store purchases only. I picked up a couple of each for spares - in a pinch 802.11b is 802.11better_than_nothing. :-)

    I'm not affiliated with Staples or Linksys except as a customer.

    --
    I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
    1. Re:Cheap wireless gear (a little OT) by bogie · · Score: 1

      If you don't have a home network where you transfer large files(ie movies and 100MB+files) from client to server all the time, chances are there is absolutely no reason to buy anything but 802.11b. Most broadband is 1.5Mb or 3.0Mb and 802.11b will handle that without much problem.

      --
      If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
    2. Re:Cheap wireless gear (a little OT) by LinuxHam · · Score: 1

      If you don't [..] transfer large files [..] all the time, chances are there is absolutely no reason to buy anything but 802.11b

      Do the newer firmwares bring WPA security to 802.11b? Knowing WEP's weaknesses, I never bothered to run it on b. But since switching to g (yes, I move big files all the time), I also gained WPA security and really like it. My SSID is blank in NetStumbler.

      --
      Intelligent Life on Earth
    3. Re:Cheap wireless gear (a little OT) by Spoons · · Score: 1

      I inherited a BEFW11S4 from my grandfather (yes I am getting tech hand-me-downs from my grandfather), and it does support WPA. I am not sure if it works out of the box, but with the latest firmware (1.52.02 I think), it works great.

    4. Re:Cheap wireless gear (a little OT) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (yes I am getting tech hand-me-downs from my grandfather)

      I don't have any grandfathers, you insensitive clod!! :) j/k

      Seriously, thanks for the info. That's the b unit I used to run. Now, if I can add WPA to my WET-11 client/bridge, I can securely convert my SliMP3 to wireless instead of building an isolated, crippled WEP-encrypted network just to stream music wirelessly. Thanks again.

    5. Re:Cheap wireless gear (a little OT) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By the way, all the Staples near me sold out within an hour of opening.

  10. Similar tools for windows by Exxxodus · · Score: 1

    Since I'm now using windows a lot (because of World of Warcarft) I wonder if there are similar tools for windows. I have trouble with a lot of latency and I suspect that it might be because some other on the net are downloading large amounts of data (as one did admit to me today). I hope that similar tools that run on windows can help me with the problem and let me find out what's causing that high latency. So is there any good wireless tools working on windows similar to these the article mentions?

    1. Re:Similar tools for windows by dlefavor · · Score: 3, Interesting
      I have trouble with a lot of latency

      Are you sure it's latency and not congestion? Large downloads have little effect on latency.

      If, on the other hand, you're using the $5 word "latency" to describe the $.50 symptom "slow", never mind.

    2. Re:Similar tools for windows by czarangelus · · Score: 1

      In case you don't know/are interested, you can run World of Warcraft on Linux using Cedega.

      --
      When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.
    3. Re:Similar tools for windows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and/or play freecraft, a clone of WoW.

    4. Re:Similar tools for windows by Exxxodus · · Score: 1

      I am pretty sure that latency is measured in milliseconds, which is what are very high somertimes. And, I was pretty sure that large downloads had little effect on latency. But I think it is downloaded via Bittorrent or maybe a another p2p client like Kazaa and there might be more information going back and forth with that.

      I usually ping a known server and when the line is ok I get around 30-40 ms. When the line is not ok I get more than 4 seconds in respons. What else is this than latency?

    5. Re:Similar tools for windows by dlefavor · · Score: 1
      I usually ping a known server and when the line is ok I get around 30-40 ms. When the line is not ok I get more than 4 seconds in respons. What else is this than latency?

      Congestion.

      Latency is observed when intermediate nodes on the network add delay due to inherent processing demands in each device that are not related to the amount of traffic, i.e., how much time it takes to process one message. Congestion is caused when the intermediate nodes have to wait to even begin their processing due to the amount of traffic being carried by the medium.

      In other words, a ping of a particular node should experience exactly the same latency every time it is issued - assuming the same network path is followed each time. The response might take longer because it passes through more nodes (which does add latency) or because the network is busy (congestion - devices have to wait) at one or more of the dots or lines on the path.

