RE: Private WiFi in hotel room; security/interference issues

Per previous message, suppress the broadcast of the network ID, so people
won't know how to connect (I assume that there are cracking tools that will
detect this, but are probably not used by the casual browser of the
airwaves).  As for the details of the antennae, I defer to the expertise at
SWN.

Ken M.

PS Those scruffy characters probably wouldn't know a PC-Card if it bit them
in the asses -- but they probably do know what a laptop is -- moot as the
point is now.


-----Original Message-----

From: Tim Maher [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2006 10:45 AM
To: Ken Meyer
Cc: [email protected]; Seattle Wireless - Talk

Subject: Re: Private WiFi in hotel room; security/interference issues

On Tue, Jan 10, 2006 at 10:11:08AM -0800, Ken wrote:

> Tim --
>
> Are there so
> many crooks in the Perl/UNIX community that theft of cards is a real
> problem?

It's not the students I'm worrying about, but the other people
hanging around in the hotel, who frequently peek into the
classroom to see what's happening. And at locations near
airports, where I tend to stage my classes, hotels tend to get
lots of scruffy-looking guests. For example, there's a certain
percentage who are under "house arrest" by the INS (now
homeland security) for not having proper papers.

Moreover, hotel staffers are notoriously lax about leaving
meeting rooms unlocked for hours on end in the evenings, for the
convenience of the vacuuming guy! I've been complaining about
this for decades, but it goes on (My laptops will NOT be there
at night, I assure you).

> Perhaps someone on this list can give advice on antennae, especially for
> "a", as it seems to have become the standard position that a directional
> antenna is much more valuable to optimizing performance than even adding
> reasonable amounts of power would be.

Are custom antennae available as screw-on replacements for
popular WiFi routers? If I can get a "pancake" shaped reception
field on the AP, do I really need /a to reduce interference, or
will my /b/g activity be so localized that my AP won't pick up
other activity in the hotel?

NEWS FLASH: I've just placed a large order for /b/g-equipped
laptops (got a good deal), so I'd like to shift the discussion
away from the pros/cons of /a now.

So what's the best plan for keeping out of the way of the hotel's
WiFi system, and keeping hotel guests from accessing mine?

These have been the suggestions thus far:
* use fixed IP addresses
* use encryption (WEP or better)
* consider a directional antenna for the AP
* consider point-to-point protocol

Any other pointers, or thoughts on these ones?

-Tim

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