Michail Bletsas wrote:
Low end access points do indeed have limitations on how many users they
can support.
I do expect those to be gradually phased out as the chips (SoC - system on
a chip) that are usually inside these are getting faster CPU cores and
more memory.
If Thailand is willing to wire all schools, that is great news! However I
really don't expect this to be the universal case. Installing ethernet
wiring in remote areas is not as easy as it sounds, simply because we
can't assume that there will be a geek volunteer (or an IT pro) around to
do it. (I do expect the kids to be able to do it shortly after they get
their laptops though ;-).
As far as the laptops acting as access points, I don't know the number of
clients that they will be able to support yet (since we switched WiFi
chips a couple of weeks ago), it will depend on whether we can run the
802.11 AP stack on the Geode (instead of the embedded ARM core that
normally drives the WiFi radio).
The more connectivity options the laptop will have the better, we are just
trying to cover the no-infrastructure-at-all case.
That's why I think that the Linksys WRT54 series would work nicely, especially
given its hackability. Its purpose-built for the access point task, very cheap,
and can easily be hacked for higher power than it is released with. If the
things are $50 retail, what would be the cost at a truckload volume. That's one
more thing that can be put into the "done" column. Need more coverage, run a
cable between a couple of the accesspoints at opposite ends of the building.
Perhaps I am entirely wrong, but the quality of service limitations of an access
point are far more likely to offend my 11 yr bandwidth hogging son than what I
perceive to be the target audience of the OLPC laptop. I ran "dude, i'm lagging"
through several language translators without much success. ;-)
-Dean
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