[asterisk-users] Re: [OT] wi-fi ip phone scenario

[Martin Joseph]

On 2006-10-27 08:49:44 -0700, Alberto Pastore <alberto at msoft-italia.com> said:

> Hello everyone.
> 
> I know it's a little bit off-topic, but I was just wondering...
> 
> Has anyone ever had any experience with asterisk,
> a wi-fi meshed lan (with more than one access point)
> and wi-fi sip phones?
I don't think I have a "mesh" network technically speaking,  but I have 
wired my how with two Zyxel X-550's one acting as a router to the 
internet and the other as a WDS repeater.  This works well with my 
Nokia e60 (although the phone still has flaws).
> 
> I made some tests but I'm not really satisfied....
> Wi-fi phones are a curse (as far as I know even
> Nokia eSeries -I personally own an e70 model- have their flaws):
> 
> - random sip registration failures
Saw that when I has issues with WIFI signal, once I got that sorted AND 
update the firmware on my Nokia e60, this seems to be fixed.
> - ridiculous battery life
Heh. No comparison to my old T68i which I would travel for a week with, 
and not bring the charger.  The e60 is one day, if WIFI is used.
> - bad audio quality even with optimal radio environments
Not true here.  I am using ulaw and it sounds fine.
> - crashes, system freezes
Yes there where many, but the firmware updater resolve many of these.  
NOT perfect, but much better.
> - ...
> - slow responsiveness to asterisk "qualify" pings (OPTIONS)
Again, an issue of firmware and WIFI coverage
> 
> but I can even live with that.
> 
> The major problem is... roaming between cells.
> Is that a dream or something that can actually work?
Mine works perfectly.

Here is what I did.

Set both bases to be locked to a particular channel(ie 6).
Set both bases to be locked to 802.11b only.(don't know if this is 
necessary, but it works for me.)
make sure that through both bases the same DHCP server is providing 
IP's (in my case neither of the WIFI bases is the DHCP server.
Make sure they are close enough that there is no rough spot in the 
middle (for WDS this is closer then you might think).
Set each WIFI router to have the mac address of the other in the WDS config.
Make sure your network is secure. Random leeches can hurt you.

Many WDS products ONLY support WEP,  so this is an issue also.  I am 
running 64 bit (40 bit) WEP, which is good enough to lock out the 
casual pucks.

Good Luck,
Marty


> 
> Unfortunately I have to replace a good old
> DECT network (I know it'll never compare to DECT)...

Never is a long time ;~)