Josh Howlett - University of Bristol

Bristol's Nomadic Network: Building a Secure, Seamless & Scaleable Wireless LAN

The Nomadic Network is the result of an initiative at the University of Bristol to design a system that provides a secure, seamless and scalable service that enables access to the University LAN to mobile (over wired and wireless ethernet) and remote users (over the internet).

The Nomadic Network employs a variety of tunnelling and network design techniques to ensure that the University LAN is safe from unauthorised intruders, as well as encrypting the user traffic. An authorised user is provided with a true end-to-end connection; the user may also be allocated an IP address from any arbitary subnet or even keep same IP address regardless of their location on the Campus network.

It is based on a purpose-built Linux router implementation. The Linux router performs the routing, tunnelling and firewalling functions that enables the Nomadic network to function.

The talk will be about the design of the Nomadic Network. There are elements that are novel and should be very interesting to anyone involved in wireless or public-access ethernet networks, or Linux-based routers in general. We also hope to be able to provide a demonstration of the Nomadic network in action. More information.