Wireless Hacks

It's an increasingly wired world, but many people are finding that the best way to get connected is to do away with wires entirely. From cable replacement to universal Internet connectivity, wireless technology is changing the way we connect to our machines and to each other. As with any new technology, buying your gear is only the first step. Understanding how to make the best use of it is another story. Wireless Hacks offers 100 industrial-strength tips about wireless networking, contributed by experts who apply what they know in the real world every day. Each Hack can be read in just a few minutes, but can save you hours of research. Inside, you will find a wealth of useful techniques for making the most out of wireless technology, including:

• Making sense of the alphabet soup of the 802.11 standards, and understanding which technology makes sense for your solving particular problem

• Using Bluetooth, mobile radios, mobile data networks, and other exotic methods to keep you connected, no matter where you are

• Practical methods for detecting, analyzing, and monitoring wireless networks

• Extending the range of your network, and making the best possible use of the available radio spectrum

• Designing and building your own antennas

• Engineering long distance network links that span several miles

• Understanding the security issues of wireless networking, and protecting yourself and your users from unauthorized access and eavesdropping

Written for the intermediate to advanced wireless user, Wireless Hacks is full of direct, practical, ingenious solutions to real-world networking problems. Whether your wireless network needs to extend to the edge of your office or to the other end of town, this collection of non-obvious, "from the field" techniques will show you how to get the job done.