Linux, Linux, Linux -- the versatile, stable, scalable, diverse, and competitive platform has gone wireless. It's becoming the universal tool for almost everything, and it has found its place in wireless solutions, from desktops and servers with wireless access to access point systems. Learn more about how Linux is enhancing wireless networking.

A Linux wireless access point: Build or buy?
The fundamental question is this: Is a Linux system capable of integrating with other access points in a wireless network to provide connectivity between fixed nodes and roaming wireless clients?

The actual installation of a wireless LAN is not such a big deal; the key lies in what you buy, and whether it is supported under a Linux system. Check to make sure that you have the hardware for a specific operating system driver. Keep in mind that if you are looking for high performance (that is, gigabit data transfer rates), wireless is the wrong choice for you; even the latest standards offer transmission rates under 100 Mbps. Roaming presents a different challenge: maintaining a connection between various access points. To help with this, set up the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) key to detect an access point that you can connect to. Keep things down to earth and remember that the main purpose of an access point is to be a bridge; that is, it should route packets from one network to another.

This article focuses on the various options and tools offered to manage these access points. Basically, you're choosing whether to use tools with or without wireless extensions. (Wireless extensions is the name of a generic API that allows a driver to inform the user about space configuration and statistics specific to common wireless LANs.) For a step-by-step guide to installing access point software under Linux, read the article Building a wireless access point on Linux. For a good overview of the wireless network structure and bridging between LAN and WLAN, read the Linux Wireless Access Point HOWTO (see Resources for more information).

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