Building Wireless Community Networks
Implementing the Wireless Web
By Rob Flickenger
November 2001
Pages: 138
ISBN 10: 0-596-00204-1 |
ISBN 13: 9780596002046
(5) (Average of 1 Customer Reviews)
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Building Wireless Community Networks offers a compelling case for building wireless networks on a local level: They are inexpensive, and they can be implemented and managed by the community using them, whether it's a school, a neighborhood, or a small business. This book also provides all the necessary information for planning a network, getting the necessary components, and understanding protocols that you need to design and implement your network.
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Book details
First Edition: November 2001
ISBN: 0-596-00204-1
Pages: 138
Average Customer Reviews: (5) (Based on 1 Reviews)
Featured customer reviews
Building Wireless Community Networks Review, March 03 2002
Building Wireless Community Networks
Paperback, First Edition, January 2002, 138 pages
By Rob Flickenger
© Copyright 2002 by O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
ISBN 0-596-00204-1
Review written March 3, 2002
By Donald W. Larson, O'Reilly Book Evangelist
Email: dwlarson@mac.com
Web Site: http://www.timeoutofmind.com/
Anyone who wants to learn about the usage of WiFi, more commonly known as 802.11b wireless should order this book now and read it immediately upon delivery!
Each and every chapter explains is sufficient detail what the new standard is, how to use it and extend the range legally for broadcasts. Anytime someone points out through the purchase of a can of Pringles and then turns that chip container into a radio antenna (with about $10.00 in additional parts) to increase the effective range of WiFi, is a signal (pun intended) that value pricing is just a few steps away.
Rob demonstrates his mastery of the following topics, the understanding of topological maps, db signal loss over distance, firewalls, NAT, and routing as they pertain to WiFi. For those readers who just want to hook up a wireless 802.11b router and configure their network, this book covers that very well.
The book's scope covers the Apple AirPort Base Station and also Linux networks. Also the need for channel separation and bridging of networks for roaming purposes is described.
Then there is the section on the types of external antennas and how to build one from the earlier mentioned Pringles can.
Obviously, wireless brings a whole new set of questions to the security aspect of wireless networks. Rob explains some techniques that should help and provides urls to other community efforts to help find additional resources and support. See NoCat <http://nocat.net> as an example of the latter.
Appendix
This part of the book includes a section on calculating the loss of signal strength over distances from 0.5 to 20.0 miles! Also provides links to community wireless sites and FCC Part 15 Rules governing the spectrum that 802.11b occupies.
Index
Appendix
Complete and adequate.
General Book Comments
It is my opinion that many neighborhoods could employ the suggested solutions and bypass the big telco's and ISP's to bring unrestricted Internet access to small neighborhood WAN's at a cost lower or equal to what cable and DSL providers offer.
Rob has done an excellent job in presenting this new technology. He takes the time to explain technical details in ways easy for the reader to understand.
Rating 10 out of 10. This rating is my own personal value system and as such is very subjective. I think a rating of 5 means I would read finish reading a book. A rating of 10 would indicate I had trouble putting a book down and have no complaints at all about it.
Media reviews
"'Building Wireless Community Networks' is one of the most enjoyable technical books I've read in quite a while. The book just exudes geekiness, and makes its topic a lot of fun. By the closing pages if you're not chomping at the bit to go out and build your own 'cantenna,' well, you're probably just not a geek."
--Provo Linux Users Group, Jan 2003
"A slim, easy to follow volume on how to create a wireless community-wide network. Instructions on equipment, antenna placement, etc."
--Bob Schwabach, On Compters, Dec 2002
"A book well worth reading by anyone who is concerned about community access to the Internet."
