Second Site Visit

We got a second network site visit Monday morning. At first, we were worried that, without access to the crawlspace, the job couldn't be done or would've been too labor-intensive (expensive). Otherwise, there were at least two alternatives that we had: going wireless (more on that below), or running the cables a different way. However, thanks to the librarian, we found that there is access; so we all breathed a sigh of relief.

During this visit, we finalized the exact locations of the drops (the network jacks) and a few other issues that we'd want addressed; one of the most important being true earth ground for the network cabinet.

In regard to wireless; if we were to connect parts of our network with wireless technology, this would've been more involved than buying Linksys wireless routers. We'd need to insure that no unauthorized users could get on, and that any traffic can't be intercepted and read. Which means using higher-end (and expensive) Cisco products, and using WPA encryption. WEP wouldn't work since you could figure out the encryption key if you intercepted enough traffic.

Bear in mind, WifiDog is not the same as what was just explained. Unlike connecting parts of our network together and keeping it secure, the WifiDog project would allow anyone with a laptop and an e-mail address to connect to the Internet (not necessarily our own network). Therefore, the need for WPA encryption and high-end equipment is unnecessary. We could accomplish what we needed with inexpensive Linksys WRT-54GL routers and opensource software.