Casey Bralla on 10 May 2008 14:35:22 -0700


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Re: [PLUG] Wireless VPN


I'm doing this strictly for fun.   I bought a new cheap 802.11g WAP and still 
have my 5-year old old 802.11b WAP and was hoping to use it.   I'm engaged in 
what the historian of technology Samual Florman used to call "the existential 
pleasures of engineering".


Also, I wanted to put my backup server in a distant part of the house.   Sure, 
I could jut add a wireless card to the server, but I'd prefer to use my old 
WAP in some type of ad-hoc arrangement.   Unfortunately, it doesn't run open 
source software and is pretty dumb, so I can't do much with it.   <sigh>



On Saturday 10 May 2008 5:05:56 pm Brian Vagnoni wrote:
> _____

>
> I want to set up a wireless VPN, so that I can have a couple of remote
>   computers accessing my main network via a wireless access point at each
> end of the VPN.  (See attached sketch)
>
>   In other words, I want to connect 2 segments of my local network via
> wireless instead of via wired CAT5.
>
>   Can anybody suggest a how-to to help me set this up?

> Hey Casey;
>
> Need a little more info than that.
>
> Is this just a project for fun or is this for a production environment? On
> the cheap, or do you have a budget to work with?
>
> How far, inside the same building or are you talking different buildings,
> same floor or multiple floors? Have you done a site survey to check for
> interference sources as well as other AP and wireless devices? If this is
> in the same building you should consider a hard wire honestly. Running wire
> on the outside of a building is the easiest if possible.
>
> Not all buildings and areas are the same. You should have preferably at
> least 35db SNR at each end of the bridge according to Cisco for proper
> stable and reliable operation.
>
> If it is across a greater distance you will need 2 outdoor dishes to do
> point to point. You still may need external antennas depending on the area
> and AP's that support it.
>
> The vpn is fine server/client or you could just wpa2 with a radius server
> as there are no known vulnerabilities as far as I know. You mite get better
> wireless performance running no encryption and just doing a vpn over your
> network. If you already have a ldap environment the radius server from what
> I hear is trivial to add.
>
> Brian



-- 


Casey Bralla
Chief Nerd in Residence
The NerdWorld Organisation
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