Scenes From the Road
here are some scenes I captured on the road. Some are funny, some are self explanatory, some are strange and others…well, I don’t remember why I took them.
From the Road
Goose Tongue Greens
Never heard of those? Me either. Apparently they are a local favorite (and quite rare) for people living at the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick. We bought a bag at a small local store near the Hopewell Rocks and cooked them up! I would say they taste like spinach, kinda salty and earthy. Looks like something we call “Monkey Grass” in Texas. I won’t be looking for more…
Where Has the Wireless Roadshow Been?
I was thinking back of all the places we have covered in the last 3000 miles and realized it might be a good time to start a post to keep track before I forget! So, here is a list of every place we have spent the night in the order stayed there. I will update this post as time goes on:
- Benton, Arkansas
- Nashville, Tennessee
- Columbus, Ohio
- Niagara Falls, Ontario
- Quebec City, Quebec
- St. Martins, New Brunswick
- Hopewell, New Brunswick
- New Harris (Cape Breton), Nova Scotia
- Saint Mathiew-de-Rioux, Quebec
- Quebec City, Quebec
WiFi Channelization is Important
Troubleshooting a slow WiFi system in Moncton, New Brunswick today, the first thing I noticed was that most of the AP’s were on the same channel. Why? Not understanding I guess is the most likely explanation. This particular outdoor venue had 8 access points, five of which were on channel 6, one on channel 2 and two on channel 11.
Remember that with 802.11b/g/n on 2 GHz we only have about 50 MHz of spectrum for standard channels, each 20 MHz wide. Therefore channels 1-6-11 are the only concurrently usable channels without causing interference. Therefore care must be taken to only reuse channels when you are out of range of other AP’s on that frequency. For that reason, small cells are always the key to the most efficient WiFi network. A typical channelization pattern would look this this:
I made the recommendation to the operator, but I am still not sure they believe that the fix could be so simple without upgrading equipment. Actually an upgrade would be nice because the AP’s are all Senao. I hope you keep channelization in mind when designing WiFi networks.
Rain Rain Go Away…
After more than a week of almost constant rain, we finally dried out today in Hopewell NB. No appointments are planned until next week so we are going to take a few days to dry out. Enjoy your weekend. I will be pestering the local trout.
MikroTik and PCI Compliance
I met with an operator today that is the primary technician for a hospitality operator. His background is primarily in Microsoft support so advanced routers like those made by MikroTik with complex firewalling functionality are still new to him. He explained that his PCI compliance required scanning each of his nine sites for open ports using a PCI compliance service’s software. All nine locations had failed due to open ports and upon inspection there were firewall rules in place. I showed him my web site http://MikroTikConfig.com and how easy it is to create a basic firewall. Here is the firewall script we created:
# Generate by ISP Supplies | LearnMikroTik.com's Firewall tool # Available at http://mikrotikconfig.com # /ip firewall filter add action=drop chain=forward comment="Drop invalid connections through router" connection-state=invalid add chain=forward comment="Allow established connections through router" connection-state=established add chain=forward comment="Allow related connections through router" connection-state=related add chain=forward comment="Allow new connections through router coming in LAN interface" connection-state=new \ in-interface=bridge1 add action=drop chain=forward comment="Drop all other connections through the router" add chain=input comment="Allow everything from the LAN interface to the router" in-interface=bridge1 add chain=input comment=\ "Allow established connections to the router, these are OK because we aren't allowing new connections" \ connection-state=established add chain=input comment=\ "Allow related connections to the router, these are OK because we aren't allowing new connections" \ connection-state=related add chain=input comment=\ "Allow from our VPN subnet" src-address-list=VPNAddreses add action=drop chain=input comment="Drop everything else to the router" disabled=yes /ip firewall address-list add address=10.10.10.0/24 comment="VPN Subnet" list=VPNAddresses
This firewall allowed any activity through the router, access to the router from the LAN interface and from VPN clients. We then ran the PCI test tool and all nine sites passed.
MikroTik RouterOS is a great tool for establishing a firewall that will pass any PCI test tool and do so in a cost efficient manner.
Thank You to Telrad’s Nick Dewar
Last week my Visa card was compromised and I found out because it was being used in Houston, Texas while I was in Niagra Falls, Ontario. Hate that. I called the bank and arranged for a new one but with me traveling on the Wireless Roadshow, getting a package sent to wherever I was going to spend the night can be problematic at best.
You see, we are staying the night wherever we see an opportunity to promote the products we believe in while seeing some of the most beautiful country in the world, currently Eastern Canada.
Back to my story. I had an appointment with an RV Park near Alma, New Brunswick around June 9th so looking at the map, I saw Fredricton, New Brunswick and remembered that Nick Dewar, lead engineer for Telrad North America lives in Fredricton. Bullseye! I called my office, had them ship the card to Nick, stayed an extra night in Quebec City (which was fine because I was waiting for parts to finish a WiFi install there) and then Wednesday morning we left for Fredricton. I went by Nick’s house at about 4:30 pm and had a few minutes to catch up with him before grabbing my card and heading south toward Alma, NB. Thanks again Nick.
Are you familiar with Telrad LTE? Their advanced “Wispatized “LTE platform has revolutionized the way WISPs deliver internet access to consumers. For more information about Telrad, contact us at ISP Supplies at 855-WISP-PRO today.
PS: Here’s one of the WiFi installs, 120 degree sector for distribution and some NanoBeams for backhaul to other AP’s:
Ubiquiti Everywhere
A pair of Rocket M5’s and dual polarity Rocket Omnis keep the ferry boats connected back to shore redundantly.
This boat takes passengers and cars across the St.Lawrence River to Old Quebec City.
On board free WiFi is delivered using a Nanostation Loco with an RF Elements mount.
Thanks for the great WiFi @zapquebec #zapquebec.org.
Excessive?
I think not. If there is still air there is still room!
