[Chicago-talk] In Search of Wireless

[Andrew Rodland]

On Tuesday 13 June 2006 01:39, Joshua McAdams wrote:
> Wow, that was a great response on the wireless solution.  It sounds
> like Eric has the most powerful setup, but that we might need to
> supplement it with some of the others.  I've also been in contact with
> a local Cisco rep that might have some equipment that we could use.
>
> So, here is the next problem, who knows how to set all of these things
> up so that they don't stomp all over each other?  Is there anyone(s)
> that would be willing to be the official wireless lord(s) of YAPC or
> at least double-check me to make sure that I don't make too stupid of
> decisions on the wireless topic?

Not volunteering for the "wireless lord" position, but it depends on the way 
the network's set up and the equipment available. If the whole network is 
routed and the APs are beefy enough [1], you could set up the whole thing to 
have essid "YAPCChicago" and users could roam, no problem; you'd only have to 
worry about assigning channels to maximize distance between any two routers 
on the same channel.

The less-beautiful solution is what Elias brought up; one AP/Router per room, 
with unique ESSIDs per room, and if you go off somewhere out of the range of 
the signal, tough luck; you need to change ESSID, get a new DHCP lease, 
reestablish connections, etc. A minor annoyance, but it might well be an 
unavoidable one.

Andrew

[1] Any networky types who want to chime in on exact requirements, please do. 
I'm only familiar in broad strokes.