[dundee] Installing a Free WIFI Hotspot at the DCA

[Rick Moynihan]

2008/5/2 Kris Davidson <davidson.kris at gmail.com>:
> Well the one that springs immediately to mind is the Linksys WRT54G
>  series, there are others but this one seems to be the best in my
>  opinion. Its a wireless router that can be flashed with a variety of
>  customer firmwares based on Linux, or a custom one may be rolled. It
>  has time and usage limits, filtering, QoS and is configurable via a
>  web interface.

Yes, I've seen these and the corresponding firmware/hacking projects.
However I was under the impression that some years ago, Linksys
updated the model and drastically reduced the hardware spec whilst
opting for a bespoke OS.  I'd heard recently that they had started
selling the older (Linux capable) WRT54G again, is this still the
case?

>  A few of the problems with a box running a dedicated distribution as I
>  see it are, size, wireless footprint, troubleshooting. It'll be bigger
>  compared to a router, getting a decent footprint could be a problem
>  and it may be harder to troubleshoot than a dedicated appliance for
>  non-techie people.

Perhaps, but the DCA already have the hardware, and presumably a place
to run it.

>  It may not be the best solution and I could be talking crap, I'm just
>  throwing it out there.

Seems reasonable, and I'd expected a technical discussion of
alternatives such as this would follow.  But, I think a discussion
about whether the LUG/DCA could do this and the nature of such an
arrangement is perhaps more important at this stage.

R.