Beginners

Beginners Guide

This page assumes that you have some computer literacy skills, may it be Windows or even Linux. Here you will find a beginners guide on how to get involved in the Cape Town Wireless User Group.

CTWug

There Be Treasure to Plunder, Matey...

So you heard about the CTWUG, but what exactly is it? The CTWug is a stand alone entity. It consists out of members of the public that contributes money, time and effort with wireless hardware to build a giant network that is independent of any commercial telecommunication companies.

Where am I?

"That's the last grid, capt'n," Ted said quietly. "Sorry we didn't find the boat." Max banked the Guardian to the right. Uh, capt'n. The base is the other way.

So how do you know what to buy and where to get connected? Firstly we need to know where you are so that we can determine what kind of hardware to get. The CTWug uses a web server called WiND. Get your self plotted on http://wind.ctwug.za.net/wind.

Create a user

"They've found me," he whispered. He jumped up and danced on the shoreline. "They found me!" he screamed as the jet flew overhead again, wagging its wings to let him know he'd been seen. Hunter was ecstatic and he danced a dance of elation on the shores of Brice's island.

So you got the web page, now what? Go to the upper left hand corner and click on Register. Fill in at least a username, password and a valid e-mail address. We might want to contact you later. Go to you e-mail interface and follow the instructions. After you logged in successfully you can proceed to create a node.

Nodes

Hunter grabbed a flashlight and opened the port lazarette. The yellow beam of light cut through the darkness and illuminated the fuel gauge. The needle hovered around the half mark.

Create a Node

Lets create a node, click on the bottom left corner you will see a My node with a link that says Add Node. Click on the Add Node link. The page should now change on the right hand side.

Find Coordinates

To get coordinates, the WiND server has provided you with a little help window. When you click on the Find Coordinates link, it will open up a new window. Scroll around using the mouse, by pressing the left mouse button and while pressed, drag the image aera and you will see the area changes. When you release the left mouse button the map should update. On the left hand side you will notice a bar. This bar is used to zoom in or out.

Once you have located your area, you double click the left mouse button on the area and a red node balloon will appear, with the decimal values that your Add Node Page requires.

Map View

Now save the node page by clicking at the bottom of the page OK and continue. If the page refreshed, a new link became visible after you saved the node page. At the top right right hand corner should a link appear that goes to a map view of your node. Follow this link to determine what other nodes are close to you.

Legends

When you followed the View Node link, a map similar to the Find Coordinates should appear, the difference is that your node is now selected and appears Grey. At the bottom of the map you will see options:

Legend	Colour	Definition
BackBone Node	Yellow	Where CTWug started.
Backbone Links	Green	This is a high speed link between to High Sites.
Access Points	Green	High Site, They act as a client and broadcaster.
Clients	Blue	Clients connected to High Site
Not Linked	Red	Potential High Site or a Client
2.4GHz	Yellow	This enables the view of a Wireless Sector Antenna. The broadcasting range is the 2.4GHz in the ISM Band
5.8GHz	Red	This enables the view of a Wireless Sector Antenna. The broadcasting range is the 5.8GHz in the ISM Band

Enable the Not linked node view as displayed above. Why? You ask? So that you can see if there are any other people in the area that also want to connect. Now why do I want see that? Lets say that there are no High Sites available in your area, you can contact your closest not linked Wugger and arrange a meeting to see if you can build a High Site close to your own area.