Wireless Networking
Overview
I'm located in Seville Grove
(see here for NodeDB entry),
and am currently connected to the WAFreeNet,
a wireless community freenet in Perth, Western Australia.
Visit e3.com.au and
wafreenet.org websites for more info
on the WAFreeNet.
Wireless Link At Home - SGNet
I previously had an 8m mast and antenna installed at my house, linking to the
MartinMast
(NodeDB entry) access point
in the hills.
However, after moving house, I now have a
3m mast on top of my roof, still linking to the MartinMast access point
via a modified 24dBi Conifer dish.
The mast also has a 180 degree slotted waveguide on it, connected
to a Minitar MNWAPB access point, providing access to the Seville Grove Net (aka SGNet).
The ESSID is SGNet, with limited WAFreeNet access to DHCP users (limited to IRC/HTTP/DNS).
Contact Martin for a subnet allocation if you want a permanent connection to SGNet.
Antennas
Over the last few years, I've modified some Conifer antennas,
and have done some testing to
determine which Conifer modification provides the best signal strength.
Some more detailed testing with a larger number of
modified feedhorns confirms that my copper/brass dipole modification performs better than
the more common pcb dipole modification.
I have a detailed guide on building a biquad antenna,
a page describing a double biquad,
as well as a page describing a compact collinear.
The results of testing some downpipe waveguides,
biquads, a collinear and a cantenna against one of my modified Galaxys
are now available.
Photos of the insides of a rubber ducky antenna are also
available, when I pulled one apart to see what was inside.
Software
I've also use a linux PC as a wireless router,
to handle the routing between my wired home network, my wireless home network,
my Smoothwall internet firewall,
and my freenet connection.
Due to issues being experienced with
hidden node
problems, the WAFreeNet investigated a couple of options,
including the locally developed
Frottle,
and WiCCP.
Frottle has now been
running on one of the most congested access points for quite some time,
and is proving to be extremely effective at reducing the effects of hidden node issues.
LinkSys WRT54GS running OpenWrt
I've been playing with a LinkSys WRT54GS wireless router running OpenWrt,
and have one configured as a wireless client,
providing DHCP and DNS services, as well as running
an OpenVPN termination.
ArmadaleAP
Two APs, a waveguide, and a 24dBi dish have been installed on a ~45m mast in
the Armadale area, to extend the WAFreeNet further south.
See here for details.
last updated 5 Jan 2006
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