On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 10:10:22 -0500, Jack Erbes
wrote:
Wow, this is a really old post. I don't really remember the context.
Glen Wiley Wilson wrote:

Interesting. I just installed Net Stumbler on my laptop. It picked
up a network in the marina with an SSID "Albin 42", so I guess it's
not exactly unknown.

Did you try to log onto the network? I was at a marine in Florida last
April and, with their permission (they had to give the the SSID, I used
their wireless network to get email and get some online support download
some docs for the equipment I was installing.

No, for several reasons. The main one is that it obviously belonged
to the Albin 42 on the next dock, hence probably not intended for
public consumption. Anyway, it had WEP enabled. Not that WEP
presents any problems if you seriously want in and know what to do.

Later, in Baltimore, the marine there has a "cash and carry" wireless
network available. You logged in, made a payment with a credit card,
and got a certain amount of access time. I don't remember the specifics
of costs but I considered it reasonable. I have done some wireless
networking and realize that when someone puts you on an AP and a T1
network connection there are some costs that have to be paid.

Several marinas I've been to, including my home marina, use a wireless
service. I tried it, was unimpressed for several reasons. Support
was non-existent. Security was non-existent. Oh, you needed a
password to log in, and that password was encrypted. But anything
else that goes over the ether was wide open, since WEP is not enabled.
A lot of critical web traffice will be secure, but things like email
are wide open. Again, WEP is hardly Fort Knox, but why make it easy?
In my marina, there's a college within range of their AP fer
chrissake. Nothing like having a hundred or so wannabee hackers
reading your email.

I thought the cost was out of line. You could install a phone line
and DSL for less, if you're looking at more than a few months of
service. Or basic cable and a cable modem. Bear in mind, you get
nothing but the connection. No news server, no email address. Very
few of the marina liveaboards and regular weekenders are using the
WiFi. Actually, none that I know of.

For transients, the value of the service is whatever they're willing
to pay, but most marinas I've been in have a spare phone line for
dial-up users nowadays. Still, it's not a bad deal for a day's use.
If I was doing it, I'd price with the objective of getting all the
liveaboards and a lot of the regular weekenders signed up. Transients
would be gravy.

Their marketing pitch is off as well, in my opinion. They emphasize
that you can sit by the pool and use your computer. Who does that?

I did have one unorthodox use for the service when I had it. My NMEA
repeater program supports network operations, so I could actually
monitor a few things remotely. Wind speed and direction, obviously.
I could also get tide state by watching the depth in the slip. I
wrote the code to monitor laptop battery level remotely, which would
tell you if AC power was off, but I never released it.. The
networking feature was intended for use on the boat's network, not
connecting to the outside world. Most people don't have static IP
addresses, so permanent connections of that sort aren't very doable.

I did not have Net Stumbler then but do now and won't go anywhere with
out it. It has been great for trouble shooting my home wireless too.

Yeah, it's great for that.

If you have a PCMCIA wireless card with an external antenna connector (I
like the Buffalo cards for that) you can add a higher gain external
antenna and it will make a big difference in finding AP's and staying
associated.

Jack

When I first started using NetStumbler, the Orinoco cards were hands
down the best choice. Very litlle else was supported and they have an
antenna connector. I reinstalled NS about a year ago after a hiatus
and things seem to be a lot better now. The latest version even
supports the onboard wireless on my new laptop.

Glen

__________________________________________________ __________
Glen "Wiley" Wilson usenet1 SPAMNIX at world wide wiley dot com
To reply, lose the capitals and do the obvious.

Take a look at cpRepeater, my NMEA data integrator, repeater, and
logger at http://www.worldwidewiley.com/