      Ping is not a very good tool to discover where or why network delay is occurring, only that it is occurring.

      I used to use a metaphor involving a six-lane highway, toll booths, and dump trucks of various sizes filled to various capacities with rocks to illustrate the different networking concepts, but text just doesn't do it justice.

  11. 1 Script to rule them all: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    while true; do
    echo "Try switching it off and on again"
    sleep 120
    done

  12. wifidog + wrt54g by millette · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You can install wifidog, nocat's successor if I may call it that on top of openwrt and voilà, instant gratification. You won't become an ISP, but your users will never know the difference ;) In case you're wondering, openwrt is a replacement firmware for the wrt54g series of routers. It's a small gnu/linux distribution that does its job quite well.

  13. WinXP SP2 blocks ping by default by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    so good luck trying to troubleshoot XP clients
    with that command,
    if there is no captive portal or even authentication why not just use an open ADSL/DOCIS router ? no linux or pc required and will do the same job

    just seems like a complicated way of providing something basic like internet acces

    1. Re:WinXP SP2 blocks ping by default by sedman · · Score: 2, Informative

      You can use arping to debug WinXP. Machines have to respond to arp or they can't get their network traffic.

  14. Why not try out .. by elyobelyob · · Score: 1

    www.locustworld.com ... the basic software is free.

  15. Speakeasy Netshare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And if you use Speakeasy they offer a service where they handle the billing, accounting and email for your wisp. Of course they are in it for themselves but it's much better then some other isp that would TOS ban it and sue you for sharing it. http://www.speakeasy.net/netshare/learnmore/

  16. IN SOVIET RUSSIA by Wh_TiGER · · Score: 1, Funny

    FlakyHost reaches YOU!

  17. 802.11b often much slower on cheap boxes by billstewart · · Score: 1
    I have a Netgear 802.11b router, which on first try gave me 300kbps throughput on wireless (tested at broadbandreports.com), compared to 1.5 Mbps on the wired side (so it's not a CPU limitation.) Partly this is because most of the 4-5 wireless access points I can see from here are all on the same channel. (So I tried to change the channel on the Netgear and found it's a totally cretinous untrustable box with appallingly bad documentation - DHCP doesn't work reliably, etc.)

    I gave up on the thing, and now have a 3Com OfficeConnect 802.11g Travel Router, which gets me nearly-full use of my bandwidth (probably the difference is a bit of latency on the wireless), and looks like it should support much faster networking between my laptop and desktop if I want to do that.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  18. m0n0wall by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am surprised nobody has mentioned m0n0wall. It is based on Free BSD, and seems pretty cool.

    http://www.m0n0.ch/wall

  19. Alternatively use Less by smoker2 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Less Networks have a bootable cd that serves as a wi-fi hotspot server, which takes care of virtually all the hassle. If you are not going to be charging for access, then it's ideal. Forces a re-login every so often IIRC. Runs fine on a P2 with 128Mb RAM. You do need 2 nics (one in, one out) and an access point of course.

  20. Wifi Software by Hellboy0101 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Using a commodity PC, and the software provided free by ZoneCD http://www.publicip.net/, I was able to setup a public Wifi Hotspot in about 30 minutes. Super easy, and gives you granular access levels to grant people different types of access (i.e. Super User, Average Joe, etc.). You can track user logins, and other usage stats via a webpage as well. It sure pissed off my wife to have to log in everytime though!

    --
    Because teenage pranks are fun when you're about to die!
    1. Re:Wifi Software by bheerssen · · Score: 1

      hell, you're just lucky she didn't go over and let the magic smoke out of the thing. Making her log in evertime... sheesh, man, she's your wife.

      Oh, wait this is slashdot... and you said your wife....

      / **head asploding**

      --
      (Score: -1, Stupid)
  21. Metrix Kits by belial · · Score: 1
    Check out Metrix Communication for an updated version of Pebble Linux that includes all the latest tools and drivers plus a shiny new GPL Web GUI.