[Ti] OT: politics and Wi-Fi Help needed, please

[Alex]

Hi Francesc

OK a small Network Primer

Wi-Fi (short for "wireless fidelity") is the common name for a 
high-frequency wireless local area network (WLAN).
OK...  a Local Area Network (LAN) is the sort of network that would 
normally travel around an office or building and not leave that place.
This can be via cabling (several different varieties exist) or more 
recently via a wireless link.

When linking up several places together it is no longer called a Local 
Area Network but a Wide Area Network or WAN.

The Wi-Fi technology is gaining use in companies and home as an 
alternative to a wired LAN.
So for each house or office in the town the Wi-Fi network would indeed 
be of benefit.

However getting broadband to the town is another matter entirely. The 
necessary infrastructure to get a feed into you town would have to be 
done by a carrier such at AT&T. That feed could then be routed 
throughout the town and each home or affice could the use Wi-Fi to 
distribute that link within about 150 ft of each base station.

So although Wi-Fi would be a great alternative to cable once the main 
Feed has been brought into the town. It is not a replacement for that 
main line.

As far as standards go here comes the technichal stuff:

This and other info can be obtained on sites such as 
http://www.whatis.com

Wi-Fi is specified in the 802.11b specification from the Institute of 
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and is part of a series of 
wireless  specifications together with 802.11, 802.11a, and 802.11g. 
All four standards use the Ethernet protocol and CSMA/CA (carrier sense 
multiple access with collision avoidance) for path sharing.

The 802.11b (Wi-Fi) technology operates in the 2.4 GHz range offering 
data speeds up to 11 megabits per second.  The modulation used in 
802.11 has historically been phase-shift keying (PSK).  The modulation 
method selected for 802.11b is known as complementary code keying 
(CCK), which allows higher data speeds and is less susceptible to 
multipath-propagation interference.

Unless adequately protected, a Wi-Fi wireless LAN can be susceptible to 
access from the outside by unauthorized users, some of whom have used 
the access as a free Internet connection.  (The activity of locating 
and exploiting security-exposed wireless LANs is commonly known as war 
driving and an identifying iconography has developed that is known as 
warchalking.)  Companies that have a wireless LAN are urged to add 
security safeguards such as the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) 
encryption standard, the setup and use of a virtual private network 
(VPN) or IPsec, and a firewall or DMZ.


Alex