Building Wireless Community Networks,

Community Networks is about getting people online using wireless network technology. The 802.11b standard (also known as WiFi) makes it possible to network towns, schools, neighborhoods, small business, and almost any kind of organization. All that's required is a willingness to cooperate and share resources. The first edition of this book helped thousands of people engage in community networking activities. This revised and expanded edition adds coverage on new network monitoring tools and techniques, regulations affecting wireless deployment, and IP network administration, including DNS and IP Tunneling.

New in This Edition

The most important addition to this book is the inclusion of Tim Pozar's excellent paper, "Regulations Affecting 802.11 Deployment." Tim is a microwave communications engineer and ham radio operator, and he has done terrific work in exploring the labyrinthine FCC Part 15 regulations. His paper helps us all to understand exactly what is required to operate wireless equipment legally in the United States.

I will also take a look at relevant technologies that have recently entered the wireless networking world, including 802.11a, 802.11g, and 802.1x. While 802.11b is still widely regarded as the champion technology of the community wireless networking effort, these newer technologies are poised to bring interesting new capabilities to networking projects everywhere.
In addition, I discuss a number of fun new home-brew equipment and software designs that have come to light, and evaluate some new security tools (and challenges). In particular, the Host AP driver has graduated to near-production quality, and can provide a very flexible alternative to traditional APs. More on that later.

Organization

Early chapters of this book introduce basic wireless concepts and essential network services, while later chapters focus on specific aspects of building your own wireless network. Experienced users may prefer to skip around rather than read this book from cover to cover, so here's an overview of each chapter:

Chapter 1

gives a brief history of the state of wireless connectivity, and some ideas (and warnings) about how things might proceed.

Chapter 2

is an overview of many important logistical considerations you will face in designing your own network, and describes some tools that may make your job easier.

Chapter 3,

provides a detailed description of critical network components that you will need to provide your users. Network design and security considerations are also addressed.

Chapter 4,

details how to use Wireless Access Point hardware effectively in your networking project.

Chapter 5,

is a step-by-step guide to building your own Access Point using Linux, inexpensive PC hardware, and conventional wireless client cards.

Chapter 6,

is about extending your range. It looks at using topographic mapping software to evaluate long distance links, and examines the myriad antennas, cables, connectors you are likely to encounter. It also provides a simple method for calculating the usable range of your gear.

Chapter 7,

investigates some really exotic (and useful!) applications of 802.11b. It includes practical pointers for setting up point-to-point links, some simple repeaters, assembling a 2.4GHz antenna from ordinary household objects, and lots of other fun hackery. We'll also see an implementation of a dynamic "captive portal" firewall using open source (http://www.opensource.org) software.

Chapter 8,

is a resource guide to some of the major players in the wireless network access revolution. Here you'll find out how people all over the globe are making ubiquitous wireless network access a reality, all in their free time.

Chapter 9,

is the (brief) history of my own experiences in setting up a wireless community network in Sebastopol, CA (and in meeting directly with the heads of some of the biggest community efforts in the U.S.).

Appendix A contains Tim Pozar's paper, "Regulations Affecting 802.11 Deployment."
Appendix B provides a path loss calculation table.
Appendix Coffers a shell script that makes network scheme management easier.


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