AP placement

No cathedral ceilings. "Flat roof" -- the sort of style you would expect in the Southwest. But, the space in question is similar in construction to cathedral ceiling as the "attic" is only as thick as the 2x12's used to frame the roof.

X10's problem was "no brains". OTOH, hard to think of what *would* be the "smarts" in something like a lightswitch, etc.

I put all of the functionality in each node/device. The only thing "centralized" is the user interface. And even

E.g., the irrigation controller doesn't care that the UI is down -- it knows how to water the plants based on the most recent scheduling parameters given to it. It can still communicate with the weather station to determine how to modify that schedule (e.g., in case of rain). And if it can't communicate with the weather station, it can still fall back on the "default" schedule.

I don't entertain clients here. Most of my clients have never met me -- some have never even heard my voice! :> So, as long as I don't let "others" (guests) into the office, I don't have to worry about violating any confidentiality agreements. I, long ago, discovered that guests like to ask questions... *lots* of them: "What's this? What's it do? Who are you designing it for?" etc. Easier to just leave the door locked ;-)

WiFi is about 2.5 GHz, it may be possible to use the ductwork as=20 a low grade high mode waveguide. Dampers built into the grills=20 may make hash of the idea though.

New houses around here come with a wiring closet much like you'd find in a high rise office building. All the coax, alarm system, telephone, CAT-5 and cable-TV all come to a central location. ...Jim Thompson

That is difficult to vent. Plus you'll have to fish the cables and that can only be done from two directions. Typically blocked by fire stops somewhere :-(

X10 has two main problems. One is a s***ty AM carrier on-off protocol, the other is even shittier device quality, design bugs and so on.

That's ok, as long as the devices work autonomously and can be programmed locally if needed. That's what we do with X10 nowadays, use the buttons on the wall switches because half the time X10 doesn't work.

Similar here, only on occasion are clients here but it does and has to happen at times. Still, even for myself I like to keep things totally separated. This can mean 2-3 clean-ups per day, tabula rasa as the Romans used to say. That way I never have a mix-up of gear, parts or documents. Every client has a code and it's on everything. Only I and the client know it so if I get hit by a truck things aren't lost.

Already vented. Part of the (wacky) way homes are constructed, here. Openings on each end of each "space" (between joists). In theory, air flows in one end and out the other. Probably helped by convection along the way (the natural pitch of the roof)

Firestops only in the walls -- prevent the "chimney" effect of the spaces between studs carrying a fire into the "ceiling".

I've had no problem running wires so far. All the drops for the audio clients, etc.

I think I may try the roof (outside the house). That will give me much more flexibility in siting the device (and, I can MOVE it!!) as well as better coverage in the neighborhood. (I'd like to cover my "walking route" which would be about a

Well, the transmission protocol could have been enhanced with some brains on each end. But, they opted for "cheap" :-/

Yup. I am at a loss as to how I will eventually deal with controlling AC loads (and still comply with local codes). Not many options out there that are easily retrofitted.

The only way to "program" (lets say "configure" to differentiate from software updates) them is via network interface. I.e.,

The point was to make them smart enough that they can do their "typical" routine without intervention. And, to define "typical" in such a way that LONG "UI dropouts" are tolerated. So, instead of thermostat maintaining

The projects I work on probably tend to be much longer time scales (many months to a year-or-two). And, I tend to only work on one project of a particular type at a time. E.g., design a circuit for client A; write code for client B; prepare documentation for client C; etc. Makes it easy to keep things separate (in my head).

That's the problem with software -- you can design a circuit in a WEEK for which it will take you a YEAR to craft the code. (actually, writing the code isn't the problem -- typically 20% of the effort; usually the specifications and documentation are the hassle -- as well as the tedium!)

The only time things get truly messy is if I have to fiddle with a prototype (some of these are very large and might need to be staged out in the garage, etc.). And, in those cases, I definitely *don't* want things "cleaned up" each day or I'll spend forever cleaning and setting back up each day! :-/

(sort of like rebuilding an engine in a car... if you had to put everything away at the end of each day, you'd get very little *done*!)

This house is like that, but the built in bookshelves in the great room is a better location for the router. Unfortunately, the UTP from the wiring closet to the bookshelf is open. :-(

Is there a way to hook a LAN capable printer (HP2015dn) in wirelessly? I'd like to share it between computers.

^^^^^ Oooh, how many APs can you fit into there? Kinky.

