----- Original Message -----
From: <olearysheehy at goldengate.net>
To: <tcwug-list at tcwug.org>
Sent: Friday, May 03, 2002 12:20 PM
Subject: [TCWUG] 1) AP in St. Paul's Midway 2) 802.11a protocol


> SETTING UP AN ACCESS POINT IN THE MIDWAY AREA
> and HOW ABOUT THAT NEW 802.11b PROTOCOL?
> I am going to be setting up an access point in the Midway area of St. Paul
> primarily for use by folks on our block club. I'm going to try and come to
the
> meeting on Tuesday. I am interested in knowing whether anyone has
> recommendations for AP hardware that is
>
> a)stable and robust and
> b) relatively transparent ... easy to figure out and set up.
>
> SeattleWireless has positive references to SMC on their site.
>
> Also, I am seeing some stuff on 802.11a protocol. Supposed to be faster.
That's
> probably not going to matter given a cable internet connection. However,
does
> anyone have any thoughts about whether this new protocol is more stable
and
> robust than 802.11b? I've seen concerns raised about interoperability. My
> suspicion is that for a public site, it's better to choose a common
denominator
> like 802.11b.
>
> I admit freely that I am not a techie ... just someone who is interested
in
> making wireless access available to myself and neighbors.
>
> Thanks ... Patrick Sheehy
> _______________________________________________
> Twin Cities Wireless Users Group Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul,
Minnesota
> http://www.tcwug.org
> tcwug-list at tcwug.org
> https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tcwug-list
>

I would say stay away from 802.11a. Sure it's faster (54Mbps) but it
operates on the 5Ghz frequency, which can't penetrate walls and the such
very easily. Knowing the midway area and the older buildings out that way,
i'd suggest against this unless you can get every client to stick an antenna
out a window or somthing of the sorts... Stick to the 802.11b range, it'll
go through the walls, strech a bit further, and there's some newer hardware
comming out that you'll probably want to wait/look at. (intersil prism3
chipset, USR "double speed" products)



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