[MLB-WIRELESS] Re: DWL-900AP and Linux

[Craig Sanders]

On Tue, Nov 26, 2002 at 08:30:45PM -0800, Jim Carter wrote:
> On Tue, 26 Nov 2002, Craig Sanders wrote:
> > i was talking about the 900AP+ - sorry, i should have been more
> > specific.
> > --- snip ---
> > and they're fairly cheap.  i bought mine for AUD $275.
> 
> I wouldn't be too surprised to find that it's running Linux already.  Of
> course, there's no documentation so you can't do anything with it...

dunno.  queso doesn't seem to know what it is:

# queso 192.168.0.50
192.168.0.50:80	* Berkeley: usually HP/UX 9.x, OS/2 Warp 4 Merlin (fix#6)


# nmap 192.168.0.50

Starting nmap V. 3.00 ( www.insecure.org/nmap/ )
Interesting ports on  (192.168.0.50):
(The 1600 ports scanned but not shown below are in state: closed)
Port       State       Service
80/tcp     open        http                    

Nmap run completed -- 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 5 seconds


> The factory firmware has a little web server which, beside configuring
> the AP, can accept a file of new firmware and flash it for you.  (Of
> course there's basic authentication and it will only take commands
> from the wired side.)  Once one had a reliable "distro" for the
> device, that would be the way to get it onto a new one. But it would
> have to work right the first time.

yeah, that's why i thought it would be safer to flash a simple bootp and
tftp client that got an IP address from the network, then downloaded
a kernel via tftp...the filesystem could be mounted via NFS over the
ethernet. upgrading the kernel or the distro would be as simple as
copying files to the right place on the server.

obviously, that won't work for a standalone unit. it needs a box nearby
to run the bootp, tftp, and NFS server.

> As for the price, we paid US$100 for ours, equal to AUD 160, so
> someone at your end is making a generous profit.

$US100 is around $AUD180-$185. i guess that shipping, 10% GST, import
duty, and middle-man profit make up the rest.

the person i bought it from said he was selling it at cost.  i believe
he was telling the truth.

if i ordered one from the US, it would probably cost me at least $AUD250
(~$US140), or maybe less depending on whether it got through customs
without GST or duty being charged (which is reasonably likely for items
worth up to about $AUD250). if i was saving $100 or more, it would be
worth it but for me, the convenience of buying it locally is worth the
extra $25. i prefer cash transactions to credit-card anyway...i use my
credit cards as little as possible because i don't like the fact that
all my CC purchases are profiled and the data sold to marketing jerks.


> Is it legal and feasible for you guys to order direct from the USA?
> Or is there a 100% customs duty or something nasty like that?  Or are
> the channel assignments different -- in the USA we have channel 1 =
> 2.412 GHz up to 11 = 2.462 GHz, but not 12, 13 or 14.

it would be legal. dunno about the channels issue. we have 13 channels
here.

craig

--
Craig Sanders
Senior Systems Administrator
VICNET- Victoria's Network              http://www.vicnet.net.au/