[MVLUG] wireless

[Hans Fugal]

Joe Pfeiffer wrote:
> Couple of questions:
> 
> First, when an access point shares a frequency with something running
> in ad hoc mode, is there interference between them?  My intuition
> would be "yes", but I don't know....

Devices using the same channel but not talking to eachother are causing 
interference. And, the same goes for close channels. Generally you want 
to be at least 5 channels away from any other strong signal in the area. 
Channels 1, 6, 11 are popular for that reason.

> 
> Second, can anyone recommend a good tool for watching packets when
> your wireless isn't configured?

Your card (and/or the kernel driver for it) may not support it. You need 
hostap mode support I think.

> 
> The background, of course, is that today my wireless at home went to
> hell, and I found that something running in ad hoc mode was sharing my
> access point's frequency.  Changed frequencies, and (at the moment) I
> seem to have wireless again.  So I'm curious to find out whether I
> actually fixed the problem or if this is a coincidence.
> 
> Also, of course, I'm curious to know who it is!


-- 
Hans Fugal
PhD Student
Computer Science Department
New Mexico State University