Network Information for PyCon 2007

Configuration

• ESSID: pycon
• HEX WEP Key: 4242424242 (42 5 times).
• Protocols: 802.11a (preferred) and 802.11b+g
• On the Mac, try selecting "Use Interference Robustness".
• Setting the RTS threshold down can help. On Linux, "iwconfig $INTERFACE rts 250" may really help you and others. Comment here if this isn't working for you, but it makes Sean happy. :-)

Info

• There are only 3 non-overlapping 802.11b/g channels. We are running the 802.11b/g radios on "low power" to help reduce interference among different APs? on those channels.
• There are like 10 802.11a channels, so the 802.11a radios are running on "high power".
• In order to reduce contention, if at all possible, please use 802.11a.
• We only have 4.5mbps connectivity to the Internet, and this is shared with the rest of the hotel (including guest rooms). We're already hitting that during the tutorials. So, if at all possible please limit your large downloads.
• Why do we only have 4.5mbps? Well, last year we only had 3mbps and it seemed to work well. However, we didn't fully anticipate that if we resolved the wireless issues, which kept many people off the network last year, that we'd have higher network use this year. So, we're a little tight on incoming bandwidth.
• Outbound bandwidth is just fine, so feel free to upload pictures and the like unless you hear otherwise. :-)

Help

• Make sure you enter the WEP key in HEX, not ASCII. In the Mac world, this means you do not select "WEP Password", you have to select the "WEP 40/128bit hex" option from the drop-down list.
• Let us know about the problem. Ideally, let us know what channel you were trying to use, whether it was 802.11a, or 802.11bg, and where you physically are when having the problem. Report problems to the registration desk, or to Sean Reifschneider (Network Whipping Boy :-).
• The APs? have a "load balancing" feature which just isn't working at all. If you are seeing flaky network access, especially high latency pinging the gateway, try manually selecting another AP. In Linux, you can do "iwscan ethN list" to list the APs? you can see and then "iwconfig ethN ap $MACADDRESS". Please provide information on how to do this for Mac and Windows here.