We used dd-wrt modified slightly (so that it acts as an AP and gets a dhcp address) and have each access point check in with a server every 2 minutes to report that they are up and who is connected to them. Where possible we are using PoE with linksys PoE adapters fed by a web enabled power switch (http://www.webpowerswitch.com/) which we can control using a perl script. (We can't do it in a few dorms which have "split jacks" running two jacks over one cat5 cable.)
I believe we have addressed all of the conserns below, but we're very early in the project so time will tell. I'll detail how we have dealt with them below:
Frank Bulk wrote:
Linksys WRT54G(L/S) have RP-TNC connectors. The other AP I'd consider is BuffaloTech's broadcom based APs which have SMA connectors.I think this has been thrown out on the listserv before. The major objections tend to be: a) lack of external antenna connectors
The APs can be adjusted from something less than 28mw to 250mw. Some people on wrt related forums have expressed concerns about overheating and stability at higher than about 70mw, but we've been running over one hundred of them at 200mw all summer (many without AC) without any problem so I suspect that that's simply not a problem or that manufacturing has gotten better.b) lack of adjustable output power on some units (this may not apply to the Linksys in question)
We have written our own management system. So far it monitors uptime, reboots APs if they are down or on demand, and monitors usage (including pretty graphs) of each ap, the system as a whole, or a subset of the aps. The ap reports what channel it is on, but doesn't have any smarts to suggest a better channel yet.c) lack of management system for these APs, especially in regards to RF planning and control
We also use the APs to detect rouge aps. (we do a site survey every night and we get a nightly report by e-mail)
Define flaky... What we have noticed to be flaky is the network stack of the OS. If there is a broadcast storm on the network several APs will stop checking in and need to be rebooted. I believe they are still "functioning" though. Right now we have three or four APs with 15-20 clients associated to them, and we aren't getting complains about it. We haven't had time to go see how well they are working since the students moved in though.d) generally a more flaky radio in comparison to enterprise gear, but this is hard to quantify and I'm sure some objections would be raised.
We aren't using WPA2 so I can't speak there. I can say that we have been experimenting with wireless voip phones (specifically the linksys WIP300 and UTStarcom F3000) and we can walk around large buildings without audibly noticeable roaming drops.e) poor roaming experience: there's no pre-auth key caching as in WPA2, so every roam would require the full 8-way handshake.
We set up the routers as APs, and all our wireless is on the same L2 broadcast domain, so that's not the case. We'd love to be able to subnet the wireless into more vlans but are afraid of the L3 roaming. As it is, we (3 days after upperclassmen could move in) are seeing about simultaneous 800 users at peek times, which is quite a bit of broadcast traffic. However, the APs seem to be handling it quite well.f) all roaming would be L3 roaming: because each AP NATs the clients (this might be different in the OPENWRT build), every roam would likely require a full DHCP cycle on the client, breaking any applications that require session persistence.
So, I'm not sure if I'd recommend it yet. I plan on preparing a talk for a local conference in January on the TCO of the system, so I'll be attempting to keep track of how much time it takes to maintain it. So far it seems relatively trouble free other than unrelated problems like students unplugging the routers (we put APs in RA's rooms in a few dorms which we couldn't install ethernet in public spaces this summer.)
-- Ethan Sommer UNIX Systems Administrator Gustavus Adolphus College 507-933-7042 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
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