Hi there
I can talk a bit about unix type 802.11 AP setups because I use it
here for more than 18 months
(A) we started with ad-hoc linux notebooks on an 15dBi omni.
with 15-17 clients it starts to gave more trouble than benefit.
the CPEs were computers with orinoco cards in waterproof
cases mounted outdoor (as near the antennae we can)
(B) then we buy AP200 and use it 3 meters up the above
setup (our main tower is 105m high). with 7-10 wireless users
we hit the top line of it. we did not choose AP1000s or similar
APs mostly because the cost
(C) not satisfied, we change again and put openap (linux in AP
mode using prism cards) -- the USR2450s I told in this list before
(openap from http://opensource.instant802.com). we use them
as CPEs and as APs because their low cost and because it
runs linux, which we are confortably with
they behave better _as client_ or in ad-hoc mode than as AP.
in ad-hoc mode we have similar (although a bit lower)
throughtput than (A), and our guess was because the lower
power output of USR2450s wireless card in comparison to
orinoco's
as AP, its lower power CPU (AMD ElanSC400 16MHz/4MB RAM)
bottleneck was with about 7-8 high usage clients. our solution
was to increase the number of APs "per cell" (which gave many
side benefits but that's another history) and this is what we've
been using for the past six or more months
if I could install turbocell on openap's linux, or Karlnet
did a port of Satelite to USR2450s, I'd change the
main APs to RGs or WPBASE+ boards without thinking,
not only because the polling but also because the bandwidth
control/usage through RADIUS (we use currently vtun on the
CPEs and on our network)
we decided not to go flashrom because we're trying to
avoid using computers as CPEs, as we did in the very
begining. they're expensive and tends to need more
personal maintenance than our openap CPEs
what I've learned on this list (polling being better on 3.x
compared to 4.x, AP1000s ethernet "frying problems",
RG1000s dying) and the fact that Karlnet tends to be
less responsive than desired are things that make me
hesitate a bit, though
Just my $0.02
!3runo
from Brazil
> We have 45 residential clients on one AP-1000 and also disabled polling.
> I'm wondering what the value of Karlnet is without the polling. Other
> than the minute obscurity of the communications (just ad-hoc really) I'm
> wondering what real benefits I'm gaining over a UNIX type 802.11b AP setup.
>
> -bob
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