[MLB-WIRELESS] WL-HDD going cheap

Tue Aug 1 16:56:08 EST 2006

Hi Simon,

Unfortunately, the price on these units has gone back up.  The cheapest I
can see them for on staticice.com.au is $125.  I emailed Computer Alliance
and they said the distributor had a special on them that has now ended.  A
great pity; they looked to be a killer Melbourne Wireless Network Router at
that price.

At the moment I'm hanging my hopes on the $80 Diamond Digital R100 routers
from dealsdirect.com.au.  They have the advantage of having a MiniPCI
wireless NIC that can be swapped for something better, but their
disadvantage is the fact that they are twice the size of the WL-HDD - so
they need a bigger, uglier box and a more sturdy mast to support them.  A
WL-HDD in a small plastic box would happily sit on the top of the flimsiest
TV antenna mast.

Cheers,

Dan

-------------
View my blog:
http://freenetjazz.blogspot.com  

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Simon Knight [mailto:simon.knight at gmail.com] 
> Sent: Sunday, 30 July 2006 9:02 PM
> To: Dan Flett
> Cc: mike campion; David Ashburner; Melbourne Wireless
> Subject: Re: [MLB-WIRELESS] WL-HDD going cheap
> 
> Anyone seen any good prices on these lately?
> 
> On 6/29/06, Dan Flett <conhoolio at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > I've just used the method mentioned on the OpenWRT site to 
> flash the 
> > Freifunk Firmware to a WLHDD.  It worked ok - I had to muck around 
> > with the command-line to get the network interfaces right because I 
> > didn't start with the default firmware.  The default 
> firmware has an 
> > NVRAM variable called "productid", which in this case 
> should be set to 
> > "WLHDD".  OpenWRT and Freifunk detect this variable and set up the 
> > network interfaces appropriately.
> >
> > For the record - in the WLHDD the network interfaces are:
> > Wired Ethernet - eth1
> > Wireless - eth2
> > eth0 also exists, but doesn't seem to do anything.
> >
> > By default, eth1 and eth2 are bridged together as br0.  The 
> Freifunk 
> > firmware has some fancy code to auto-detect the wireless 
> interface and 
> > to separate it out as a "wifi" interface.
> >
> > One other thing - for flashing Asus routers the OpenWRT 
> site says you 
> > have to do this:
> >
> > tftp> get ASUSSPACELINK\x01\x01\xa8\xc0 /dev/null
> >
> > to get the firmware to start it's TFTP server and accept 
> firmware images.
> > I've found you don't have to type all that ASUSSPACELINK 
> stuff.  I've 
> > found that you can "get" anything:
> >
> > tftp> get A /dev/null
> >
> > is sufficient.  You can then happily "put" any firmware you 
> want via tftp.
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Dan
> >
> > -------------
> > View my blog:
> > http://freenetjazz.blogspot.com
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: melbwireless-bounces at wireless.org.au
> > > [mailto:melbwireless-bounces at wireless.org.au] On Behalf Of mike 
> > > campion
> > > Sent: Friday, 16 June 2006 11:59 PM
> > > To: David Ashburner; Melbourne Wireless
> > > Subject: Re: [MLB-WIRELESS] WL-HDD going cheap
> > >
> > > I have flashed a few of these with no problems using the 
> procedure 
> > > on the openwrt site 
> > > 
> http://wiki.openwrt.org/OpenWrtDocs/Hardware/Asus/Flashing , ensure 
> > > you are directly connected to the wl-hdd and not through a switch 
> > > and also use the TFTP with control commands method.
> > >
> > > I have also found that if you take too long to issue the tftp 
> > > command the transfer will not work and you have to start 
> from scratch.
> > >
> > > Mike
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ---- Original Message -----
> > > From: "David Ashburner" <d_ashburner at hotmail.com>
> > > To: "Melbourne Wireless" <melbwireless at melbournewireless.org.au>
> > > Sent: Friday, June 16, 2006 3:11 PM
> > > Subject: Re: [MLB-WIRELESS] WL-HDD going cheap
> > >
> > >
> > > > OK, so I got a couple of these but am having trouble
> > > flashing them with
> > > > OpenWrt.
> > > >
> > > > I checked the instructions on the web site and have tried doing 
> > > > the
> > > > following:
> > > > use xxx4mb.trx file
> > > > set it in recovery mode by holding the reset button while
> > > powering on
> > > > I can ping it at 192.168.1.220  but when I start the tftp
> > > transfer it
> > > > dosen't respond.
> > > >
> > > > At the last meeting Ratbaggy mentioned something about
> > > using the right
> > > > network switch speed but I can't remember what he said.
> > > > Regardless of what I plug this thing into only the 10x
> > > light comes on
> > > > the RJ45 the 100x flashes a couple of times while it is booting 
> > > > but It won't negotiate to the higher speed ( well according to
> > > the lights
> > > > on the back )
> > > >
> > > > any tips or pointers?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On May 30, 2006, at 7:00 PM, Dan Flett wrote:
> > > >
> > > >> Hi Guys,
> > > >>
> > > >> I discovered the WL-HDD has had a drop in price recently.
> > > There are
> > > >> $69
> > > >> here:
> > > >>
> > > >> http://www.computeralliance.com.au/parts.aspx?qryPart=4698
> > > >>
> > > >> They have a standard Broadcom radio, integrated, which 
> isn't great.
> > > >> But at
> > > >> $69 you can't complain.  They are confirmed to run
> > > OpenWRT, they have
> > > >> 4MB
> > > >> Flash and 16MB RAM, and they are physically slightly
> > > smaller than a VHS
> > > >> tape.  If you've got a spare 2.5 inch HDD lying around
> > > then all of a
> > > >> sudden
> > > >> you've got heaps of storage space.  And it has USB too.
> > > >>
> > > >> Now to find a suitably-sized outdoor enclosure! :)
> > > >>
> > > >> Does the drop in price mean that EoL is coming?
> > > >>
> > > >> Also, this place sells cheap 9dB indoor antennas:
> > > >>
> > > >> http://stores.ebay.com.au/confero24-com-Wireless-Shop
> > > >>
> > > >> I've had one of these on Ratbaggy's return-loss analyser
> > > and it came
> > > >> up with
> > > >> very good figures - so in this case cheap doen't mean nasty.
> > > >>
> > > >> So add one of these antennas to the WL-HDD, stick them
> > > both inside a
> > > >> waterproof enclosure and you might be able to make yourself a 
> > > >> reasonable outdoor AP/Router for less than $150.
> > > >>
> > > >> Cheers,
> > > >>
> > > >> Dan
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> _______________________________________________
> > > >> Melbwireless mailing list
> > > >> Melbwireless at wireless.org.au
> > > >> http://wireless.org.au/mailman/listinfo/melbwireless
> > > >>
> > > >
> > > >
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> > > >
> > >
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> > >
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> 