Suggestions : Wireless Modem Access Point

[Bob Edwards]

Tom Gallagher wrote:
> 
> Heres my scenario : -
> I am going to buy some wireless LAN cards soon for my small flat (Linux and
> Win98 desktop PCs + laptop in the future) and I would like to buy a modem
> access point. I would like a small box that I can sit by my phone socket and
> then access the internet from any PC in the flat.
> I have looked at the Buffalo airstation range and also the apple airport.
> Can anyone offer an opinion on these two products?  Flexibility of
> configuration, ability to configure from Linux, ability to masquerade many
> network protocols (IRC, ICQ, FTP etc as well as just HTTP), quality of
> product, speed obtained in real world situations etc etc.  I have read
> reviews on zdnet etc but they are often light on technical detail.
> Are there any other wireless access modem products?   I haven't found any
> documentation/reviews that say how these devices are configured in terms of
> auto dialling, hang-up timeouts etc etc.
> I was also worried about security of not allowing my neighbours to use my
> phone line for the internet!  In practice what is the likely hood of this. I
> read the "long rant" thread on this and it seems for home use security is
> not much of an issue.
> I have no wireless experience at all.
> Thanks for your time
> Tom

Around here (in Australia), an Apple Airport is about as cheap an AP as
you can get, especially the original model, now that the new Airport II
is coming out. Other "cost-effective" options are D-Link and Lucent APs.

In any case, I would agree with the other respondents to this query. Run
your AP in "bridging" mode (ie. not in NAT mode) and use an old Linux box
as a router to your dial-up ISP (or your broadband xDSL provider). An
old 486 should do, you can run "gibraltar" (runs from a CD and doesn't
require a hard-disk - less noisy, failure prone and power hungry), or
"smoothwall" (easy to install and configure, but needs a hard disk), or
a Linux Router Project (LRP) floppy. There are other options as well.

Cheers,

Bob Edwards.