looking to setup a wifi network

[Bryan C. Andregg]

--Ov8FaLoBmnU9yDA5
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

On Sun, Nov 24, 2002 at 11:31:06AM -0800, Joseph Mack NA3T mailed:
> since the setup will be only used once a year, I would like the hardware
> to at least be useable (not obsolete) for 5yrs. (I also would like this to
> be as cheap as possible). I understand new wireless cards are coming out
> at 2.4GHz. A they going to obsolete current cards in a year or 2?

This is hard to say. The current standard 802.11 has three branchs: 'a', wh=
ich
is older and you don't need to worry about, 'b' which is the current default
standard (128k encryption possible, 200 m coverage, 11 Mbit) think airport
starbucks every damn card in use these days, and 'g' the new standard which
offers much faster connectivity but over much lower distances. This is the =
new
set of gear linksys has out recently. This doesn't include 'i' which is mea=
nt
to improve security and doesn't really fit with anything else yet.

For the next year, year-and-a-half, 'b' standard equipment will still be the
default. I suspect after that 'g' standard equipment will become more commo=
n.
So, I'd suggest buying cheap 'b' standard equipment and expect to replace i=
t,
or go with some of the new 'g' gear that claims to be backward compatible a=
t a
greater price (Linksys says their stuff is, but I haven't seena  release
date).

> Is the wireless card at the NAT router/squid I'm setting up any different
> to the wireless cards that the people in the field will be using? ie do
> wifi cards peer with each other (like ethernet cards do), or is it more
> like ethernet cables, where the cable attached at one end to a NIC has to
> connect at the other end to a hub/switch?

A wireless card just like an ethernet card, it has to speak the hardware le=
vel
standard and after that everything is up to the OS. So, get equipment that
meets the 802.11 standard of choice and plug it in.

> I understand that recently (whatever that means) that wifi cards are using
> an agreed protocol and that cards from different manufacturers can now
> talk to each other. If I used one of these cards, what percentage of
> random people might I expect to be using the older cards and not be able
> to connect to my setup?

Less that 1% of people are going to have pre standard cards. Anyone who did
would most likely be a super wireless wonk and have a more current card as
well. They just aren't that expensive anymore.
=20
--=20
  Bryan C. Andregg
    http://www.loopback.net

  gpg  1024D/24BF71A9	D862 18C1 0B31 E09E 1180  D8DC 8FDA 4497 24BF 71A9

--Ov8FaLoBmnU9yDA5
Content-Type: application/pgp-signature
Content-Disposition: inline

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.7 (Darwin)

iD8DBQE94WFvj9pElyS/cakRAqFPAJ0RyHlEtF5w+F81nWfOKP8I/j9iigCeObVi
rnBichFSL8f+jR+5YFFr9OU=
=teNG
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--Ov8FaLoBmnU9yDA5--