Professional Geekism

I’ve decided that due to the immensely impressive way in which my network setup at home has turned out, it should be forever-stripped of that horrid, derogatory phrase, ‘wireless’.

Any systems adminstrator, network engineer or even anyone with a slight technical strain in them will most-likely tell you to avoid wireless networking like the plague. If you want retain the ideal of hassle-free and reliable networking, aside from simple light-user access, it’s quite often just a big pain in the arse.

However, you may remember that I wanted to create a wireless bridge from my bedroom, to the opposite side of my flat, where I was to have another router that would be connected to the ADSL. I didn’t want to simply buy a wireless card for my PC as I’m runnning Ubuntu 99% of the time, and as good as it is, Ubuntu hasn’t been able to magically write a bunch of WNIC drivers just yet. Using a bridge also means that I can share the link with other devices (like a phone, or second PC) without having to worry about running a temporary cable or finding them a WNIC.

Well, after conducting my research into simple wired-to-wireless bridges and finding them all to be wank, I’ve ended up with a Linksys WRT54GL (flashed with the DD-WRT firmware) that performs wired-to-wireless bridging to a Netgear DB834GT access point, which is actually located on the opposite side of my flat. The ADSL connection is in-fact ADSL2+, and due to the exchange being roughly 300m of wire away – it syncs to 18.9Mbit/sec at 7dB SnR. If I log in to the Netgear router via telnet, I can tweak the SnR and get as close to the theoretical maxmium of 24Mbit/sec as 21.9Mbit/sec (SnR @ 2.3dB). In real money, this means 2.2MB/sec downloads from the right server…

There’s a little extra latency due to the wireless bridge, but in reality this is still insignificant – the bulk of the RTT to our voice router (hosted in the UK) can be attributed to the ADSL network. Though it’s only an average of 40ms in total.

So a great success if I don’t say-so myself! I don’t think I’ve been more impressed with the capabilities of a £35 router. With nothing more than a firmware update, you can transform it into a BGP/OSPF/Wireless Bridge/Client/VPN endpoint/Router/Managed Switch.. It’s endlessly impressive. And if you think about it the alternatives; it could have cost me £35 for a decent Wireless NIC – and would that WNIC have been support up to 4 devices, with next to zero configuration? I think NOT!

Yes, I’m very impressed with how my network has turned-out. Aside from a great location and a killer ADSL2+ connection, it’s working so well due to good hardware. The Netgear has impressed me somewhat – it’s solid, configurable and worth the money I paid for it. I’d definitely recommend it again, but then it’s still no 54GL – DD-WRT has made that router the star of the show… If only they supported a router with an ADSL modem!