We have decided to cover our campus with Wireless access points.
Same here.
We went for 801.11g at a potential of 54Mb/s but with the longer range of the old 801.11b standard.
Divide the range printed on the box by five or ten.
Of course I soon discover there is much to learn...
But how did you learn it? The necessary information just doesn't seem to exist anywhere.
Channels 1 to 14 in the UK.
Yes, you have only three channels, 1, 6 and 11.
If some channels are used permanently by DECT phones, BlueTooth, etc how will I know?
You couldn't have got this far in IT without being psychic, surely? Neither DECT nor Bluetooth has yet seemed to be a problem here.
Are there any reporting software utilities?
Do let me know!
Then there is security. We've all heard of those tin cans used as aerials by hackers driving around in cars. So I set up 128bit WEP in the APs.
Unless it's critical to your system, I wouldn't bother about wireless security. It's too much of a nuisance. Better operate your system so it's no more hackable internally than externally, so it's not too much of a bother if strangers get onto it internally. Our wireless has been accessible for the past three years all round our country village and on the local roads, and I am not aware of any problems. If any strangers should be able to connect then their MAC addresses will appear in my arp logs.
Should I set the SSID to be the same for the whole campus? Does this make moving between access points easier (no need to select as you migrate?)
We have the same SSID throughout. I am sure it makes life easier (for example, it's quicker for us to set up a new point). It's a secret word, seven letters long, starts with an "f", ends with a "d" and the middle ones include e and l and s and t in that order. Hackers need to guess it, or to pick it up from our transmitters (by the way, the e occurs a second time, and if you still can't guess the word there's a clue in my email address).
Or should I give a descriptive name to each AP?
Too much bother when you move or replace them.
If lots of users are in an area covered by more than one AP do the clients share out the connections? Do they pick the lowest channel or highest? At random? Or do they pick on the strength of the signal? Or the loading of the Access points?
I have never found the tools or the utilities or the time to find out but I suspect it's the first channel they pick up and they stay on it till the bitter end, however many others are using it. So it's no, neither, yes, no and no. No load balancing, just luck and statistics. You may be able to get load balancing with more expensive hardware and software, but I suspect this would tie you to one manufacturer. -- Christopher Dawkins, Felsted School, Dunmow, Essex CM6 3JG 01371-822698, mobile 07816 821659 cchd@felsted.essex.sch.uk