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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."

20 of 79 comments (clear)

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

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

    1. 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!

  2. 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 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?

    3. 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)

    4. 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.

    5. 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.

  3. 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 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.

    2. 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

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.
  7. 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.

  8. 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

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. 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.

  12. 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!