[TriLUG] WRT54G who's using what

[Greg Brown]

I have maybe 1/2 dozen of things performing various functions at my
outer banks wireless network.  All are running OpenWRT (except my two
Cisco AP-1200s).  All have only one other software add-on: wl.  I use
wl to fine-tune the input wattage for my amplified OpenWRT units.

In the end my wireless network is comprised of two Cisco AP-1200s and
seven OpenWRT units.  The seven OpenWRTs are preforming the following
tasks:

1. ssid: camphatteras-seaside (basic AP config, amped to 1 watt, open AP)
2. ssid: camphatteras-seaside-1 (running WDS mode (repeater for
seaside primary)) amped also
3  ssid: <secret> (this unit attaches to the wired part of the
network, runs WPA, does not broadcast the ssid, is hidden,
yadda-yadda-yadda, amped to 1 watt)
4 & 5: both are running in WET mode, both are amped to 500 milliwatt,
both connect to the wired part of the network to <secret>, both are
encrypted.  I have the wired side of the network as a higher
preference to the wireless side so when things get busy during
in-season I break out the WET box, attach to the wired side of the
network and, volia!  I have a higher weighted preference and better
throughput.  Life as the network admin is good. :)  I also bypass the
capture and release portal this way so I can use my VoIP phone, etc.
6: Another wet mode unit, this time installed across the street to a
webcam that will be installed in the coming weeks
7: The super-secret wireless gateway.  There are a few wide-open
access points within listening range (that is if you have a 6dbi gain
omni antenna and a good 1 watt amp).  I use this unit as a wireless
test box when I am remote (wl ap 0; wl scan; sleep 1; wl ap 1; wl
scanresults) shows me if all the APs are responding to SSID
broadcasts, etc.  If I were a nasty, crafty bastard I would configure
my firewall to redirect all traffic to this unit as the default
gateway and I would have this unit WET attached to another AP in
listening range, or worse I could borrow some bandwidth during times
of peak use by doing some load balancing between the two network
paths.  But I don't think I'll be doing any such thing.  It just seems
underhanded somehow.

If anyone would like a "how to cover large areas with 802.11" class
for TriLUG I'd be happy to provide that class.  It's not as easy as
you would think.  I have gone through about a dozen network designs,
all of which would work on paper very well but did not for a variety
of reasons.  I'll even throw in a "when a Cisco 1200 crushes a WRT54G
and vice-versa" comparions.  There is NOT one Access Point to Rule
Them All.

Greg

On 11/10/05, Rick DeNatale <rick.denatale at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm still running the vanilla Linksys firmware on my WRT54G.  Today
> during my morning blogscan I ran across a linux today article on
> hacking it, which got me to thinking about it again.
>
> It's been a while since the trilug meeting on this subject.  I was
> wondering which of the various WRT54G open source projects triluggers
> had gotten experience with.  The article points to DD-WRT which is
> based on Sveasoft.  How does this compare to others like openwrt?
>
> What functions/improvements have you added to YOUR WRT54G
>
> --
> Rick DeNatale
>
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