Wireless and Samba

[Jim Carter]

On Fri, 12 Dec 2003, pmedes wrote:
>    I am the happy owner of a wireless network.  I am wondering if it is
> possible to use Samba on a wireless network.  I would think it would be
> possible, but I haven't seen any examples and I'm not making much
> headway.

Since Windows SMB works with UDP and TCP protocols, it works the same on
wireless as it would on a wired Ethernet.  I don't have a lot of experience
with Samba, but at home I do export a Windows share to my Linux server for
making backups (over wired Ethernet) and it works reliably.  The Windows
box can also mount Linux filesystems offered via Samba (though normally I
use ssh/sftp for better internal security).  I believe that once I mounted
the Windows share on my laptop (Linux, wireless) just to test it, but I've
never actually started a Samba server on the laptop to see if the Windows
box could mount from it.

In summary, wireless works at protocol layers 1 and 2; 3 and above are
identical (fortunately for our sanity).  You could debug Samba by dragging
the machines into the same room and temporarily reverting to a wired
connection.  If Internet Connection Firewall were turned on in any of the
boxes...  Microsoft says that it's impossible to share SMB through ICF.
That's actually not true but it takes more screwing around than most people
want to go through, and if the outside world can get at your interface it
opens you up to most of the viruses which are the reason people turn on ICF
in the first place.  (My internal net is aggressively protected.  Hmmm,
there's a black minivan that's been parked outside my home office for the
last two hours...)

James F. Carter          Voice 310 825 2897    FAX 310 206 6673
UCLA-Mathnet;  6115 MSA; 405 Hilgard Ave.; Los Angeles, CA, USA  90095-1555
Email: jimc at math.ucla.edu    http://www.math.ucla.edu/~jimc (q.v. for PGP key)