Wireless Hacks: Tips & Tools for Building, Extending, and Securing Your Network

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This was a good book. Only you have to pretty well versed in Wifi technology to understand all of it. Having experience in wireless devices and how they operate is a necessity to understanding the information, not that I'm some wifi guru and that you will not learn anything, it just helps a great deal to know a little bit about network protocols and transmission on wireless channels. Maybe not the best book for total beginners.

This book was initially published in 2003 and reprinted in 2005 according to the description in the front of the book. There is some good information but it is now in 2010 and more of a history lesson than a usable book on wireless networking. Most of the network "sniffers" and utilities are relatively old. There is a lot of Linux code from the early days before GUI's. The newest technology in the book is the the Linksys WRT54G router which came out as a "G" router many years ago. So, I'm sure it was good in 2003 but not a usable book for me, back to Amazon you go....

I have not read it fully but so far it is informative. It's out dated but still has use full info that I need for a project. Wireless Hacks: Tips & Tools for Building, Extending, and Securing Your Network

Security wise there is nothing here that isn't in your router's user guide or help file and all are well known requirements to secure a wireless network. The building and extending portions of the book just pick low hanging fruit they document what you would find on the first page of well worded google searches. Extremely disappointing, fortunately the price is very low. Too low to bother going through the return process.

Finally.

This book is about getting the most out of your wireless networking hardware and software. In this book, you will find practical techniques for extending range, increasing throughput, managing wireless resources, and generally making your wireless networking vision a reality. Remember that reality is what you can get away with, and wireless hackers have found that they can get away with quite a lot using surprisingly little. This book will show you some of the best bits of their collected experience. You can browse this book since each hack stands on its own. The following details the table of contents: Chapter 1, Bluetooth, Mobile Phones, and GPS - The last couple years have brought hundreds of millions of tiny battery-powered wireless devices to market. Some will get you an Internet connection just about anywhere with mobile phone service, while others keep your devices connected to the "last 10 feet," and some cover the whole globe. This chapter demonstrates some uses for these technologies, which will keep your devices and yourself connected, without wires. Chapter 2, Network Discovery and Monitoring - This chapter will give you the tools you need to detect the presence of wireless networks, coordinate spectrum usage to avoid interference, and visualize network performance. It also covers a number of advanced data-monitoring techniques to pinpoint networking issues and even get an idea of your users' online habits. Chapter 3, Wireless Security - This chapter explores the current standards for securing wireless networks and suggests several strong methods for protecting yourself and your wireless users from abuse. Chapter 4, Hardware Hacks - This extensive chapter tells you how to push wireless hardware to the limits, extending range and increasing performance and efficiency. It presents a large collection of components, along with sources and recommendations on how best to use them. Chapter 5, Software Hacks - There would be no such thing as wireless networks without software, which ranges from the firmware that powers wireless cards and routers to the drivers required for those cards, up to general-purpose operating systems that can be used to build your own wireless access point, router, and firewall. This chapter covers all these topics. Chapter 6, Do-It-Yourself Antennas - This chapter presents several home-brew designs for wireless networking made by contributors from all over the world. These are practical, tested designs that can significantly extend the range of your wireless network. Chapter 7, Wireless Network Design - This chapter is a collection of techniques to help simplify the job of building wireless networks that cover the area you require. Appendix A, Wireless Standards - This appendix will give you a good idea of what problems each wireless technology is designed to solve, their relative strengths and weaknesses, and how to make the best possible use of each to fulfill your communication needs. Appendix B, Wireless Hardware Guide - This appendix provides a comprehensive list of wireless equipment retailers. This second edition was published in November 2005, and this edition is almost a complete rewrite of the first edition published in 2003. Thus all lists of hacks prior to November 2005 are invalid for this second edition.

A good book