More wireless networking stuff..
Thebes said:
Some internet accounts allow only a certain number of open connections at one time, if a user doesn't have two or three surfing could become interesting. Also, if they are really interested Verizon could observe the traffic with a packet sniffer and see that something isn't right... I doubt they bother.
It would be interesting to know what the "official" Verizon policy is on multiple IP addresses under a single service connection. Having a company representative tell you a number, Vs what they officially permit are two different things. Oh, yea. we're talking about the DR here, right? No chance of miscommunication on the terms of the service.... nahhhh!
While you could get a multicomputer setup up and running easily via a router, there is the possibility that down the road they will detect a multiple IP address use that violates the user agreement.
In my neck of the woods, my broadband carrier permits only 1 IP address per connection, unless you use a router. The interesting thing is that I received a letter from them saying they detected multiple IP use and I needed to call them. When I told them I was using a router, they said in that case it was OK. I asked them to comment my account and went about my business. Weird that they can tell I had two computers running, but couldn't tell I had a router. What is the difference.... I dunno?
Anyway, the lesson is that multiple IP addresses to a router could at some point come under scrutiny of the ISP... even a Dominican one ... eventually.
As to hardware, the SOHO stuff is dropping in price by the month here in the US... so much so that for DR users purchasing in the US it's so cheap that multiple units for backup in case of failure is very cost effective.
I have no idea how much more reliable the industrial wireless router hardware would be vs. SOHO... but I did have a wireless router fail after only one year in service....so there may be something to the industrial stuff. My approach would be to have a spare router and cards no matter what, 'cause as we come to rely on the Internet more and more an outage becomes less tolerable.
One thing I didn't see mentioned is use of encryption in a wireless network. Unless you have no neighbors nearby, by all means be sure you encrypt your wireless link (WEP), or not only are your computers unsecured, a neighbor is free to latch on to your hard earned Internet service, a la Dominican electricity.