4.1 Hacks 43-69

4.1 Hacks #43-69

Market forces have brought conventional wireless hardware down to unbelievably low prices in a very short time. The average 802.11b access point costs less than $100 at the time of this writing, and as technologies like 802.11g and 802.11a come to market, prices continue to drop. These inexpensive devices are making it easier than ever for the average person to quickly set up their very own wireless network.

But what can you actually do with an access point once you bring one home? The typical hardware access point is designed to cover a relatively small area, providing local access for a few clients on a private wireless network. The typical consumer grade AP is rated at about 300 ft. range, and generally connects directly to an existing wired network. While the "plug and play" design of these devices is usually adequate to quickly build simple networks, many people find themselves looking for ways to extend their network's range and capabilities. How can you increase your AP's coverage range to a couple of miles? What if you want to force users to look at a particular web page when they first begin to use your network? How can you build a more secure and flexible network than a typical AP allows for? How can end users extend their own range and pick up networks with less than optimal coverage?

This chapter explores a wide variety of methods for answering these questions. I'll present all sorts of information about antennas, feed cables, connectors, and how to use them with your AP or client card. I'll describe methods for extending your AP to run Linux, mounting it in an outdoor case, and increasing its range by several orders of magnitude. When that's just not enough for your application, we give you everything you need to know to build your own access point from scratch.