4.1 Hacks #43-69
Market
forces have brought conventional wireless hardware down to
unbelievably low prices in a very short time. The average 802.11b
access point costs less than $100 at the
time of this writing, and as technologies like 802.11g and 802.11a
come to market, prices continue to drop. These inexpensive devices
are making it easier than ever for the average person to quickly set
up their very own wireless network.
But what can you actually do with an access point once you bring one
home? The typical hardware access point is designed to cover a
relatively small area, providing local access for a few clients on a
private wireless network. The typical consumer grade AP is rated at
about 300 ft. range, and generally connects directly to an existing
wired network. While the "plug and
play" design of these devices is usually adequate to
quickly build simple networks, many people find themselves looking
for ways to extend their network's range and
capabilities. How can you increase your AP's
coverage range to a couple of miles? What if you want to force users
to look at a particular web page when they first begin to use your
network? How can you build a more secure and flexible network than a
typical AP allows for? How can end users extend their own range and
pick up networks with less than optimal coverage?
This chapter explores a wide variety of methods for answering these
questions. I'll present all sorts of information
about antennas, feed cables, connectors, and how to use them with
your AP or client card. I'll describe methods for
extending your AP to run
Linux,
mounting it in an outdoor case, and increasing its range by several
orders of magnitude. When that's just not enough for
your application, we give you everything you need to know to build
your own access point from scratch.
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