back to list| Mailing List os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com Archived Message #6329 |
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Sorry if this isn't OS/2 related - I'm happy to take it offline if that's a problem.Let's go with it for a while. As long as it doesn't wander off into routers, switches, hubs, keyboards, mice, monitors, weather patterns, tea (sorry; the tea one just came to mind, my English friend!)...we should be fine. :-)
I've been asked by a client to install a Wireless Access Point. He has a shop which has a LAN and Internet access, and he rents out the flat ("apartment") above it, and wants to provide WiFi Internet access to his tenants.Okay.
Having been out of WiFi for a while I'm out of touch with the technology, and browsing a local shop shows a bewildering collection of "standards"! There were just A, B and G when I last looked, and everyone ignored A, now there seem to be G+, N, N+, N Rangemax, and others.N is due to be ratified very, very soon. N has some very nice things about it insofar as getting around interference form other channels is concerned, but I might still wait until ratification to get a device which you *know* is fully compliant.
Without knowing what the tenants are going to have in their machines, which one should I be going for? The client isn't the "Money no object" type (are they ever? :-) so just getting the best there is won't be necessarily a Good Thing!
The geography is that the WAP will probably be in the shop, and there's a plaster ceiling/wooden floor between them. The WAP may have to be installed underneath a counter or in a cupboard in the shop - not ideal, I know!
So, what is the current thinking on which "standard" to go for? (N seems to be a draft only from what it says on the boxes).
Is there a device or a manufacturer that people are happy to recommend? Bear in mind that inter-brand operability, something the manufacturers seem keen to discourage, is a definite requirement as there's no telling what equipment (or operating system) will be used in the client machines.LinkSys makes fairly reliable units, and we use them quite a bit. OTOH, Ubiquiti has some less obtrusive units, and these are available for good prices (and are geared more toward commercial applications, mounting in corners and such, with integrated antennas). If you do go for a LinkSys, stick with the WRT54GL units, as these are the "old style" with more RAM in them. They tend to run a bit cooler than the new enclosures from what I've seen, and with little devices, that means lasting for four years instead of two or three, and not getting intermittently flaky after a year and a half. ;-)
Oh, and there's a Starbucks next door with free WiFi (I know, he could just tell them to use that, but I don't think they'd be happy!) so preventing interference is going to be an issue.That shouldn't be a problem. The DD-WRT firmware has a site survey utility built in, and will show you what signals are floating around. Just choose a non-overlapping channel (in the States, for B & G, we have 1, 6, and 11 which do not overlap; I believe your channels are a bit different, as you should ahve available up to channel 14, IIRC).
Cheers,and Cheers to you, too!
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