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| quantity 2002-04-19, 11:02 am |
| Has anyone had a chance to check some 802.11a specs and or products lately? What did you think of the performance? What are your thoughts on 802.11a?
!!Mod-Please modify the poll to be 802.11a and b please. Typo, sorry And delete this from my post when done. Thanks. | |
| ccieToBe 2002-04-19, 12:38 pm |
| For the purposes of most LANs, 802.11a has a lot of advantages so overall I prefer it in this type of environment. Proxim's equipment has some proprietary extensions that provide 108Mbps of bandwidth at close range (compared to 802.11b's 11Mbps). Being in the 5GHz band helps out a lot too since the 2.4GHz band that 802.11b operates at is heavily utilized.
If range or cost are major factors though 802.11b's still the way to go. I've seen these NICs for under $50 which is a amazing IMO. The Orinoco and Cisco NICs have fairly good sensitivity and can be hooked up to external antennas to so you can get some range out of them. | |
| The VMS Kid 2002-04-19, 1:13 pm |
| What are you guys talking about? | |
| jombeewoof 2002-04-19, 1:15 pm |
| wireless networking
a subject I have no idea about | |
| quantity 2002-04-19, 8:58 pm |
| Thanks for you responses. What about security? I know WEP is easily hacked. My solution to that is to use MAC Address control. Basically, I deny all Air Traffic except those coming from a static MAC Table and use encryption, "Just becuse It's there." Is this the best solution? | |
| chodan 2002-04-19, 9:20 pm |
| Ah
I got threw off by the subject in the poll.
it says 802.3a and 802.3b. 
Then you all started talking wireless
Try proof reading your polls next time
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| quantity 2002-04-19, 9:46 pm |
| Rats.
I saw it the moment I posted it this morning and have asked the mod to change it but they won't or haven't had the time all day long. Sorry. | |
| ccieToBe 2002-04-19, 10:34 pm |
| Wireless security is a joke by default. WEP's almost useless and MAC address based security's not much better. Someone could easily sniff your traffic for a valid Mac address, then assume that address and they're in. My suggest is to run some sort of VPN or other other strong cryptography (IPSec, SSH, SSL...). That way you're fairly secure. | |
| quantity 2002-04-22, 9:16 pm |
| What are the odds someone is going to break into my network?
So, the only option left is to VPN into my own network? I understand that to be a valid option and I am not questioning your skill or credential. What can I do short of MAC address control to allow users safe acces into my network without having to VPN in. (i.e. VPN in from the same LAN I wanto to access?) What if I wanted to have a school, tech school, and have the whole campus wireless? How would you go about stopping those?
Thanks CCIE, your input is valid and is being considered for implementation. However, I have given you a kind of loaded question. I really need a water tight implementation. All I can come up with is MAC address control. VPN would be too much. | |
| ccieToBe 2002-04-22, 10:14 pm |
| If you don't want to take the VPN approach another idea is to setup a proxy using SSL. That way everything going passing through the proxy is encrypted. Depending on your needs you could also require the user to log in to the proxy. You could also optionally firewall of everything except the proxy.
It really depends on your needs. If you just want to give users the ability to look at web sites the above approach would probably be the easiest way to get a reasonable level of security. For a more sophisticated network though, I would still recommend the VPN approach.
Hope this helps. | |
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| jackeylok 2002-04-24, 8:02 am |
| I am handling the wireless product Avaya of the pre-Sales technical support engineer in a distributor company. I would like to share the expereince on 802.11b and 11a to you. 11b is still strong market than 11a cause it is 2.4G running a bit lower speed 11Mb/s(142KB) but it could reach very long distance at 1750ft of indoor and 26miles of outdoor point to point with FCC world card. 11a has many channel than 11b and large capacity packet transmission at 54Mb at 5GHz BUT range so short that was not over 200 square feet in a small office. Only one advantage of 11a is never see spaghetti cable around your desk same as 11b. 11a could not perform a long distance outdoor solution replace the 11b unit 11g develop finish. 11g is 2.4G running with 54Mb/s technologies. Have a good day. | |
| quantity 2002-04-24, 10:36 am |
| "1750ft of indoor and 26miles of "
Wow! Are you sure! I thought the WiFi and IEEE specs were limited to 300 feet indoors and 1000 feet outdoors. (With ideal conditions) Can you verify your length and post a link?
I agree 802.11b eill still run strong. But, 802.11b+ was just released and kicks your network to 22 mbps. Still, doesn't beat 74 mbps you'll se with the a standard. I also think that this 74 mbps is a precursor for a much more robust standard.
Thanks CCIE, I thought those as well. However, I came to the conclusion that it's just won't work with the vast majority of home users. I think you may have come to the same conclusion as well but did not openly mention it.
Thanks, your ideas are wonderful. | |
| ccieToBe 2002-04-24, 11:55 am |
| Using 802.11b equipment I've heard of legal links spanning as much as 25 miles. The FCC has some strict limits on the maximum output of this equipment. Keep in mind that you'd need a high gain antenna (parabolic), excellent recieve sensitivity (Cisco, Orinoco and Raylink are great in this area), and line of sight. The curvature of the earth becomes a big issue when you're dealing with this type of distance.
I might setup a link between Lakeland and Orlando, FL (~50 miles). I've been talking to someone in Orlando who may be getting a 100Mbps Internet connection that they want to sell (inexpensive) bandwidth from in a few months so I'm comparing the costs of setting up a series of repeaters (at least 2) vs. using a leased circuit at this point. | |
| quantity 2002-04-24, 12:58 pm |
| Again, CCIE, you responses are well within reason and have a lot of merit. However, the longest wireless connection without modification is still 100 indoors and 300 outdoors. The tricky part, like you touched upon, is the high gain antennas. It is not easily understood by most especially when you have to consider parabolic antennas and other types.
CCIE, if you would like to discuss this, as I would, please email me at
count2infinity@yahoo.com with "D-Link" in the subject line. It is my personal email address and wish it to remain that way. I am very interested in providing you with some detailed information on extended wireless networks, infrastructure, costs, etc. I can get you on-line with our engineers at D-Link. Thanks |
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