Forums > Specific Focus > Technical Mexico

Jean

Jun 14, 2003, 1:54 PM

Post #1 of 14 (1725 views)

Shortcut

WiFi in Ajijic?

Can't Post | Private Reply

Peter, was wondering if you can get WiFi in Ajijic by picking up the signal from one of Rod's towers?

ET, please...not over my head tech stuff...it give me a tremendous headache :)
Retirement Communities
http://www.retirecommunities.com

jennifer rose

Jun 14, 2003, 4:21 PM

Post #2 of 14 (1713 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Tuatha_de_Danann] WiFi in Ajijic?

Can't Post |

Move your cursor to the top of the page, where it says "Search Posts." Click. Now, where it says "Search string," type in the words WIRELESS. Move your cursor down to the button that says "Search," and click. A page will open up -- just like this one at http://www.mexconnected.com/..._username=&mh=25, and you'll see 84 results. You'll see the term wireless highlighted in yellow. If you click on those entries, you should be able to find the answers you're seeking. Two nice ladies named Jean and Jeanie have contributed some of those answers.

Jean

Jun 14, 2003, 4:38 PM

Post #3 of 14 (1708 views)

Shortcut

Re: [jennifer rose] WiFi in Ajijic?

Can't Post | Private Reply

Thanks Jennifer. WiFi, although wireless is a different kind of wireless. You don't need to be signed up with an ISP. If you are within a certain distance of a wireless tower you can pick up the signal for free. You need a special card for your laptop, but nothing else. It has become very popular in the US. Starbucks for instance has wireless signals and their customers can surf while sipping, for free. Surf that is, not sip :)
Retirement Communities
http://www.retirecommunities.com

johanson / Moderator

Jun 14, 2003, 4:46 PM

Post #4 of 14 (1706 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Tuatha_de_Danann] WiFi in Ajijic?

Can't Post | Private Reply

I bet some of you are asking, "What the hell is WiFi"? And when I give you the textbook definition, you're going to get even more confused. But bare with me. Here is what one of my latest textbook says Wi Fi wireless fidelity. A local area computer network using high frequency radio waves as the medium of exchange. Devices with this label must conform to the IEEE 802.11b standard as certified by the Wi Fi alliance.

In lay terms. computers can connect to each other. to printers, etc or to the internet via high frequency radio waves, just like you can talk to your wife via a cell phone over high frequency radio waves. The most popular standards right now in North America are called 802.11b.

Just yesterday at a Starbucks while sipping on an expresso I opened up my laptop and without the need to plug in an ethernet or telephone cable was able to check my email and surf the web. How did I do it? My laptop was comunicating with another tranceiver (access point) within a couple hundred feet of my location via radio waves. I checked my download and upload speeds. They were 1,400 Kb/sec and 950 Kb/sec respectively. That's more than 30 times as fast as my old fashioned telephone connection speed. You heard me. I was downloading files at more than 30 times the speed I could via an old fashioned telephone modem. Do you remember the last time you had to download a file when it took maybe 2 hours. Well, it would have taken me about 4 minutes.

Tuatha, asked if one can get Wi Fi in Ajijic. Yes. I know of 8 access points (802.11b transceivers) spread along the Lake Chapala Coast reaching from Jocotepec, 12 miles West of Ajijic to just west of Chapala perhaps 5 miles East of Ajijic.

Before you can communicate with an access point, your have to have your own tranceiver. The tranceiver in your computer could be a very small card that transmits at 2/10ths of a watt with a built in antenna. Although they say you could still connect at 1,600 feet from the other tranciever line-of-site if you were out doors with one of these cards, a more realistic range is 100 to 200 feet especially if you are inside a building.

If you want to extend your range, some of these small wireless cards have a place to connect an external antenna. There are small 5 to 8 dB antennas that you can attach to your laptop and larger directional antennas that are usually permanently fixed to say your roof that could lead to the back of your tower for a more permanent installation.

The 8 access points near Ajijic, are all controlled by the internet service provider www.lagunanet.net.mx and are placed on high towers for maximum coverage over the whole neighborhood. If the goal were to reach customers in the local coffee shops, the antennas, AKA access points, AKA transceivers would be closer to ground level near the coffee shop in question.

While the typical coffee shop Wi Fi customer is less than 100 feet from the access point, fixed Wi Fi customers, those with external antennas can be 5, 10 or even 20 miles from the ISP access points when using a 24 dB directional antenna. To minimize packet loss, lagunanet likes it's customers to be less than 5 miles from one of it's 8 towers. The maximum distance I have ever communicated with was 24 miles over the lake using a 24 dB antenna. The download rate was acceptable but was about 1/3 that of what I could have gotten were I to have been much closer.

