[...]... to add Wi-Fi to your TiVo and create a wireless digital picture frame Add Wi-Fi to a roadtrip and perform car-to-car videoconferencing And ultimately, bring a computer more than 20 miles away onto your local wireless network by creating a long-distance Wi-Fi link What You Need to Use This Book Some of the projects in this book can be performed using stand-alone wireless networks, especially if you are... 146 146 148 149 149 150 150 151 151 152 152 153 154 154 157 159 161 161 161 162 163 164 166 169 Chapter 8: Build Your Own Outdoor Access Point 171 Location, Location, Location 172 Contents Line-of-Sight Providing Power and Data Safety Balance the Trade-Offs Choosing... directly by newer laptops and PDAs, and most computer accessory manufacturers It’s so popular that “big box” electronics chain stores carry widely used wireless hardware and networking products Wi-Fi is the root of a logo and branding program created by the Wi-Fi Alliance A product that uses the Wi-Fi logo has been certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance to fulfill certain guidelines for interoperability Logo... devices in a small space Now you would have a basic understanding of how Wi-Fi works in a physical and logical sense There’s lots more to Wi-Fi technology and specifications, but that’s all you need to know about the theory for now Next, we’ll get down to the specifics about building your own Wi-Fi projects Parts of a Wi-Fi Project Every Wi-Fi project contains specific primary components to make the... planet Wi-Fi, in particular, is changing how people access the Internet from laptops and PDAs It’s emerging as an alternative for cellular service, and it may even replace regular telephone lines as voice conversations begin to be re-routed over Wi-Fi networks in larger numbers Wi-Fi is that subset of wireless communications designed for high-speed Internet access Sometimes simply referred to as wireless, ”... About Wi-Fi If you want to understand what is going on with a wireless network, you first need to know some of the basics of wireless communication and radio transmission Wireless networking is accomplished by sending a signal from one computer to another over radio waves The most common form of wireless computing today uses the IEEE 802.11b standard This popular standard, also called Wi-Fi or Wireless. .. unthinkable a few years ago Wireless disk drive arrays, presentation gateways, audiovisual media adapters, printer adapters, Wi-Fi cameras, hotspot controllers, and wireless broadband and video phones dominate the consumer arena And the enterprise market is not far behind We’ve been tossing out the terms wireless, gigahertz (GHz), and frequency Next, we’ll discuss how Wi-Fi uses wireless radio waves, also... are 1, 7, and 13, and in Japan, the channels are 1, 7, and 14 For this very reason, most products come with one of these channels as the default setting, and most Wi-Fi hotspots are set to one of these three channels Recently, users have been squeezing these nonoverlapping channels down to minimal-overlapping channels 1, 4, 8, and 11 This opens up significantly more options for Wi-Fi device and access... known by its many-lettered specification IEEE 802.11b, a, g, and so on, Wi-Fi allows compatible devices to connect without cables or physical connections With speeds far in excess of most cable modem, DSL, and even T1 service, Wi-Fi is rapidly becoming the standard for Internet access The store shelves are flooded with Wi-Fi access points, clients, music players, network hubs, and printers, and myriad other... Solar-Powered Wireless Repeater Chapter 10: Creating a Free Wireless Hotspot Chapter 11: Playing Access Point Games 171 207 237 267 Part IV: Just for Fun 285 Chapter 12: Wi-Fi Your TiVo Chapter 13: Create a Long-Distance Wi-Fi Link Chapter 14: Deploy a Car-to-Car Wireless . Wi-Fi Toys 15 Cool Wireless Projects for Home, Office, and Entertainment Mike Outmesguine F-First.qxd 7/2/04 12:03 PM Page i Quark03 Quark03:BOOKS:WY016:WY016:0764558943:pdf: Wi-Fi Toys: 15. Alysia, Diana and Jennifer, Granddude, and the Grandmas Great and Small for letting us stop by unexpectedly. And thanks to our friends from the Lang Ranch Mom’s Club for being there for my family. PM Page i Quark03 Quark03:BOOKS:WY016:WY016:0764558943:pdf: Wi-Fi Toys: 15 Cool Wireless Projects for Home, Office, and Entertainment Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 10475 Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis,