[TriLUG] WLAN Research

Mon May 22 12:26:22 EDT 2006

Oh, good point.  I like the Buffalo stuff to.  But my all-time favorite for
OpenWRT is the Asus 500G.  More ram, more flash, more processor.  All the
good stuff.  And you even get a couple of USB ports which for this
application might not be as useful unless you are going to mount the devices
in a ceiling.   If so get a cheapy USB LED light and put it in the back for
pointless kicks.

The only problem is finding the Asus 500g is kind of difficult these days.
And I have no idea why that is.

For what it's worth, I have never tried to load any 3rd part firmware on a
WRT54-GL but would be very curious to hear the results if you attemped to do
so.

Greg

On 5/22/06, Matt Dinsmore <matt at centrix.net> wrote:
>
> I would recommend DD-WRT for the firmware if you are gonna go Linksys.
> You will get probably the same performance out the Linksys stuff with
> this firmware as you would with the high-end / pricey Cisco stuff. You
> will find that it is hard to find Linksys routers / access point that
> support 3rd party firmwares though. I believe there is a WRT-54GL or
> something out there now that is specifically designed to run "Linux" as
> it's firmware. I use Buffalo routers at home, which is the new
> recommendation of the DD-WRT guys these days. They are cheap too. I do
> however find the Linksys products seem to have a stronger signal. So you
> would definitely want to amp the Buffalo stuff.
>
> Matt Dinsmore
> matt at centrix.net
>
> Greg Brown wrote:
> > I've used Ciscos before too, and if money is not an object I would go
> > with
> > these units if at all possible (running IOS, not that other OS..
> > whatever it
> > is).
> >
> > Anyway, if money is an object I would go with WRT54G linksys boxes, NOT
> > running Linksys code.  Why?  For distances this great I would highly
> > reccomend amplification.  In order to run amps without rediculious
> > noise you
> > need to drop the input power on your AP going into the amp.  I've
> > found 20
> > mw of power works best.
> >
> > Being as this is a point-to-point link you can raise the gain on the
> > antennas and the amps a bit to.  Here are your limits:
> >
> > Total    Amp                         Max gain           EIRP in watts
> > *30dBm 1W                            6dBi                 3.98
> > 29dBm 800mW                      9dBi                 6.35
> > 28dBm 630mW                    12dBi                10.14
> > 27dBm 500mW                    15dBi                15.81
> > 26dBm 398mW                    18dBi                25.23
> > 25dBm 316mW                    21dBi                40.28
> > 24dBm 250mW                    24dBi                62.79
> > 23dBm 200mW                    27dBi                100.2
> >
> > So, looking at this we have a couple options.  I'd go with Yagi
> > antennas or
> > dishes.  Personally I would only mess with 500 mw or 1 watt amps, too
> > much
> > freakiness on the adjustable amps.
> >
> > Use LMR400 antenna cables.  The other stuff has too high loss.  And
> mount
> > the amp as close to the antenna as possible.
> >
> > Personally I'd go with Antennex Yagis, they are weatherproof and sealed.
> > Nice.  At 14.6 dBi gain you can still go with a 500 mw amp and you'll be
> > just under max power.  Anything more then 100 yards I'd consider going
> > with
> > dishes, but at this power level you should be ok.
> >
> > Use WPA between the devices too (keep the prying eyes out).  If you get
> > adventerous try afterburner mode on the wrts.  I've never tried it, but
> I
> > can't see why not.
> >
> > Anyway, those are my suggestions.
> >
> > Greg
> >
> > *
> > On 5/22/06, Matt Dinsmore <matt at centrix.net> wrote:
> >>
> >> I've done this before, not locally though. We used Cisco 350 bridges.
> >> Worked great, except for when it got snowy/icey which I don't think
> will
> >> be a problem here. We had multiple sites with yagi antennas. At the
> >> center we had an omni. We had a 3 mile radius. The extreme edges got
> >> kinda sketchy, but 100 yards should work fine and be stable.
> >>
> >> I would recommend the Cisco stuff, or even the Linksys ( which is now
> >> owned by Cisco ) stuff if this is tmp / on a budget.
> >>
> >> How is your line of site ? This is VERY important for long distance
> >> hauls.
> >>
> >> Matt Dinsmore
> >> matt at centrix.net
> >>
> >> Carl Crider wrote:
> >> > I am currently researching parts/designs for a wireless LAN here at
> my
> >> > office.
> >> > We need to connect a building that is 100 yards away from our main
> >> > switch.
> >> > This building houses only 5 PC's. Does anyone have suggestions on
> both
> >> > design and local shops to buy the parts?
> >> >
> >> > This will be a permanent installation replacing the current
> >> underground
> >> > fiber patching these 2 buildings. The fiber has to come up due to
> >> > construction.
> >> >
> >> > Thanks in advance for any input.
> >> >
> >>
> >>
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