Hmmm, interesting. According to Alan Reiter’s
weblog which he’s been updating
from the Technologic Partners Conference, Mesh Networks is beta testing
a low-cost repeater-router for extending the range of 802.11. Basically,
the MeshNetworks software creates a, well, mesh network, for your
existing WiFi system.
Hmmm, I wonder if this is possible without breaking the 802.11 standard
- In other words, I can see you turning a PC into a black-box repeater,
but I don’t see how they could turn it into a repeater AND still allow
you to use the box as a wireless node on the network. Perhaps I’m
missing something, or perhaps we will all need to download some client
software (that’ll be windoze only, of course). Still, it is an
intriguing idea – they are looking at an embedded product with MSRP of
$60.
Actually, as I read Reiter’s post more carefully (pardon me, I still
haven’t had my morning coffee), it looks like Mesh Networks is trying to
do something like what we’ve done – turn a PC with broadband
connectivity and a WiFi card into a Mesh Networks AP. Well, if that’s
the case, just go and download our
code, it’s free
and available today…
Something to keep an eye on.
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