So yes Wi Fi is available at the lake. But the access points or transceivers are positioned to maximize coverage to neighborhood customers who are pointing large directional antennas at them. They are not positioned to maximize coverage to customers with laptops at the coffee houses and restaurants. That said, with a small 8 dB omnidirectional (nondirectional) antenna attached to your laptop, should you be lucky enough to have a wireless card that has an external antenna connecter, there are several restaurants and coffee houses that are close enough to one of these 8 access points to give you connectivity while sipping on an expresso. If you have further questions drop by Lagunanet's office or phone them at 766-0297 between about 9:10 AM and 3 PM week days

johanson / Moderator

Jun 14, 2003, 4:57 PM

Post #5 of 14 (1703 views)

Shortcut

Re: [johanson] WiFi in Ajijic?

Can't Post | Private Reply

i should add that before you can use any of these 8 access points, you need to set up an account with the WISP wireless internet service provider. Right now the fee is $40 per month for unlimited access.

I pay a fee to Tmobile when I connect at Starbucks. I could either pay by the minute or monthly.

The same technology is used for both Wi Fi and fixed Wi Fi. It's just with fixed Wi Fi we are usually talking big antennas mounted on high towers both at the WISP and at the customers house, unless one happens to be located very close to the WISP's access point

Brian

Jun 15, 2003, 7:13 AM

Post #6 of 14 (1691 views)

Shortcut

Re: [johanson] WiFi in Ajijic?

Can't Post | Private Reply

It's just a matter of time before Wi-Fi becomes ubiquitous in Mexico as it is in the USA. I notice that Boingo has several locations in major hotels in various Mexican cities as does Movilnet http://www.movilnet.com.mx/localidadesactivas.htm We have an AP located in the Biblioteca Publica in San Miguel de Allende which offers 256k access while relaxing anywhere in the courtyard rather than being tethered to a desktop machine in the stuffy computer center. Finally, with the increase in wireless networks one can literally stumble across free internet access near businesses and homes. Many folks either deliberately or unwittingly leave their networks unsecured. Software like Netstumbler sniffs them out and automatically connects to access points which are within range. The ethics of engaging in this practice are debateable. For more info, do a google search on "wardriving".

johanson / Moderator

Jun 15, 2003, 10:34 AM

Post #7 of 14 (1679 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Brian] WiFi in Ajijic?

Can't Post | Private Reply

Yes, look up "wardriving" on your favorite search engine. Also I want to second Brian's vote for Networkstumbler. I use it when searching for hot spots.

(This post was edited by johanson on Jun 15, 2003, 10:48 AM)

Jun 15, 2003, 2:48 PM

Post #8 of 14 (1669 views)

Shortcut

Laguna Net )( ?

Can't Post | Private Reply

Wardriving is, at least in my book, a relatively innocuous activity. The problem is that networks that are located by this and other techniques are not only subject to potential (mis)use depending on the network configuration and the skill level of the locator, but, in the case of spec WiFi/802.11b networks, are also vulnerable to security breaches. In the case of casual-use or adhoc 802.11b networks, such as those in your local coffee house, in schools and libraries, and at trade shows ("Bring beer to room 1162 for password") this is not a huge issue (although considering the caterwauling earlier this week about a single "new" virus, I would think of some concern) as the dross to pearls ratio is quite high, but becomes considerably more so in commercial/corporate settings. Of even more vulnerability and concern would be in longer distance pseudo WAN applications where 802.11b is being used as a permanent connection between a small group of clients and a host. Here you've got an optimum combination of a client who has money and the interest in something beyond dialup service, extended operating periods, and more options for locating the monitoring equipment.

With this in mind, how is Laguna.Net protecting their wireless network and their clients? Surely they're not depending exlusively on WEP?

johanson / Moderator

Jun 15, 2003, 4:59 PM

Post #9 of 14 (1658 views)

Shortcut

Re: [ET] Laguna Net )( ?

Can't Post | Private Reply

As I am sure you know "Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) isn't": or so stated a group of mathematicians in the computer Sciences Dept. at Berkeley. The last time I checked they had discovered 4 methods of cracking it. Lagunanet has been providing wireless now for three years to its clients. And there has been the occasional hacker, who they have discovered trying to break in. Some were just friends in the business looking for back doors and I don't no about the others. What I do know is that Lagunanet tries to keep at least 2 steps ahead of the typical hacker, Lagunanet is taking certain protective steps which they wish not to be made public to protect themselves and there clients. What I can say, is that it is not 256-bit encryption and it includes checking bandwidth of the various Mac addresses in each network. And of course they filter MAC addresses And sure a sophisticated hacker could capture frames from the transmitted data and pull out the Mac addresses.They're taking a few other steps as well. Although I am not an expert on security, it would appear that they are doing more than most WISPs to protect themselves and their clients

Jun 16, 2003, 12:35 AM

Post #10 of 14 (1645 views)

Shortcut

Re: [johanson] Laguna Net )( ?

