Jeff Duntemann's Drive-By Wi-Fi Guide [Paperback]

Jeff Duntemann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2003

Provides everything Wi-Fi users need to know to design, build, protect, and extend a Wi-Fi wireless network! In this book, legendary tech teacher, wireless expert, and best-selling author Jeff Duntemann explains how to make Wi-Fi really work. Easy and economical hands-on projects allow readers to boost power with a variety of common household items, which make this book a true standout.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

We are really pleased to be publishing this expertly written hands-on guide by legendary tech writer, Jeff Duntemann. Jeff's real passion over the last decade has been anything wireless (he’s been a radio ham for 30 years) and he brings an expertise to the table in writing this book that you likely will not find in any other book. As an engaging and entertaining writer and speaker, Jeff has a knack for making formidable technology fun and easy to understand. As part of his Drive-By Wi-Fi guide, Jeff passionately:

* Explains what Wi-Fi is and why it’s ideal for use in the home, especially in conjunction with high-speed Internet connections.

* Puts the much-publicized "drive-by hacker" threat into perspective, and explains how such hackers may be kept out of your wireless network.

* Shows you how to combine loose parts of stuff you likely have sitting around the house to enhance your Wi-Fi network.

* Shows you how you can save many hours of time and money putting your Wi-Fi network together.

The Wi-Fi industry is really confusing with so many standards (802.11 this and 802.11 that) but Jeff really knows his stuff and he easily cuts through all of the confusion to bring you a guide that is certain to become the bible for all Wi-Fi users. Wi-Fi is a goofy business. Unlike a lot of technologies, corporate America isn’t driving the wireless networking field. Ordinary people are—along with a lot of wild-eyed hobbyists. Jeff’s book really reflects the trends that are taking place in the Wi-Fi industry.

Soup box antennas, chicken-wire power boosters, Boingo connections and the dreaded AirSnort—it’s all here! Jeff treats the subject with an easy touch and a light heart, and speaks the language of ordinary people rather than computer geeks. The presentation focuses on the human element more than technology jargon, with all the strange stories and oddball characters that have made Wi-Fi a culture of its own within the larger culture of personal computing.

From the Author

I’ve been involved with Wi-Fi almost since there was Wi-Fi, and during the time I was learning the technology, I was amazed that there were virtually no books on the topic. I had to learn it on my own. Later on, when books began to appear, I was puzzled that none of them seemed connected to any reality I had had any experience with. I had this hunch that the guys who were writing a lot of these books (especially those targeted at corporate IT departments) had never laid hands on any actual Wi-Fi gear. What they were telling me wasn’t matching what I was finding as I implemented networks for myself and later for my friends. I hate when that happens—so I decided to write a book based on experience rather than vendor documentation and hearsay.

The book represents three years of working with 802.11b systems. There was no vendor involvement and no "review products." I paid for all the gear and I describe it as I found it, for good or for bad. I tell you what worked for me and what didn’t, and how I figured it out. If you follow the techniques I describe, you should be able to do it too. Some of it is a little goofy—making microwave antennas out of foil-lined soup boxes, say—but I was amazed at how well it worked. Working with Wi-Fi now reminds me of the Crazy Years of personal computing, back in the 70s and 80s when anything was possible and the suits were still trying to figure out how to put it all back in the bottle. We changed the world with personal computing, and over the next five years, we’re going to change the world again, this time with ubiquitous wireless networking. Why not get in on it?

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Paraglyph Press; 1 edition (February 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932111743
• ISBN-13: 978-1932111743
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,252,715 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a writer, editor, technologist and contrarian living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Although I have worked as a programmer, I've been in the publishing industry (both technical magazines and books) since 1985. I co-founded Coriolis Group Books in 1989, and since 2002 have been a partner in technology publisher Paraglyph Press. Most of my book-length work has been on computer technology. (See JEFF DUNTEMANN'S WI-FI GUIDE, ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE STEP BY STEP, and DEGUNKING EMAIL, SPAM, AND VIRUSES, as well as many more titles now out of print.)

