[MLB-WIRELESS] quick tech q

[Tristan Gulyas]

G'day.


> what is the diffrents between a access point and a wireless card

An AP is similar to a network hub or switch.  All your data will pass via
the access point in a BSS/infrastructure mode configuration.  An AP is
simply a low end processor with a PCMCIA wireless card and proprietory
firmware.

A wireless card itself can still transmit and receive 802.11b data and can
run in iBSS/peer to peer mode, meaning it simply broadcasts its packets out
to any other peer to peer wireless node within range.  It doesn't need to go
via a wireless AP.

So why buy an AP when cards can do the same thing?  Well, APs have extra
features such as bridging mode, making the distinction between wireless and
wired ethernet segments almost insignificant.  While the cards are
identical, running the cards in AP mode does allow access to these extra
features.   The specs to get these cards to run in AP mode are closely
guarded by the manufacturers.  Some APs also have extra security features,
MAC address authentication via RADIUS and so on.

> they say all these home wireless kits need a wireless card for each pc and
a
> access point

They say that communism works, too.

> i can only guess its teh same thing as the imac pod thing(no idea what its
> name is)

Exactly.  In fact, you'll find that the Apple Airport access point is simply
an orinoco wireless AP, with the exception of the processor speed (486 as
opposed to the 586's used in the orinocos, I believe).

> if i want to be a nod dont i just have a omni and a wireless card, (does
the
> card have to be a partcular type?)

True.  Your best-bet at this stage is to simply get a card and run it in
peer to peer mode.  It's a little more resilient (that way, you're not
connectionless if your AP node goes down) and cheaper.

There are some cards that are based on a chipset called the prism2.  There
are open sourced Linux drivers that allow these cards to run in AP mode.



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