David Smith email: dsmith@covansys.com
I am a wireless wannabe, but I haven't taken the plunge to buy the wireless equipment. I am connected to the net through cable modem service from @home, and I use a linux-based firewall called SmoothWall, which provides protection to my internal boxes (both linux and windoze). I haven't yet figured out what my wireless topology should look like.
Current setup:
scary world <--> smoothwall <--> my internal network
Issue 1: When I add a wireless capability to my home, I am opening whatever network the AP is on to the outside world. I suppose I could put the AP on the scary world side like so:
scary world <--> smoothwall <--> my internal network
\-> AP
But this means that when I'm using my wireless pc, I can't see my internal network without punching a hole in my firewall, which others could easily exploit. I don't really like this answer.
Issue 2: If I add an AP that is available to the general public, how do I ensure that potential wireless users in the neighborhood do not use my entire available @home bandwidth, starving my internal network of bandwidth? I suppose I could use some form of the QOS services in the 2.4 linux kernel, but I've never done that. It could also be the case that I am worried about nothing -- my sleepy SW neighborhood isn't exactly bristling with wireless nodes looking for open APs.