Checking out the WLAN

Experiemented with the WLAN connection. Found that W2K (a way bigger troublemaker than Y2K ;-)) sometimes entirely looses the WLAN connection when I'm using TKIP and an access point; maybe the regular key changes are somehow indigestible for the Netgear USB stick/software. So I set up an ad hoc network between Maunakea (the laptop) and Loihi (the ship). Had the usual problem with pass sentences not working; switched to specifying a hex key on both sides which did the trick.

Now I should verify what I should have checked from the very beginning: whether the WLAN stays connected reliably and whether the ping time does not exceed 100ms. A bit funny to test that now, since the whole project depends on it. But I'm quite confident; if all goes wrong I'll just use an unencrypted network, and a wire LAN connection for "cold starting" the connection before I launch the boat (I have the impression sometimes the systems don't connect easily, requiring starting and stopping the wireless connections on both computers). Maybe I should add a fallback routine to the onboard software that when no heartbeat message has been received in the last 5min, the ship moves for 5 seconds and then waits for 30secs. Thus it might slowly move to a shore where it can be picked up. Fancier even: it uses the GPS to go back to the starting point.