On Mon, 10 Dec 2001, Tilly, Lawrence wrote: > My coworker is curious about the wireless routers on the market. Her > biggest concern is if they are stable enough for business critical work > (ie, if she's in the middle of running a remote installation or > configuration, we cannot have a lost connection).
Keep in mind that 802.11b (AKA Wi-Fi AKA "wireless Ethernet") is a layer two standard. Many Wireless Access Points (WAPs, also called "base stations") are not routers; they are bridges. They do nothing at the IP level (layer three). On the other hand, quite a few vendors have built "all-in-one" devices that combine a WAP with a router doing NAT. I think LinkSys has a box that is a WAP, a wired Ethernet switch, a router with NAT and basic firewall, and a print server. No word yet on whether or not it makes coffee. That being said, stability appears to depend mostly on what is between the two points. Outdoors, I have had even cheap hardware go 300 or 400 feet. But put a couple of walls in the way, and the same hardware stops working around 50 feet, even if you put the devices by a window. External antennas on the PCMCIA cards help *a lot*, but they are inconvenient with a laptop. On the average, price does appear to make a difference; the cheaper stuff has not gone as far as the more expensive stuff. However, spending more does not necessarily guarantee anything. YMMV. The biggest issue with 802.11b is security; it is basically non-existence. Flaws in the implementation of the algorithms render even the so-called "strong" or "128-bit" encryption worthless. I recommend treating 802.11b networks as you would the public Internet: completely un-trustworthy. -- Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | ***************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *****************************************************************
