Date: Sun, 12 Oct 2003 00:39:22 +0200 From: Brad Knowles <brad.knowles@skynet.be> To: Greg Pavelcak <g.pavelcak@comcast.net> Cc: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: General Wireless Network Question Message-ID: <p0600205dbbae2c684bd9@[10.0.1.2]> In-Reply-To: <20031011212201.GA67228@bishop.my.domain> References: <20031011212201.GA67228@bishop.my.domain>
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At 5:22 PM -0400 2003/10/11, Greg Pavelcak wrote:
> In the wireless world, I don't understand an access point. Right
> now, we have Comcast cable internet, a 4 port router, and a few
> computers all wired, and all with access to the internet. Am I right
> in thinking that I can just replace the current router with a
> wireless router, get some wireless network cards, and get the same
> results?
If it's a full router, and includes facilities for both wired and
wireless clients, then this should work.
> I plan to go with the "b" standard as opposed to "g". I read
> somewhere that my cable service only gives me about 5Mbps anyway, so
> I assume that the speed capabilities beyond that will only be
> relevant between computers in my house, and I don't think that's
> much of an issue. What we really want is to have access to the
> internet from anywhere. Is there any reason to shell out extra money
> for the "g" devices?
With 802.11b devices, the best speed you will be able to see is
about 3Mbps, which will be shared amongst all computers on the
network. Moreover, this speed will be lowered by microwaves,
wireless headphones, remote video sender devices, anything
broadcasting on the same radio frequencies. And as the clients get
further away from the router, the speed will drop so that the
connection can be kept up. Each client will still take up the same
amount of radio spectrum, however.
802.11g is good for added security features that do not tend to
be made available in 802.11b hardware, and they can also implement
wireless bridging (which is usually a lot more expensive with
802.11b). Most 802.11g hardware is actually 802.11b/g, and can be
used exclusively in one mode or the other, or in mixed mode. Even in
mixed mode it's still a lot faster than 802.11b, which gives you more
shared bandwidth that you can split amongst the clients.
If you've got servers in the house, that can make a huge
difference. If you want to try to do video over wireless networking,
802.11b just can't really give you the bandwidth you need -- only
faster wireless technology such as 802.11a and 802.11g can do that.
I would say that VOIP over 802.11b could very easily be marginal at
best.
Myself, I'm a strong believer in having much higher LAN bandwidth
than your WAN upstream. You can set up local servers to help make
much more effective use of that upstream bandwidth -- web proxy
servers, local file servers, etc....
> Any and all input on making the transition to wireless would be
> greatly appreciated.
All that said, except for Atheros devices, there isn't a whole
lot of support for 802.11g networking in FreeBSD right now. For the
moment, 802.11b is a much safer bet. I'd be inclined to start with
802.11b, with an eye towards moving to 802.11g as soon as that is
practical for you.
I'm going to be going to 802.11g soon, but then I'm using Apple
hardware, with Apple drivers. My FreeBSD boxes will be using
standard wired LAN cards, connected to a switched network, etc....
And one of my BSD boxes will be the bridging firewall with multiple
network interfaces, etc....
> Again, I'm just talking about getting all of our computers access to
> the 'net. I'm the only one running FreeBSD. Everyone else is on
> Windows2000 or XP.
Since you've got the FreeBSD box, that would be an ideal place to
run those services that could greatly enhance your use of your
upstream bandwidth.
--
Brad Knowles, <brad.knowles@skynet.be>
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania.
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!w--- O- M++ V PS++(+++) PE- Y+(++) PGP>+++ t+(+++) 5++(+++) X++(+++) R+(+++)
tv+(+++) b+(++++) DI+(++++) D+(++) G+(++++) e++>++++ h--- r---(+++)* z(+++)
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