[Cialug] [OT] Private LAN connected to building WLAN for InternetConnectivity

[Jeff Chapin]

I've had good luck with DD-WRT attached to wireless, and a single client 
wired into it. When I last bought hardware for it, I had to be careful 
as some of the newer WRT54* devices were not supported by DD-WRT, or had 
seriously nerfed hardware verses older hardware. Ironically, I looked on 
eBay and found an auction with older, higher spec'd hardware for cheaper 
-- the seller posted that it was a year old, and a few models 
out-of-date, and I confirmed the hardware stats by asking for the first 
few digits of the serial number.

I think I got a WRT54GS for ~$30.

YMMV,
Jeff

David Champion wrote:
> I've been thinking about setting up a WRT54G with OpenWRT. Anyone have 
> pointers on which version of the router to use? Is the WRT54GL still 
> the best one (if you can find it), or is the GS OK now? I've seen some 
> people selling them for about $50.
>
> -dc
>
> John Roach wrote:
>> Keep your existing infrastructure in place, and then replace the wan
>> connection to your firewall from the DSL connection with a Linksys 
>> WET54G.
>> This is a low cost wireless Ethernet bridge.
>>
>> If you are using your current DSL modem for firewall and Nat, you 
>> will want
>> to also purchase a wap/firewall and use the bridge as the wan point.
>>
>> Feel free to drop me a line of list if you need part numbers etc...
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: cialug-bounces at cialug.org [mailto:cialug-bounces at cialug.org] On 
>> Behalf
>> Of Tom Pohl
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 2:26 PM
>> To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
>> Subject: Re: [Cialug] [OT] Private LAN connected to building WLAN for
>> InternetConnectivity
>>
>> Since it's a building wide wireless network, I'd assume that there  
>> will be more than 1 access point covering the building.  Since that  
>> is probably the case, they will need to wire those access points  
>> (unless they go all wacky with WDS or something in which case I'd  
>> stick with your 1.5MB connection).  Could they possibly wire a line  
>> to your office's location so you're not on the wireless network?
>>
>> -Tom
>>
>> On Mar 25, 2008, at 2:17 PM, Claus wrote:
>>
>>  
>>> I'm the technical guru for a non-profit organization that is  
>>> considering to switch from its dedicated DSL to a building wide  
>>> shared network.  The idea is that we'd be saving about $30 a month.
>>>
>>> Currently we have a wired network and a wireless WPA network which  
>>> is used by 4 desktop computers, one laptop and a samba file server.  
>>> Internet connectivity is provides a 1.5 mbps Qwest line through an  
>>> Actiontech modem.
>>>
>>> Under the proposed model the Internet connectivity would be  
>>> provided by a 7 mbps Quest line that's shared wireless throughout  
>>> the building with all tenants and visitors.  The building's  
>>> wireless network will be open to all.  The wireless routers are  
>>> rented from Qwest and are supposed to be "industrial".  (BTW, I'm  
>>> not responsible for the building wireless network.)
>>>
>>> I imagine that we still would need to keep our private LAN in order  
>>> to use the samba/windows shares without having to worry that  
>>> everybody can access our data.  Since we also have a laptop that  
>>> will need to access the samba shares we need our own protected WLAN  
>>> as we currently do.
>>> So I was thinking about setting one wireless router up as a bridge  
>>> to the buildings wireless internet, providing us internet access,  
>>> NAT, DHCP, and hopefully some control on what ports are open/cosed  
>>> (aka poor man firewall/packet filter).  Another wireless router or  
>>> access point would be set up for our WLAN.
>>>
>>> My questions:
>>> - Which router would be recommended to run as a wireless client and
>>>   provide Internet connectivity, NAT and DHCP for our local LAN?
>>> - What pitfalls might I encounter?
>>> - Is is a bad idea to rely on an open wireless network for Internet
>>>   access?
>>>
>>> Setting up Internet connectivity through a wireless network for a  
>>> wired LAN is something new to me.  So I'm very grateful for your  
>>> help and input.  Thanks,
>>>   Claus
>>>     
>
>
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