Determining all BSSIDs that exist on a network - networking

I'm building an application that needs to know whether the currently connected BSSID is a part of a larger network that is restricted to a building.
For example, if I pull an access point's BSSID on one floor, how can I determine (without doing a tedious full-building WiFi walk-through survey) that this BSSID is part of the same network that the rest of the building is using?
I have considered using just the SSID, but this provides problems if two buildings are using the same SSID.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Related

Is this network an example of a tree topology?

I have an ethernet network that is connected like the following.
Only switches and the central computer are depicted. There are more devices connected to the individual switches within the buildings, but it's not what this question is about.
What is the technically correct way to describe this network topology?
I have found the term "tree topology" online, with similar network examples. Can the following network be described as such?
That's a tree. Just picture any of the left-side switches slightly more to the left and you should see it.
The network in your diagram is not a good setup due to chaining. Any of the left-side switches failing takes down more of the network than is necessary.
A better alternative is a central ("core") switch that all the others connect to. Any switch failing only takes down the connected nodes, except for the core switch (which you could make redudant).

Which is the best zigbee mode for my following requirements?

I am a beginner in Zigbee. I wanna create a mesh network of Zigbee modules in which all nodes can communicate with each other.
I found that Zigbee can be operated in different modes and each modes have its own features. I want to know that which mode will provide an effortless communication in real time applications. We want to build a system that automatically connects to the neighboring Zigbee modules and establishing a communication path to each other.
Is anyone knows about it,please give me the answer to clarify my doubts.
You can use both
Transparent mode has limited functionality and not suitable for larger networks but
API mode allows you to form larger networks and is more appropriate for creating sensor networks to perform tasks such as collecting data from multiple locations, controlling devices remotely, automating your home or for real time systems.

Access point in client or bridge mode with a different model as remote AP?

I need help with this.
I have a zebra printer which needs to be wireless. The printer is located in a warehouse with various access points around, but no ethernet available. I've been asked to use some of the spare Access points they have (they don't use them anymore) so I thought I could set them as bridge or client mode to connect to the other Access points around and give the network connection to the printer.
What happens is that I tried D-link, I tried Linksys (model Wap54G) Access points and everyone of them says in the manuale that it needs another access points of the exactly same BRAND AND MODEL as remote access point.
Why?? One should buy 2 Access points of the same brand and model to make a bridge or client AP otherwise you can't do nothing??
So basically I need to BUY another access point of the same brand of the one they are using (expensive as they are Cisco stuff) or another Linksys and configure and attach it to the switch (networks get to the warehouse and then to the various APs from a main switch) and so I can finally bridge????
Tell me there is a workaround... I can't believe this...
Thanks for the answers, they're too much! And for the downvotes too!
I ended up installing a personalized firmware (DD-WRT) which gives the specified function after some hardcore configuration.

Creating Zigbee Ad-hoc Network in a dynamic environment

We are working on a project to create a V2V ad-hoc network between vehicles. Basically we are deploying Raspberry Pis in vehicles and we are using Xbee modules and Zigbee protocol in order to exchange data between vehicles if they are near from each other.
Our ad-hoc network is completely dynamic and decentralized (We cannot have any static nodes in the network). Our problem is that the topology of the mesh network created by the Zigbee protocol requires a coordinator to be always in the network and the network will fail in case this coordinator failed down.
It seems that using Zigbee protocol requires knowing the topology of the network beforehand.
We do not know whether it is feasible to create our dynamic network using the Zigbee protocol without knowing the topology of the network beforehand and without the requirement of the coordinator. Can we have more than 1 coordinator in the network to overcome this problem? Thanks in advance.
Is there a particular reason you are looking to use Zigbee? if you are after a truely decentralised network you would be better off using either a different protocol (one that has no need for a coordinator) or by defining your own using basic RF modems (which is a lot more complicated)
however XBee modules are configurable by AT commands, with a bit of work you could probably set them up to periodically change mode (when it is running as coordinator) to check for other coordinators and if it finds one then stay as a standard node, and if the coordinator drops out (stops replying) then steps up to be coordinator.
this approach would require you to solve a few issues though:
how do the remaining modules in the network decide which becomes coordinator
how often would the coordinator scan for other coordinators in order to effect a reasonable response time, yet not disrupt data flow
i would suggest that you provide a bit more information relevant to the question such as:
how much data is being transferred?
how often is this data being transferred?
how are you planning to define where the data gets sent (addresses? or multicast to everywhere?)
hopefully this helps you in the right direction, but in the mean time i'd suggest you look at the XBee datasheets for the AT commands and what is possible (has been a while since i used them)
James
Digi sells XBee modules that implement protocols other than ZigBee. Both the plain 802.15.4 module and their proprietary DigiMesh module would be possible candidates for your project if you don't need to be ZigBee-compliant.
I think that you could send broadcast messages with 802.15.4.
With DigiMesh, all nodes are of the same node type. But I do not know how well it will handle having networks come together and fragment on a regular basis. You could contact Digi's technical support or sales support teams to see if they can provide any guidance.

Is given IP address assigned to some Wi-Fi Hotspot?

I'm doing a project: the goal is to find features detecting a hotspot, but I have no training set or test set for development and estimation of methods yet.
As far as I understand, there are 2 ways to build the sets:
to get a list of some of U.S. hotspots;
to find a function that checks if given IP address is connected with some hotspot (with some measure of certainty).
So what I wonder:
is there any U.S. Hotspots IP dataset?
are there any other ways or technologies to find out whether a given IP address is assigned to a Hotspot?
Any helpful ideas appreciated (criticism is appreciated too).
A few tips.
You actually want to use MAC address, not IP. IPs can change quite a bit easier than MAC addresses.
There are at least 2 sets of mac/location data sets, Skyhook and Google. Skyhook has a web site where you can learn more about their SDK, I don't think Google allows direct access of their. The cost to use Skyhook varies, but in general it is around $0.50 a device, depending on a large number of factors.

Resources