Pierow’s Prattle

Wicher posted on Smörgåsbord about an interesting problem.  His Atheros card was set to use the US regulatory domain even though he was in The Netherlands.  This limited his ability to use wireless channels 12 & 13 which are allowed in Europe but not in the US.  “iw reg set NL” did not resolve the problem (read the article for an in depth explanation of why) so he found a work-around.  It seems that the crda (Central Regulatory Domain Agent) application as compiled under OpenWRT does not require a digital signature – allowing the accompanying database to be modified.  With the newly updated crda database, he was able to access all 14 available channels.  (Though admittedly, channel 14 is not authorized for use in Europe)

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SailMail is radio based e-mail system designed for yacht owners to facilitate email communication while at sea. SailMail’s utilizes its own world-wide network of SSB-Pactor radio stations, satellite (Iridium, Inmarsat, Globalstar, Thuraya) or any other method of internet access.  Much of its underlying technology is built upon the Winlink software used by amateur radio enthusiasts but SailMail only requires a marine radio license, not an amateur radio license. (more…)

I-Hacked has an article describing the process for cracking Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2) encryption using the additional processing power of video cards with CUDA support.

[Link]

The Mesh Potato project hopes to build an 802.11bg mesh router with a single FXS port. It is designed to provide telephony via VOIP while simultaneously facilitating a mesh cloud. It is an open hardware and open software design. It will run off a nominal 12VDC, from either a mains supply or solar PV system, and be priced in the range of currently available Wifi routers (sub US$100).

The target application is mesh routed VOIP networks, in particular (but not limited to) developing communities. An analog phone connects to the potato via the FXS port. When you make a call you potato talks to the potato down the street which talks to the next potato, and eventually to the destination. The mesh network can be augmented via backbone links and connected to the rest of the world via VOIP gateways.

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Back in July, 2008, Freespace Systems announced the availability of their high performance 802.11 miniPCI radio.  The Valemount KXS30SG is the first full 1 Watt miniPCI radio module available worldwide.

The card is Atheros AR5414 based and is supported by a wide number of open-source & commercial operating systems (Including StarOS, Linux MadWifi, MikroTik, & Ikarus.  It also comes with both MMCX (micro-miniature coaxial) and Hirose U.FL antenna connectors.

[Pasadena Networks has the cards for $69]  [Datasheet for the KXS30SG]

Ubiquiti Networks Bullet

The Ubiquiti Networks Bullet outdoor 802.11 access point is scheduled for release this month has been released.  The low-power (100 mW) version is $40 and the  1,000 mW (1 watt) version is $90.  (No, that’s not a typo)  It’s powered via PoE and connects directly to the antenna so the only connection required is CAT-5.  The operating temp is inline with an outdoor application -20C to +70C (-4F to 158F) and it runs AirOS.  This could be the Holy Grail for implementing low-cost mesh wireless data networks.

UPDATE: Pasadena Networks has the Ubiquiti Bullet in stock!

[Datasheet] [Resellers] [Bullet Forum]

Using NEMA enclosures to house and protect wireless gear in an outdoor environment is nothing new but they tend to look like someone gutted their Linksys WRT54G and crammed the guts into a plastic box.

L-CON has some really elaborate examples showing multiple access points, surge protection, amplifiers, band pass filters, etc all in a neat, logical layout.  Impressive!

[HyperLink Brand NEMA Enclosure Configuration Examples]

Tony’s Cafe has a really interesting article on using amplifiers along with a combination of omnidirectional and yagi antennas to create a ship-to-shore 802.11 wireless link.  Of particular interest is the use of Hyperlink amps and the calculations to compute signal loss due to connectors, cable length, etc.

[Understanding 802.11 2.4GHz Amplifiers and Antennas (and Creating a Ship to Shore Link)]