Tim

This one lets you print wirelessly but connects to the USB port of a printer (which yours has AFAIR):

Many other mfgs as well. There are also WLAN-to-LAN gizmos but I don't remember where I've seen that.

Even current ones are not often designed with network in mind.

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There are wireless printer servers that connect to Ethernet wired = printers=20 as well as USB printers. Also a wireless to wired bridge will allow a = normal=20 network printer to function on the wireless segment just like on the = wired=20 segment.

My HP2015dn has network, USB, and parallel port capability. I'd guess you could add a WAP if you're so inclined. Mine is on the (CAT5 wired) network, accessible from 4 different PC's plus the laptop, when it's in its docking station. ...Jim Thompson

I've found the USB printer servers but was looking for an Ethernet one.

The wireless to wired bridges I've found are intended to connect game consoles to a wireless network. I see nothing on the manufacturer's sites that talks about printers. If you have more information I'd appreciate it.

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How do WAPs talk to each other so they act as one network? None of my systems are co-located with the modem or router. The printer is currently attached to the wired network on my laptop but I'd like to be able to get to it from systems elsewhere in the house.

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Then the WLAN-USB solution I suggested might be your best bet. I've heard people having issues with WLAN-LAN converters but WLAN-USB typically worked right out of the box. And it ain't expensive. Probably your local consumer electronics big box store has at least one flavor of such a converter. Meaning you could easily return it if it doesn't work.

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I think the place to look is in wired - WAP routers. e.g. Linksys = WRT45G. =20 It may take some reading up on the configuration settings and fiddling. = But=20 networked printers should show up over the wireless segment as well.

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I guess that's what I'll do. I'd prefer to extend the Ethernet link, as a more general solution, but that looks risky. I'm sure no one around here sells WLAN-LAN converters.

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Do you mean WAP54G (don't see anything with a Wxx45x)? I see from the WAP54G manual that it'll do what I want, but requires a WAP54G at each end of the link. It doesn't seem to work with a WRT54G.

The modes supported by the WAP54G (from the manual):

Access Point: The AP Mode is set to Access Point by default. This connects your wireless PCs to a wired network.

I want the opposite.

AP (Access Point): Client When set to AP Client mode, the AP Client is able to talk to one remote access point within its range. This feature only works with another Wireless-G Access Point (model number: WAP54G).

This mode allows the AP Client to act as a client of a remote access point. The AP Client cannot communicate directly with any wireless clients. A separate network attached to the AP Client can then be wirelessly bridged to the remote access point.

WAP54G only.

Wireless Repeater: When set to Wireless Repeater mode, the Wireless Repeater is able to talk to up a remote access point within its range and retransmit its signal. This feature only works with the Linksys Wireless-G Router (model number: WRT54G) or another Wireless-G Access Point (model number: WAP54G).

Not what I want.

Wireless Bridge: This mode connects two physically separated wired networks using two access points (use additional access points to connect more wired networks). This feature only works with another Wireless-G Access Point (model number: WAP54G).

WAP54Gs required at both ends.

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I've seen WLAN-LAN converters being sold but more as a boutique product. Yeah, it might look like the more elegant solution but that can easily ruin a whole Saturday trying to cram a print handler routine into a device that isn't meant to do that. If you get a WLAN-USB box that is specifically sold to be used with printers it's almost guaranteed to work within a few minutes.

Of course the manly way would be to buy a WLAN chips set, a PHY chip, a fast ARM or similar uC, do a layout, machine a cherry-wood box in the garage ... :-)

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Come to think of it, Joseph's idea might actually work. I have a Linksys wireless router. It's a BEFW-11S4, just an ordinary one. It has four LAN ports and one WAN port, plus diplexed antennas.

One LAN port connects to my LAN, the WAN port and all other LAN ports are open and the whole thing is set to "dumbed-down mode", meaning it's only an AP and no Internet routing etc. My printers are both on the wired LAN side, one of them through a parallel port on my firewall thingie. Both printers can be accessed wirelessly from the PCs in the other office and the lab bench. Those connect via WLAN but can access anything on the LAN there is (of course only as far as permissions are set). It doesn't matter whether any of the other PCs are on or not, printing happens autonomously.

The big office printer requires a special driver to be installed on every PC so it can be found, it doesn't rely on any intelligent mechanism in a router or anything. But there is no difference whether it goes via the AP or not and during paper scans the printer actually sends stuff abck to the requesting PC, meaning it works both ways.

So if you happen to have an AP somewhere you could just try it out.