extending range: torn between "expensive but supposedly safe" and "risky, but cheap and geekishly rewarding"

with my former ISP, I used a wireless router that served the three PCs in
the three bedrooms of my house. since we moved to another ISP lately, and
they couldn't mount their so-called "home access gateway" (basically a wired
router) where the old router was, they had to put it in our living room. I
managed to configure our old router as an access point, wired to the
gateway, and it works fine... except, its range does not cover the whole
house, missing one of the rooms due to its peculiar layout. I thought I'd
buy a range extender and I went to my local shop browsing for some models,
finding out that the typical extender costs approximately twice as much as
an access point of the same brand. "that's because they sell many more ap's
than extenders", the clerk said. great. therefore I said to myself that, if
I had managed to find some docs on the net explaining how to configure a
router as an ap, it was worth to give a shot at trying to set up an ap as an
extender... but I didn't find anything nearly as exhaustive as the articles
I stumbled on during my former quest. instead I found out that "basic"
extenders cut your bandwidth in half because they only have one radio and
must continuously switch between rx/tx (I don't know, are there "advanced"
ones? are there extenders that don't halve your bandwidth, and if so how do
you tell by reading their boxes?), and several other limitations and
possible problems were hinted at, to the point of defining this whole brood
of machines as "EVIL".
at this point, I have three possible scenarios (cheapest to most expensive):

a) buy an access point, they have a D-Link at about EUR 40.00, and configure
it as an extender for my "router-configured-as-an-ap"

b) buy a proper extender, the only one they have at the shop is a D-Link
that costs about EUR 99.00.

c) screw all the job I did on turning my router into an ap (well, it hasn't
been that unbearable an effort, actually), and buy this amazing access point
I saw at the mall, with I-don't-know-how-many-powerful-antennae inside it
that purportedly keep on scanning your house for obstacles and send the
correct signal to every pc in the crib, promising to seamlessly cover
I-don't-remember-how-many-square-metres. I don't remember the manufacturer,
but this thingie was whiteish and costed about EUR 120.00.

is "a" possible? which one would you suggest? "a" and "b", of course, are
acceptable only given that the answer to my question concerning "advanced"
extenders is positive and that the gizmo I'll be using is one of them: I
definitely don't want to narrow my bandwidth.

thank you all in advance for your time

Swann

d) Use powerline networking to move your current wireless access point
or router back to its original location.


On Tue, 14 Nov 2006 16:54:38 +0100, "Swann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
in <ejcoqs$vsr$(E-Mail Removed)>:

>with my former ISP, I used a wireless router that served the three PCs in
>the three bedrooms of my house. since we moved to another ISP lately, and
>they couldn't mount their so-called "home access gateway" (basically a wired
>router) where the old router was, they had to put it in our living room. I
>managed to configure our old router as an access point, wired to the
>gateway, and it works fine... except, its range does not cover the whole
>house, missing one of the rooms due to its peculiar layout. I thought I'd
>buy a range extender and I went to my local shop browsing for some models,
>finding out that the typical extender costs approximately twice as much as
>an access point of the same brand. "that's because they sell many more ap's
>than extenders", the clerk said. great. therefore I said to myself that, if
>I had managed to find some docs on the net explaining how to configure a
>router as an ap, it was worth to give a shot at trying to set up an ap as an
>extender... but I didn't find anything nearly as exhaustive as the articles
>I stumbled on during my former quest. instead I found out that "basic"
>extenders cut your bandwidth in half because they only have one radio and
>must continuously switch between rx/tx (I don't know, are there "advanced"
>ones? are there extenders that don't halve your bandwidth, and if so how do
>you tell by reading their boxes?), and several other limitations and
>possible problems were hinted at, to the point of defining this whole brood
>of machines as "EVIL".
>at this point, I have three possible scenarios (cheapest to most expensive):
>
>a) buy an access point, they have a D-Link at about EUR 40.00, and configure
>it as an extender for my "router-configured-as-an-ap"
>
>b) buy a proper extender, the only one they have at the shop is a D-Link
>that costs about EUR 99.00.
>
>c) screw all the job I did on turning my router into an ap (well, it hasn't
>been that unbearable an effort, actually), and buy this amazing access point
>I saw at the mall, with I-don't-know-how-many-powerful-antennae inside it
>that purportedly keep on scanning your house for obstacles and send the
>correct signal to every pc in the crib, promising to seamlessly cover
>I-don't-remember-how-many-square-metres. I don't remember the manufacturer,
>but this thingie was whiteish and costed about EUR 120.00.
>
>is "a" possible? which one would you suggest? "a" and "b", of course, are
>acceptable only given that the answer to my question concerning "advanced"
>extenders is positive and that the gizmo I'll be using is one of them: I
>definitely don't want to narrow my bandwidth.
>
>thank you all in advance for your time
>
>Swann
>

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

Swann <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

<snip>

> a) buy an access point, they have a D-Link at about EUR 40.00, and configure
> it as an extender for my "router-configured-as-an-ap"

The D-Link model DWL-G700AP is a reasonably priced access point that can
be configured to act as a repeater - when the firmware has been updated
to v2.1. It repeats the wireless signal here from my Trendnet
TEW-510APB. Works with WPA-PSK encryption.

