Wireless hubs et. al.

[gaf at blu.org (Jerry Feldman)]

Thanks David,
I was looking at WAPs too. 
Currently the Linksys BEFW11S4 is on sale for about $150 after rebate. The lowest proce for the 
WAP is also about $150. But the consideratio  that the WAP could allow someone outside the net 
access the net is a major consideration. Since the WAP would be one the same desk as my iPAQ 
cradles, it would not be inconvenient to turn off the WAP. 

This poses another question:
Assume:
Cable Modem<====>CM Router(NAT)<------>LAN<----->WAP
Does a WAP grab an ip address using DHCP, and can it also provide an ip address downstream:
	------z------Wireless device1, device2.....

One consideration is price. I have a CF sleeve for the iPAQ, and it appears that my only CF 
solution is wireless. I don't know of any wire CF cards. All the wired cards are PCMCIA (that I 
know of). I could buy a PCMCIA sleeve which does provide an additional battery as well as the 
capability to use PCMCIA cards as well as CF cards. 

On 5 Dec 2001 at 11:16, David Kramer wrote:

> On Wed, 5 Dec 2001, Jerry Feldman wrote:
> 
> > I currently have a Linksys BEFSR41 Cable modem/DSL router. However, I am contemplating
> > acquiring a wireless hub and a wireless cf card for my iPAQ and possibly for my laptop.
> > Currently Linksys is having a special on their wireless version of the CableModem router
> >  BEFW11S4 - EtherFast? Wireless AP +                                Cable/DSL Router w/4-Port Switch
> >
> > IMHO, I think that I could simply swap out the old router and replace it with a new one.
> >
> > I'm looking for people with experience with this and other similar wireless solutions. (I could spend
> > $150) for a PCMCIA sleeve for my iPAQ and simply use my existing PCMCIA laptop card, but I
> > already have a compact flash sleeve. Jerry Feldman <gaf at blu.org>
> 
> I have a separate DLink DWL-1000AP WAP that talks to an Orinoco (Lucent)
> card in my Dell Latitude laptop.
> 
> I would recommend you get a separate WAP and not one built into your
> router for one important reason: you can turn it off when you're not
> using it.  802.11b is amazingly insecure.  I always leave my WAP off when
> I'm not using it (I use my X10 stuff to turn it on or off from anywhere
> in the house).
> 
> For the record...
> 
> I recently went to a presentation (at Harvard FAS Security Working
> Group)[0] by Netgear, talking about this kind of stuff.  They mentioned
> quite a few advantages of their offerings over linksys for reliability and
> functionality:
> 
> - Metal case, not plastic, for lower RF emissions[1]
> - Two internal fans for better heat dissipation
> - Better browser support (some have complained about certain web pages
>   of the Linksys control panel only working in IE)
> - Content-level control
> - Internally they use the SonicWall software, which is excellent
> - Configurations and firmware can be saved off to a PC on the network
> 
> It is more expensive by about $50 when the Linksys unit is NOT on sale, so
> you probably won't go this route (no pun intended), but I thought I would
> mention it.
> 
> [0] They have a meeting coming up on secure 802.11b, also relevant.  I'll
> get the info.
> 
> [1] At that point, someone in the audience shouted out "Yeah, and it's
> rectangular, so you can stack stuff on top of it!" ;)
> 
> --
> DDDD   David Kramer                           http://thekramers.net
> DK KD
> DKK D  "Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity,
> DK KD  and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them."
> DDDD         -Joseph Heller (1923-1999) "The Great Executive Dream"
> 
> 
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Jerry Feldman <gaf at blu.org>
Associate Director
Boston Linux and Unix user group
http://www.blu.org