[wplug] Wi-Fi

[Poyner, Brandon]

> On the technical side, has anyone hacked a Linksys WRT54G with third 
> party firmware.  A group in the UK, 
> http://www.kingsbridgelink.co.uk/wrt54g/
> has created added meshing to the WRT54G, which I feel is 
> necessary for a 
> WMAN.  Being a Linux newbie, I have yet to tackle Linux on 
> the embedded 
> platform.
> 
> Dave

Depends on what you mean by hacking the firmware.  I flashed mine with
the Sveasoft firmware back before it went to a subscription model.
Building your own firmware is easy, you just need a cross compiler and
the scripts do the rest.  I have built a firmware image but did not
install it.  Sounds funny but I'm using two WRT54Gs to bridge two wired
networks, but which also act as access points, although they currently
only get used as access points by visitors.  

Our house is a literal stone's throw from West View and find the idea of
a community wireless network interesting.  The actual physical setup of
a wireless network should be easy, perhaps relatively inexpensive.  But
you'd need to find an ISP with a TOS that permits you to essentially
resell your connection, and I think most would balk at letting you do
that with a personal DSL line or cable modem, not to mention if your
connection goes down it could be days before the problem is resolved.
Commerical DSL or leased lines are kind of pricy (telerama enterprise
DSL is ~$300/month for 1Mbit) but typically allow you to become a true
service provider.  Then there are all the support issues and the social
end of things (if you spam we'll cut you off, etc).  I have 6 years of
experience as a sysadmin for an ISP so I know a touch about how an ISP
works.  I guess it all depends on if you wanted to start very small
(wireless only access) or really become an ISP (email, web hosting, etc)
and your initial cash outlay.

Brandon Poyner
Network Engineer III
CCAC - College Office
412-237-3086