[KLUG Members] Wireless
Mike Williams
members@kalamazoolinux.org
Sun, 23 Sep 2001 14:31:19 -0400
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<p><FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>Message: 3</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2001 21:06:11=
-0400</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>From: Bruce Smith=
<bruce@armintl.com></FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>To: KLUG=
<members@kalamazoolinux.org></FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>Subject: [KLUG Members] Wireless=
network question.</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>Reply-To:=
members@kalamazoolinux.org</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">></FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>At work we need to hook up a couple=
X-terminals to our network</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>in a location it is not a good idea to=
run copper (trust me -</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>long story). So I figured the=
options are fiber or wireless,</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>the later being cheaper.</FONT><br>
<br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>Because these are X-terminals (and a=
jetdirect printer), I</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>cannot buy a wireless network card, nor=
a wireless PCMCIA card.</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>I want to know if I can use two access=
points???</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">></FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>Would it work to buy two Linksys=
802.11b access points (each with</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>a builtin 4 port switch) and put one on=
the main network and one</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>by the terminals? (they are close=
to each other and in range)</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">></FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>I do NOT want to create a whole new=
subnet for this, but I</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>simply want to extend our current=
private class B network.</FONT><br>
</p>
<p>I've never worked with wireless, but from general networking=
principles, it should work. I'm assuming these=
"access points" are essentially 5 port switches where=
one port is wireless and the other 4 are ethernet?</p>
<p><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>Any problems with this setup? I=
haven't used wireless at all.</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">></FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>BTW, I'm aware of the security problems=
of wireless, and will</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>deal with that, I only need to know=
what hardware I need.</FONT><br>
</p>
<p>If this is a permanent installation and there will be a lot of=
traffic going to that jetdirect printer, it might be worth the=
cost of going to fiber. I think top theoretical speed of=
wireless is 10 Mbit / second, with realistic more like 6.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If you can't use copper, I'm guessing that's because of EMI=
problems. If so, you might have even worse EMI trouble=
with wireless unless you use an infrared solution, which will be=
even slower. Don't know about that, though. It's=
been a long time since I took E & M physics.<br>
</p>
<p><FONT=
COLOR=3D"#000080">>--------------------------------------------=
</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>Bruce Smith =
bruce@armintl.com</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>System Administrator / Network=
Administrator</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>Armstrong International,=
Inc.</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">>Three Rivers, Michigan 49093=
USA</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">><a=
href=3D"http://www.armstrong-intl.com/">http://www.armstrong-intl.=
com/</a></FONT><br>
<FONT=
COLOR=3D"#000080">>--------------------------------------------=
</FONT><br>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#000080">></FONT><br>
</p>
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