One of the reasons I had to go to the resort in Nevada recently is because they were having issues with the WiFi portions of the network. When most of you think WiFi, you imagine big cushy chairs and your favorite piping-hot caffeinated beverage I’m sure. What I’m dealing with isn’t really anything like that.

Using Buffalo routers and some great parts from the good lads at Radio Labs I built a wireless network that covers about a 1 mile radius (that I think I can stretch to 3 if I really needed to) and support up to 5 separate network nodes at any given time. Again with the tooting of my own horn, it’s pretty cool.

Except when something goes wrong.

To make what could be a terribly long and boring story short, I had to completely reprogram all of the access points and replace the cable that connects the main access point to the 21db antenna on the roof of the motel office. It took me, in total, 12 hours of power cycling, rebooting, reprogramming and replacing cables.

Finally I ended up building a standalone version of the network on Mom’s kitchen table, verified that every thing was working and all of the routers were talking to each other, then started reconnecting them, 1 at a time. It was then, and only then, that the network came back online and connectivity was restored.

Sometimes, to get the results you are looking for, you have to start from scratch.

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