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Questions tagged [wifi]

WiFi is a layer 1 and 2 networking protocol for wireless communication between devices. It is typically used in local networks for client access, but can also be used in point-to-point network links. WPA is used to encrypt traffic.

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What are the obstacles to providing reliable Internet access and Wi-Fi at large tech conferences?

Every tech conference I've ever been to, and I've been to a lot, has had absolutely abysmal Wi-Fi and Internet access. Sometimes it's the DHCP server running out of addresses. Sometimes the backhaul is clearly inadequate. Sometimes there's one…
Joel Spolsky
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Does Wi-Fi traffic from one client to another travel via the access point?

Consider a Wi-Fi network with one access point and two clients, operating in marginal conditions due to range, etc. Client 1 is communicating with Client 2. Obviously the Access Point (AP) must be in range of both (assuming no fancy mesh modes,…
Pete
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What is the maximum length of a wifi access point's SSID?

I was wondering if anybody knew what the maximum string length of a browser's SSID is or where I could go to look for that sort of information. (From a spec of some sort)
leeand00
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Is there a way to provide user-specific passwords for Wi-Fi?

Is there a way to provide user-specific passwords for Wi-Fi, so that different users have different passwords? I'd like to provide each user with a different password for my Wi-Fi connection.
john
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Our wi-fi at work is ridiculously slow, will adding more range extenders improve it?

At work, we have two wireless networks (e.g., Work1 Work2); the Work2 is used downstairs and Work1 is used upstairs. However, both are notoriously slow. The connection is better when we are wired in, but unfortunately due to our building being very…
john
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How is it possible that I can do a host lookup but not a curl?

Has anyone ever seen this before? Note that this happens not only with google.com, but with every domain I try. It's a wireless connection (WEP), but I'm not sure how that would be relevant: $ curl -v google.com # This takes about 60s to return *…
Daniel Quinn
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What's the maximum number of wifi connections for a single WiFi router?

We've got a Draytek 2829VN Wifi router and I'm wondering how many concurrent connections I should expect a router of this kind to cope with? We are looking to connect 60 iPads! I'd also be interested in knowing what might happen when it starts to…
user57675
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Intermittently high ping times to router via Wi-Fi

On my local network there are (among others) 5 machines (running Debian Jessie or Arch) wirelessly connected to a Netgear WNDR4000 router. Below is a graph of the ping times to the router from each of the machines, collected over a period of around…
jacg
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What happens when wifi channels overlap?

There are many pages on the web advising the use of wifi channels 1, 6 and 11 only, so that your wifi channels don't overlap. Obviously this makes sense when you only have your network do deal with, but in most urban areas there are now a plethora…
Timmmm
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Do wifi packets go directly node to node?

I have two nodes on a wireless network. Node A is streaming data to node B. Most of the time it works fine, but sometimes there is packet loss and the stream is interrupted. To improve performance and reduce packet loss, should I move node A to be…
Richard
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Leaving my wifi open for the world

For my home I want to be a nice neighbor actually I have let my wifi open for the past maybe 6 or 7 years. I know that WEP, etc can be cracked within a couple of minutes but my neighbors son who works in IT told his mom and she told me that I am…
Thomaschaaf
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keep ssh connection alive and persistant while switching network interface connections

Scenario: At my desk with laptop plugged in to ethernet and connected to remote server over SSH Want to move to other side of office with laptop and change to WiFi without interrupting SSH connection I've tried: connecting to WiFi first then…
Sean
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RTS threshold, fragmentation, and other advanced WiFi settings

Background: I'm in a noisy environment, and I'm trying to optimize my WiFi network to have a more stable connection for the somewhat high volume of users (~50-75 on a busy day). There are 4 APs, and I've already adjusted the channels and transmit…
Bigbio2002
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Slowest wireless client dictates the connection quality of all others?

Not sure if this is the place to ask this, but I couldn't find a more appropriate StackExchange site. I heard that the quality of wireless connection follows the law of the lowest common denominator - meaning that if 10 users connect to an AP at…
Swader
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Two-way high power outdoor Wi-Fi

Apologies if this is a schoolboy question but I've been asked by a client to look into installing Wi-Fi for their caravan park. More than happy with office Wi-Fi having done that for years but outdoor/high-power is rather outside my area of…
Rob Nicholson
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