Access Point vs Bridge

Greetings,

According to Google, this has been asked gazillion times before.
But somehow I can't seem to wrap my mind around the concept, so please
bear with me.

Two scenarios:

1. Have laptop users access LAN resources through a wireless access point.
Dynamic address allocation, authentication, and general merriment courtesy
main server box (although a little WAP wouldn't hurt). AP plugs into hub;
same subnet.

2. Connect two ethernetted servers to wireless LAN--wirelessly. WLAN
router serves a couple of clients already but resides at the far end of my
living space. Again, same subnet; encryption mode is WEP.


AFAIK, scenario 1. calls for a wireless access point, whereas scenario 2.
needs a wireless bridge (sitch, hub?). Am I right/wrong, and what are the
finer points to watch out for?

Any input greatly appreciated.

Mike

On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 00:40:51 +0200, Michael Ruebner
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Greetings,
>
>According to Google, this has been asked gazillion times before.
>But somehow I can't seem to wrap my mind around the concept, so please
>bear with me.
>
>Two scenarios:
>
>1. Have laptop users access LAN resources through a wireless access point.
>Dynamic address allocation, authentication, and general merriment courtesy
>main server box (although a little WAP wouldn't hurt). AP plugs into hub;
>same subnet.
>
>2. Connect two ethernetted servers to wireless LAN--wirelessly. WLAN
>router serves a couple of clients already but resides at the far end of my
>living space. Again, same subnet; encryption mode is WEP.
>
>
>AFAIK, scenario 1. calls for a wireless access point, whereas scenario 2.
>needs a wireless bridge (sitch, hub?). Am I right/wrong, and what are the
>finer points to watch out for?
>
>Any input greatly appreciated.
>
>Mike
I have a bridge and this is how I did it and why.
I have a bunch of computers in the basement that do not have wireless
network cards but do have regular network cards. I bought 2 AP's and
plugged the 1st into my router and the 2nd in a hub that the computers
then plugged into. That way all the computers in the basement connect
wirelessly to the router but each does not have to have its own
wireless card.

I did the same thing with different hardware and it works great. In my
office, I have a wired 100mb/s network connected to 5 computers, print
servers, printers, etc. I added a D-Link DWL-800AP+ setup as an AP. In the
Garage, I put a DWL-810+ wireless-to-ethernet bridge (800 with hacked
firmware) connected to a 4 port cheap hub. One putput goes to the computer
out there, and I have 3 open ports to connect computers I'm fixing - to have
an internet connection to download drivers, patches, etc. No way to measure
the actual connection speed, but it is greater than my 5mbs cable modem
speed. DHCP works fine through the garage hub, which was one of my concerns.
You can find these DWL-800's for $25 refurb'd.
Rob


"f/fgeorge" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 00:40:51 +0200, Michael Ruebner
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >Greetings,
> >
> >According to Google, this has been asked gazillion times before.
> >But somehow I can't seem to wrap my mind around the concept, so please
> >bear with me.
> >
> >Two scenarios:
> >
> >1. Have laptop users access LAN resources through a wireless access
point.
> >Dynamic address allocation, authentication, and general merriment
courtesy
> >main server box (although a little WAP wouldn't hurt). AP plugs into hub;
> >same subnet.
> >
> >2. Connect two ethernetted servers to wireless LAN--wirelessly. WLAN
> >router serves a couple of clients already but resides at the far end of
my
> >living space. Again, same subnet; encryption mode is WEP.
> >
> >
> >AFAIK, scenario 1. calls for a wireless access point, whereas scenario 2.
> >needs a wireless bridge (sitch, hub?). Am I right/wrong, and what are the
> >finer points to watch out for?
> >
> >Any input greatly appreciated.
> >
> >Mike
> I have a bridge and this is how I did it and why.
> I have a bunch of computers in the basement that do not have wireless
> network cards but do have regular network cards. I bought 2 AP's and
> plugged the 1st into my router and the 2nd in a hub that the computers
> then plugged into. That way all the computers in the basement connect
> wirelessly to the router but each does not have to have its own
> wireless card.
>