In my loose moments I'm an amateur radio operator (now K7JPD), amateur astronomer, and SF writer. My first SF novel (THE CUNNING BLOOD) was published in November 2005, but I have been selling SF stories to magazines and anthologies for 30 years, and was on the final Hugo Awards ballot in 1981. As time allows I build and fly kites and gadget-hack with Meccano/Erector parts and radio tubes. I loathe sports, politics, and cruciferous vegetables, separately and in combination.

I am a relatively liberal Old Catholic (which means I belong to a non-Papal independent Catholic jurisdiction) and read a great deal on religion and spirituality. There's more to Catholicism than Rome, though we hide well. My wife Carol and I met in high school and have been married for 35 years. We live on the side of Cheyenne Mountain with four bichon frise dogs.

There's more about me on my Web sites: contrapositivediary.com (my blog) junkbox.com (tech projects) and duntemann.com, which is a quick index to all that I've published online.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Duntemann Does It Again!, March 27, 2003

By 

Michael J. Davis "The Krabler King" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jeff Duntemann's Drive-By Wi-Fi Guide (Paperback)

Words cannot express how happy I am to be able to write a review for Jeff Duntemann's new book. I have "known" Jeff since around the early 1980's. Unfortunately, Jeff and I are both old enough to remember when correspondence outside of your office took place via snail mail and the most popular Internet tools of the time were Archie, Veronica and Gopher.

The things that I like the most about Jeff's books (and I have several of them) are twofold. First, when he writes on a topic he covers the given topic in-depth. With him, no stone is left unturned. Second, his writing style is such that he makes you feel as though you are sitting across the coffee table from him having a discussion while enjoying a cup of java or a glass of good (single barrel) Tennessee sour mash whiskey. His latest project does not disappoint!

If you are thinking of getting WLAN access for your home or small office, this book is for you. If you already have WLAN access at your home or small office and are interested in tweaking; tuning or expanding it, this book is for you. If you are mechanically inclined and want some WLAN projects to work on, this book is for you. If you are interested in wardriving, warchalking, setting up a hotspot or creating a captive portal, this book is for you. And (if you are like me) if you work with this technology for a living and want to pick up some pieces of technology that you were not aware of, this book is for you.

It is all there in the book and, once again, Jeff has done a great job of explaining it and making it all crystal clear. As I look around my office I have more than 30 books on wireless/WLAN technology. This book has now moved to the top of my list. Thanks Jeff and keep them coming!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New to Wi-Fi? 802.11 hobbyist? This is the book for you!, June 6, 2003

By 

Konrad Roeder (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jeff Duntemann's Drive-By Wi-Fi Guide (Paperback)

I was given this book as a gift of appreciation for contributing news items to Netstumbler.com. I highly recommend this book for beginners interested in further understanding their home network or extending its range and having fun with Wi-Fi.

The first part of the book is an introduction to Wi-Fi and its applications. The second part of the book shows you how to hook up a network in your home. The third part covers the theoretical and practical details of security. The fourth part deals with extending the range of your laptop and some of the secrets behind wardriving.

I liked the tin can bandwidth extender project section. It's just what you need in order to fire that over-priced cable or DSL connection and get your broadband service from one of the thousands of nearby Starbucks. The wardriving section shows you how to find access points from your car.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the book, April 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Jeff Duntemann's Drive-By Wi-Fi Guide (Paperback)

This is a great book and it's clear the person writing wrote it because they love Wi-Fi and what it represents. Wi-Fi can be two things, it can be just another networking tech, or it can a lot more. It can be something to tinker with, a technology to burrow into and learn a lot more about, and it creates all sorts of new cool things you can do. Duntemann clearly sees it as the latter, a technology that opens up entire new worlds and geeky fun things to do. This book covers how to wardrive, how to build your own antennas, and more. At the same time he doesn't skimp on the 101 stuff either, taking the time to explain everything to even a n00b like myself.

If you're a net admin trying to learn more get this book.

If you're a power-user who wants to get the most out of Wi-Fi get this book.

If you're into Wi-Fi and know lots of stuff you should still get this book.

What more can I say? This book is for the beginner and for the master.

Also I've looked at the other books out there. A couple of them are pretty good too, but unlike some of them the fact that Duntemann is truly into this tech and not just writing about it shows through more than most of the others.