In Building Wireless Community Networks, author and O'Reilly network administrator Rob Flickenger offers a compelling case for building wireless networks on a local level: They are inexpensive, and they can be implemented and managed by the community using them, whether it's a school, a neighborhood, or a small business. This nuts-and-bolts guide provides all the necessary information for planning a network, getting the necessary components, and understanding protocols that you need to design and implement your network. The wireless Internet infrastructure, also known as Wi-Fi, is based on the 802.11b standard.The book covers Rob's experience with the Sebastopol Community Network (NoCAT), a multi-tiered network that provides wireless access for O'Reilly employees and free Web browsing to anyone in the area who has a Wi-Fi card in his or her computer. He describes his experience in using 802.11b, selecting the appropriate equipment, finding antenna sites, and coping with the general problems of outdoor networking.Building Wireless Community Networks starts off with basic wireless concepts and essential network services, while later chapters focus on specific aspects of building your own wireless networks. The final chapter is a detailed journal of Rob's experiences in building his first community network. He begins with his first attempts at using a wireless card at a conference, covers the real-life experience of trying something new, and ends with notes from the Portland Summit, a national gathering of wireless aficionados.If you want to join the grassroots effort to build freely available wireless Internet infrastructures in your community, this book is invaluable.

Building Wireless Community Networks: Implementing the Wireless Web

Computers & Technology

Flickenger, Rob

Certification

O'Reilly Media

A competent system administrator knows that a Linux server is a high performance system for routing large amounts of information through a network connection. Setting up and maintaining a Linux server requires understanding not only the hardware, but the ins and outs of the Linux operating system along with its supporting cast of utilities as well as layers of applications software. There's basic documentation online but there's a lot beyond the basics you have to know, and this only comes from people with hands-on, real-world experience. This kind of "know how" is what we sought to capture in Linux Server Hacks. Linux Server Hacks is a collection of 100 industrial-strength hacks, providing tips and tools that solve practical problems for Linux system administrators. Every hack can be read in just a few minutes but will save hours of searching for the right answer. Some of the hacks are subtle, many of them are non-obvious, and all of them demonstrate the power and flexibility of a Linux system. You'll find hacks devoted to tuning the Linux kernel to make your system run more efficiently, as well as using Cvs or Rcs to track the revision to system files. You'll learn alternative ways to do backups, how to use system monitoring tools to track system performance and a variety of secure networking solutions. Linux Server Hacks also helps you manage large-scale Web installations running Apache, MySql, and other open source tools that are typically part of a Linux system. O'Reilly's new Hacks Series proudly reclaims the term "hacking" for the good guys. Hackers use their ingenuity to solve interesting problems. Rob Flickenger is an experienced system administrator, having managed the systems for O'Reilly Network for several years. (He's also into community wireless networking and he's written a book on that subject for O'Reilly). Rob has also collected the best ideas and tools from a number of other highly skilled

Linux Server Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools

Web Development & Design

Building Wireless 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. At the time, it was impossible to predict how quickly and thoroughly WiFi would penetrate the marketplace. Today, with WiFi-enabled computers almost as common as Ethernet, it makes even more sense to take the next step and network your community using nothing but freely available radio spectrum. This book has showed many people how to make their network available, even from the park bench, how to extend high-speed Internet access into the many areas not served by Dsl and cable providers, and how to build working communities and a shared though intangible network. All that's required to create an access point for high-speed Internet connection is a gateway or base station. Once that is set up, any computer with a wireless card can log onto the network and share its resources. Rob Flickenger built such a network in northern California, and continues to participate in network-building efforts. His nuts-and-bolts guide covers: Selecting the appropriate equipment Finding antenna sites, and building and installing antennas Protecting your network from inappropriate access New network monitoring tools and techniques (new) Regulations affecting wireless deployment (new) Ip network administration, including Dns and Ip Tunneling (new) His expertise, as well as his sense of humor and enthusiasm for the topic, makes Building Wireless Community Networks a very useful and readable book for anyone interested in wireless connectivity.

Building Wireless Community Networks: Planning and Deploying Local Wireless Networks

It's an increasingly wired world, but many people are finding that the best way to get connected is to do away with wires entirely. From cable replacement to universal Internet connectivity, wireless technology is changing the way we connect to our machines and to each other.As with any new technology, buying your gear is only the first step. Understanding how to make the best use of it is another story. Wireless Hacks offers 100 industrial-strength tips about wireless networking, contributed by experts who apply what they know in the real world every day. Each Hack can be read in just a few minutes, but can save you hours of research.Inside, you will find a wealth of useful techniques for making the most out of wireless technology, including:
<ul>
<li>Making sense of the alphabet soup of the 802.11 standards, and understanding which technology makes sense for your solving particular problem</li>
<li>Using Bluetooth, mobile radios, mobile data networks, and other exotic methods to keep you connected, no matter where you are</li>
<li>Practical methods for detecting, analyzing, and monitoring wireless networks</li>
<li>Extending the range of your network, and making the best possible use of the available radio spectrum</li>
<li>Designing and building your own antennas</li>
<li>Engineering long distance network links that span several miles</li>
<li>Understanding the security issues of wireless networking, and protecting yourself and your users from unauthorized access and eavesdropping</li>
</ul>Written for the intermediate to advanced wireless user, Wireless Hacks is full of direct, practical, ingenious solutions to real-world networking problems. Whether your wireless network needs to extend to the edge of your office or to the other end of town, this collection of non-obvious, "from the field" techniques will show you how to get the job done.

Wireless Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools

Networking & Cloud Computing

The popularity of wireless networking has grown exponentially over the past few years, despite a general downward trend in the telecommunications industry. More and more computers and users worldwide communicate via radio waves every day, cutting the tethers of the cabled network both at home and at work.
Wireless technology changes not only the way we talk to our devices, but also what we ask them to do. With greater flexibility, broader range, and increased mobility, wireless networks let us live, work, and think differently. Wireless networks also open up a vast range of tasty new hack possibilities, from fine-tuning network frequencies to hot-rodding handhelds.
The second edition of Wireless Hacks, co-authored by Rob Flickenger and Roger Weeks, brings readers more of the practical tips and tricks that made the first edition a runaway hit, selling nearly 30,000 copies. Completely revised and updated, this version includes over 30 brand new hacks, major overhauls of over 30 more, and timely adjustments and touchups to dozens of other hacks introduced in the first edition. From passive network scanning to aligning long-distance antennas, beefing up wireless network security, and beyond, Wireless Hacks answers real-life networking needs with direct solutions.
Flickenger and Weeks both have extensive experience in systems and network administration, and share a passion for making wireless more broadly available. The authors include detailed coverage for important new changes in specifications and in hardware and software, and they delve deep into cellular and Bluetooth technologies.
Whether you need your wireless network to extend to the edge of your desk, fit into your backpack, or cross county lines, the proven techniques in Wireless Hacks will show you how to get the coverage and functionality you're looking for.

Wireless Hacks: Tips & Tools for Building, Extending, and Securing Your Network

Weeks, Roger