> b) buy a proper extender, the only one they have at the shop is a D-Link
> that costs about EUR 99.00.

Would that be the DWL-G710 Extender? They cost twice as much as the
G700.

What's the difference between a repeater and an extender?

"Swann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:ejcoqs$vsr$(E-Mail Removed):

> with my former ISP, I used a wireless router that served the three PCs
> in the three bedrooms of my house. since we moved to another ISP
> lately, and they couldn't mount their so-called "home access gateway"
> (basically a wired router) where the old router was, they had to put
> it in our living room.

And why couldn't they put it where the other one was ? Move it.

"Axel Hammerschmidt" <(E-Mail Removed)> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:1hotiys.fml8rmyec61cN%(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>> a) buy an access point, they have a D-Link at about EUR 40.00, and
>> configure
>> it as an extender for my "router-configured-as-an-ap"
>
> The D-Link model DWL-G700AP is a reasonably priced access point that can
> be configured to act as a repeater - when the firmware has been updated
> to v2.1. It repeats the wireless signal here from my Trendnet
> TEW-510APB. Works with WPA-PSK encryption.

how about the "half bandwidth" stuff?

>> b) buy a proper extender, the only one they have at the shop is a D-Link
>> that costs about EUR 99.00.
>
> Would that be the DWL-G710 Extender? They cost twice as much as the
> G700.
>
> What's the difference between a repeater and an extender?

beats the hell out of me... guess it's just the same thing...

Swann

"DanS" <(E-Mail Removed)> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:Xns987BE8EA65BCCthisnthatadelphianet@216.196. 97.142...
> "Swann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> news:ejcoqs$vsr$(E-Mail Removed):
>
>> with my former ISP, I used a wireless router that served the three PCs
>> in the three bedrooms of my house. since we moved to another ISP
>> lately, and they couldn't mount their so-called "home access gateway"
>> (basically a wired router) where the old router was, they had to put
>> it in our living room.
>
> And why couldn't they put it where the other one was ? Move it.

cannot. it has to stay in the living room because it also needs to be wired
to the tv set. besides, we changed the phone lines and the router must now
dial from the main socket, which is in that room.

furthermore, to answer john navas, I can't actually move my access point
back, because another flatmate (who didn't use the net before) only gets a
good signal from its CURRENT position. so, we either use a repeater, or we
switch to a new, more powerful, access point. it's a, b, or c as I explained
before.

thanks,
Swann

"Swann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:ejeuat$9ob$(E-Mail Removed):

> "DanS" <(E-Mail Removed)> ha scritto nel
> messaggio news:Xns987BE8EA65BCCthisnthatadelphianet@216.196. 97.142...
>> "Swann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
>> news:ejcoqs$vsr$(E-Mail Removed):
>>
>>> with my former ISP, I used a wireless router that served the three
>>> PCs in the three bedrooms of my house. since we moved to another ISP
>>> lately, and they couldn't mount their so-called "home access
>>> gateway" (basically a wired router) where the old router was, they
>>> had to put it in our living room.
>>
>> And why couldn't they put it where the other one was ? Move it.
>
> cannot. it has to stay in the living room because it also needs to be
> wired to the tv set. besides, we changed the phone lines and the
> router must now dial from the main socket, which is in that room.
>

Confusing. Is this a cable modem or a DSL modem ?

Swann <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> "Axel Hammerschmidt" <(E-Mail Removed)> ha scritto nel messaggio
> news:1hotiys.fml8rmyec61cN%(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
> >> a) buy an access point, they have a D-Link at about EUR 40.00, and
> >> configure
> >> it as an extender for my "router-configured-as-an-ap"
> >
> > The D-Link model DWL-G700AP is a reasonably priced access point that can
> > be configured to act as a repeater - when the firmware has been updated
> > to v2.1. It repeats the wireless signal here from my Trendnet
> > TEW-510APB. Works with WPA-PSK encryption.
>
> how about the "half bandwidth" stuff?

How fast is your internet connection?

"Axel Hammerschmidt" <(E-Mail Removed)> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:1hourie.10jqya81g1efxhN%(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> how about the "half bandwidth" stuff?
>
> How fast is your internet connection?

*nominally* 6 Mbps... why?

Swann

"DanS" <(E-Mail Removed)> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:Xns987C4CD869CC6thisnthatadelphianet@216.196. 97.142...
>>
>> cannot. it has to stay in the living room because it also needs to be
>> wired to the tv set. besides, we changed the phone lines and the
>> router must now dial from the main socket, which is in that room.
>>
>
> Confusing. Is this a cable modem or a DSL modem ?

DSL. but they also bring voip and some tv channels over it.

Swann