--Major Keary, Book News, Nov 6 2002
"Building a wireless network can be a pricey affair. Proprietary hardware cards and software drivers, outrageously priced cables, expensive antennas--and, of course, a shiny new computer--can leave you bankrupt. Yet there is a thriftier path that will bring you right there, if you're of the daring type. 'Building Wireless Community Networks,' by Rob Flickenger, instructs on how to go wireless without getting a second mortgage...While there are quite a few excellent books that teach all the 802.11b know-how, 'Building Wireless Community Networks' is a book you can't afford to miss. Not only is it an exemplary DIY guide to building wireless networks and a masterpiece in terms of improvising and cutting costs, it's also one of the most amusing books I've read recently."
--Danny Kalev, IBM DeveloperWorks, Oct 2002
"The small book provides a more practical introduction in how to build (community) networks. It briefly discusses the set up and the building of antennas. Most of the information contained in the book is available on the Internet, but the book does a good job of bundling of the info. If you start out from scratch, this booklet will provide you with enough practical tips to get your network running."
--WirelessLeiden.nl, Oct 2002
"A damned good read...Flickenger has done a remarkable job of squeezing in a lot of pertinent and hands-on material in such a small amount of space, and managed to keep it both readable and reliable throughout."
--Davey Winder, PC Pro, May 2002
"Corante recommends highly: An accessible guide to just what all the excitement on Wi-Fi is about and how easy it can be to set up your own network. With details on everything from firewalls to configuration. Includes instructions on the infamous Pringles can antenna."
--Corante-Tech News: April 25, 2002
"I highly recommend that you get O'Reilly's 'Building Wireless Community Networks' by Rob Flickenger. This book will give you a excellent insight of the current status of Wireless Community Networks, as well as some great information on network topologies, configurations, equipment and antennas."
--Erik Bussink, Geneva Wireless Community Network, April 2002
"It's an easy call to say that this book contains somewhere between thousands and tens of thousands of dollars worth of advice on each of those constructive topics."
--Glenn Fleishman, weblogger.com, Feb 2002
"Flickenger not only provides a blueprint to setting up wireless community networks, but also prods the reader into creating an individual definition of 'community'"
--Computers in Libraries, Feb 2002
"This slim volume is packed with info on what you need to know (and acquire) to use the 802.11b standard for community wireless...He shares his considerable expertise in this burgeoning open source movement in a style that's at once rigorous and accessible. This is not a book for the average user, but it is straightforward and readable enough that any moderately technical person can be brought up to speed in a hurry."
--Gareth Branwyn, www.streettech.com
"So you want to join your local community wireless networking group, but you need an introduction to the secrets of 802.11b (WiFi) networking so you can participate cluefully. Pick up Rob Flickenger's thin but information-dense 'Building Wireless Community Networks' (O'Reilly, 2002), and you'll be ready to get on the air. The author is a sysadmin for O'Reilly and Associates and founder of the wireless project nocat.net, and he brings a lot of hands-on experience to the task of explaining the strange combination of radio technology and system administration that is WiFi."
--Don Marti Linux Journal, Jan 16, 2002
"Plain and simple, this is a how-to guide to building a wireless network than spans more than just a dorm room...clear and organized...the author has impeccable credentials...the result is the perfect do-it-yourself manual for what many think is the future of the non-commercial Net."
--Netsurfer Digest, Jan 17, 2002
"an excellent nuts-and-bolts survey of the issues, problems, and technologies that concentrates on 802.11b- based solutions."
--Thom Stark, IBM Developer Works, Jan 2002
"Considering the small size of the reference, Flickenger is to be congratulated on packing so much in without sacrificing either readability or the plot as it were. His astute writing is complimented by a superb editing and layout team, resulting ion a logical structure that gently leads the reader into the subject matter with sections covering the problems of wireless community networks and possible solutions, defining project scope by way of hardware requirements and topographical mapping, before moving on to the technical nitty gritty of network layout, access point caveats, peer to peer (ad hoc) networking issues, antenna characteristics and placement, repeaters, security and so on."
--Davey Winder, www.kewney.com, Jan 2002
