[KLUG Hardware] Need help with wireless setup

[Bruce Smith]

> > If you want to lower the cost of broadband, look at things like dropping
> > your second phone line and/or slashing your phone/long-distance bill by
> > switching to a VOIP phone company like Vonage.
> 
> But be aware - no hard line = no 911 service.

Some VOIP phone companies claim they do have 911 service,
although you have to configure it on their web site before it works
(you have to tell it where you live or where to call).

Of course, no internet = no phone.  :-)
With these days of cell phones, that's not a big deal for many.

> > > Question: Can a wireless card in the Samba Server (soon SuSE 9.2) be
> > > used for the new Dell notepad?  I assume I'll need todo some
> > > "route" commands to make this work??
> > You could, but I wouldn't.  It'll be a real pain to setup.
> 
> Agree, ad-hoc mode is poorly documented in general and poorly
> implemented in many chipsets and poorly supported in most drivers.  

Plus there are routing/forwarding issues to configure.

And you're running a lot of Windows, which means more problems if you
want to do Windows networking between your Win boxes (not samba).

> > I'd buy a cheap WAP and plug it into your switch.  Do NOT use the WAN
> > port, simply plug the builtin switch part of the WAP into your switch.
> > It's just like stacking another hub/switch and everything is all on the
> > same subnet.
> 
> Yep.  How do you intend to handle security?
> 
> I'd put a second regular NIC in the server and plug the wap into that.

That's the safest way.  I have a 3rd NIC in my firewall and run my WAP
on my DMZ.  Plus you could also force all communications over a VPN.

OTOH, if you live in the middle of nowhere without any neighbors, WEP or
other less secure options like MAC filtering may be good enough.

Personally, I'd buy one of the Linksys WAP's that can be flashed to run
Linux.  That gives you even more flexibility.

 - BS