For those of you contemplating moving from a full-time employee position in the Wireless LAN field, to one of an independent contractor, I found this article by Jonathan Finney with some experiences he's had in this arena. This is coming from his experiences.
My own experiences are a bit different, and I've had different paths. But the gist is quite similar. I haven't done 'hourly' rates for over two decades - but instead stick to per day or per project pricing.
This might help in your decision-making process.
Keith