Can't Post | Private Reply

Media Access Control (MAC) address filtering and usage monitoring would help protect the networks the wireless links connect or service. For a service provider this would be of particular interest in that the combination would deter and/or possibly identify where unauthorized users are stealing connectivity without paying. In corporate settings MAC address filtering would also serve to reduce the possibility that an unauthorized user could gain access to data stored on servers as well as other network resources.

MAC address filtering and usage monitoring will not provide any protection for a user's data when it is being transmitted by the wireless link. Transmitted data packet collection and analysis is purely a passive activity (until usable and useful information is collected and then the action occurs elsewhere) and anybody except rank amateurs would actually take precautions not to ring any bells with network administrators or service providers by trying to "break into" a network or steal bandwidth.

Although the Wi-Fi Alliance that you quoted earlier is still dithering on the deployment of a more secure replacement for WEP (Wi-Fi Protected Access, WPA), there's a number of established and validated methods which are currently being used to protect wireless data transmissions, such as Virtual Private Networking using IPSec. These techniques do not require secrecy ("Lagunanet is taking certain protective steps which they wish not to be made public to protect themselves and there clients.") in order to retain security and data integrity, and knowing which protocol in use is not of any benefit to somebody seeking to decrypt captured data.

So the question remains - is Laguna.net taking any steps to protect client's data transmissions over their wireless links?

johanson / Moderator

Jun 16, 2003, 9:09 AM

Post #11 of 14 (1634 views)

Shortcut

Re: [ET] Laguna Net )( ?

Can't Post | Private Reply

I am not at liberty to state the steps I know about nor do I know all of the steps taken by Lagunanet. From what little I know, they are doing more than most.

(This post was edited by johanson on Jun 16, 2003, 6:30 PM)

Esteban

Jun 16, 2003, 5:51 PM

Post #12 of 14 (1616 views)

Shortcut

Re: [ET] Laguna Net )( ?

Can't Post | Private Reply

It seems as though you're pressuring the man into giving you the key? Any security information at all would make it easier for a hacker to at least begin his port and code violation quest. In other words, there may be something happening and you don't know what it is... do you mr. Jones.

Jun 16, 2003, 6:57 PM

Post #13 of 14 (1609 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Esteban] Laguna Net )( ?

Can't Post | Private Reply

Quote

Esteban writes: It seems as though you're pressuring the man into giving you the key? Any security information at all would make it easier for a hacker to at least begin his port and code violation quest.....

I'd suggest you'd do some examination of modern cryptography. It's the encryption techniques that have to be kept secret and concealed that are suspect of being weak,flawed, or deliberately crippled. By making the methodology used for encryption available for public peer review weaknesses and flaws can be identified and corrected, the absence of back doors verified, and the strength of the cipher validated. At the same time revealing the encryption/decryption technique used in a modern cipher does not render items encrypted by the cipher any more vulnerable to decryption by an unauthorized party. PGP Corporation, who's the current patent holders for one of the popular and publicly reviewable methods of public key cryptography, has a excellent white paper introducing basic cryptographic concepts which albeit briefly explores the concept of why concealment is bad (see Chapter 2, which is written by Phil Zimmerman, a veteran cryptographer).

Back on the subject of data stream security, in an earlier posting I mentioned IPSec, an IETF recognized method for protecting IP client protocols. The authors and developers of the IPSec protocols obviously do not fear the compromising of their security and encryption techniques by revealing the inner workings, as you can review them at the IETF IP Security pages.

The bottom line is that the "it's a secret" stance is a crock.

Esteban

Jun 16, 2003, 7:39 PM

Post #14 of 14 (1601 views)

Shortcut

Re: [ET] Laguna Net )( ?

Can't Post | Private Reply

You might also consider the level of expertise that an operation such as Laguna Net may be able to afford. They may be much more interested in staying out of internal security discussions one, because they don't have the time; two, because they are still learning about their own system. I tend to think operations such as Laguna Net are constantly hiring people who are trying to keep up with the latest technology but we all know that at every door a new maze exists. The federal governments and other high security conscious endeavors have their hands full ALL THE TIME. There are numerous newsgroups that deal with security issues and the list goes on. I don't think it's bogus to say "We don't want to talk about it just because one guy on one forum says...."it's really no problem". You can use all the technical bullshit words you want, in all due respect, but what you are asking for sounds more like a hacker probing for an open port. In other words, why would I bet real money on a one on one hoop game with Magic Johnson? You've shown your cards and won the pot but everyone else has folded.