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Certainly the most cost effective solution is running a MiniPCI cradles
in your server, and freeBSD is the best OS in my option as it has good
support. Recently we moved all our work servers over from Gentoo to
FreeBSD<br>
<br>
At Air-Stream (my wireless club in Adealide) we have a number of core
routers in the network which are just old surplus P3 which support up
to five PCI wireless cards without any issues the oldest has been
running for 657days and only because we added some new cards.<br>
<br>
About 5 metres of LMR400 Coax seems to be the maximum and works quite
ok but with Heliax you add a little more. As for antennas for APs I
would go for a Superpass 8dbi or if you want sector coverage a 4 slot
waveguide as these has proven them selfs to be the best performers
over the years. Recently we installed some 15dbi Omni at a site with
good LOS, but the beam width was such that it over shot most local
users, but seen out as far as 20kms, so these are not recommended in
high locations.<br>
<br>
Robert<br>
<br>
Rowan 2006 wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid20060907103421.N26363@satin.sensation.net.au"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Whoops - forgot to send to the list. Apologies Robert.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2006 10:34:05 +1000 (EST)
From: Rowan 2006 <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:rowan2006@sensation.net.au"><rowan2006@sensation.net.au></a>
To: Robert Hart <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:robert@air-stream.org"><robert@air-stream.org></a>
Subject: Re: [MLB-WIRELESS] Senao "all in one" high power outdoor units
On Thu, 7 Sep 2006, Robert Hart wrote:
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap=""> I would suggest a WRAP2 with a Senao 400mw MiniPCI and 8dbi Superpas
Omni, this would allow for expansion at a latter stage as you can add
an extra CM9 with a 29dbi Grid Dish when you find others who also have
similar setups it will allow you then to propagate your network services
further afield.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->
Hi Robert,
I have been looking at the WRAP2 as an option. I was particularly
interested because it's x86 based which means it can run FreeBSD, which is
seemingly quite rare in the embedded wireless world. :) On the minus side,
just the board and miniPCI card alone will cost more than the self
contained Senao AP; then it will still need weatherproofing, POE
injection, custom FreeBSD compile, and an antenna.
I haven't mentioned that I already have a FreeBSD PC as a dedicated
wireless server (more a firewall with a dedicated crossover ether so it's
effectively isolated from my own wired network) which means that future
expansion could be as simple as connecting another AP to it.
It's a tossup really... convenience now versus long term expansion
possibilities. I just have to decide whether adding extra APs is a
flexible enough solution, or whether I should just do it your way from the
start. :)
Another thing that just popped into my head is to use a Senao 400mW card
with a miniPCI-PCI adaptor and install that into the existing FreeBSD
server (assuming the ath driver supports AP mode). This brings other
issues such as antenna cable losses into the equation though.
Cheers.
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</pre>
</blockquote>
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