Connection Load Balancing feature on OpenWRT - openwrt

i'm a newbie with OpenWRT, and i'm working on OpenWRT project that has a Connection Load Balance feature: "when there are more than one access point (AP) in the network, network administrator may set up AP Load Balance to prevent that one of the AP gets overloaded, while others are still quite free. This help improve the Wi-Fi performance for all the wireless clients" (like Drayteks' APs). And I wonder if OpenWRT can support this feature? If not, can you tell me if any opensource software can do that (like OpenWiSP,...)? Thanks for your help and I appologize in advance for my English.

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Best way to broadcast information to Wi-Fi enabled devices?

I live in a building where the laundry machine is a bit far away from my suite. There is only one machine there so only one person can use it at a time. Quite often I take my laundry there just to realize that the machine is in use so I have to go back defeated and try again later. I want to build a doodad that can detect when the machine is in use and broadcast that information throughout the building so that I know that the machine will be available before I go there.
This question is not about how to build the detector. I am planning on using a raspberry pi somehow. This question is about what do I do when I detect that the machine is in use. How do I broadcast that information mainly to myself or potentially to anyone in the building?
I need a cheap solution (< $100). It has to be wireless. The signal has to travel approximately 30 meters in one direction. The broadcast should be readable on any laptop or cell phone (not a requirement but nice to have).
I was considering making an android app using WiFi direct. I'm sure others in the building would be interested in this app and I can use them as peers to extend the range of the broadcast. But I don't like this solution because I know that wifi direct doesn't work with iOS devices. Also this solution will require others to side-load an apk which they might not know how to do.
Please let me know if you can come up with something a bit less reliant on p2p and more platform independent.

Is it possible to associate single wireless network card to multiple WiFi Access Points at a time?

Is it possible to associate single wireless network interface controller (WNIC) with multiple Wireless Access Points (WAP) at a time? If not: why?
I've never heard about such a feature, so I assume it's technically impossible or fairly difficult and rarely implemented. Is it really that difficult/impossible to implement driver providing such a feature? Is it software or hardware difficulty?
I assume that TCP/IP protocols' specifications doesn't limit us at all because if I attach multiple WNICs to my computer, I can easily connect to multiple APs.
If it's software difficulty, than what's the actual problem? Does Linux/Windows kernel or WNIC's drivers limits it? Or maybe system libraries (like libc on GNU/Linux systems)?
If it's hardware difficulty, what actually limits us? Antennas? Using single radio frequency at a time? If yes, than why can't we implement frequency hopping (like Kismet does)? Because of lost packets during time spent on other channels? If yes, than can we associate WNIC with multiple routers working on the same channel (I know that channel overlapping is bad)?
Note: I'm not talking about dual band routers. I assume that we consider most common WNIC and AP which both work on 2.4GHz channels. If I have to put my question into OS context, than I choose GNU/Linux context.
Yes. The basic technique is that the client tells AP 'A' that it is going to sleep and then talks to AP 'B' while A is buffering frames for it.
Microsoft research worked this out a while ago:
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/virtualwifi/
Many low-level drivers support Wi-Fi interface virtualization (e.g. the BRCM wl command has options which support this).
Apple's AirDrop and MultiPeer features for OS X and iOS use a similar technique, but instead of talking to a 2nd AP they talk to a peer device.

Connecting multiple devices to wifi

I have a question and like so many of my questions I get the feeling that I'm not finding the answers through traditional methods because I lack the vocabulary.
I am starting a project where I need to take a windows based laptop and connect it to the internet through a wifi dongle. I then want to turn that laptop into a wifi hotspot and connect circa 30 mobile phones to it.
In my head this worked by buying a decent wifi dongle and then using software to virtualize the wireless adapter I would connect these phones and I was hoping that the strength of my dongle would be possibly be improved with a wifi repeater/booster.
This is all in preparation for a quiz game that takes place on a laptop and the mobile phones are querying the system for the next question through a POST operation, and pulling down just a few bits of text and a few other variables (so not much data is being passed, but all 30 or so devices are asking for it at the same time)
So now to the question. If my assumptions above are right how to I begin to understand what qualities I need in a wifi dongle, wifi repeater/booster and virtualization software?
If my assumptions are wrong, what do I need to be looking at?
Cheers for any help you can offer.
Other basic info that may or may not be relevant: I'm in the UK and I'm willing to spend a few hundred pounds on a solution to this. The mobiles will be running a version of android (preferably newer than version 2, hopefully closer to 4 though).
You need to google internet connection sharing (ICS)
here is an example I found
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-share-an-internet-connection-in-windows-7.html

Developing on the ipad and will this help productivity

Can the ipad be a productivity improvement tool for software developers. What tools are out there to help while being away from my main work station or laptop ?
Are there remote tools available and is touch screen in this case a positive or negative factor ?
I use iTap RDP. I VPN in and use that app to get instant access to my workstation without actually having to be there. I wouldn't do a lot of work there, but it's great for doing those one or two things that 'gee if I was at my desk...' could solve.
"...help while being away..." Help with what?
Most of your stadard remote tools are available (SSH, RDP, VNC) but I would think in general they would be a lot more beneficial to sysadmins who can resolve problems without being at their desk, or in the office (Jump Desktop + VPN + 3G = WIN when a service crashes when you are at a conference).
However, I don't see how it would help with software development at all.

Remote control wireless devices by phones/pc and others

guys! I have a question about remote control by wi-fi from pc or mobile phone.
I want to control a some robot by wi-fi, but i don't know about any wi-fi DYI modules, anyone have a links to pdf, blogs and others about this question? It's may be such a programming wi-fi protocol and others.
Thanks!
I am looking for some as well. I haven't used them yet, but these are some of my resources
Single board computers :
http://www.rabbit.com/products/bl4s200/
http://www.gumstix.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=226
http://www.compulab.co.il/x300/html/x300-sb-datasheet.htm
Xbee modules from Sparkfun. They also have some nice tutorials and documentation :
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/categories.php?c=111
Arduino board with Wi-Fi baked in :
http://www.robotshop.com/productinfo.aspx?pc=RB-Asy-02
Aruino compatible Wi-Fi module :
http://www.robotshop.com/productinfo.aspx?pc=RB-Asy-03
Hope they help. Let me know how you go

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