Extending a wireless network - best way of doing this?

Hi all,

I have currently an old Dlink 2100AP which I have been using for the
past 2.5 years for wireless access. This has worked ok, but there
have been dead spots throughout the house.

Now, my baby sister wants to get a computer and connect it to the
network. Cabling this is not an option, and she is in a bit of a
wireless dead spot.

I was wondering whether it is better to get some sort of wireless
repeater, which I could put in a good area and have the signal
repeated, or whether it could be worth buying a better access point?
The thing I like about the D-link is that it fits the wireless clients
in with the rest of the network, so our DHCP server is getting used
and they are in the same subnet as the wireless clients.

Any suggestions?
Andrew.

Andrew Hodgson wrote in message
(E-Mail Removed). uk:

> Hi all,
>
> I have currently an old Dlink 2100AP which I have been using for the
> past 2.5 years for wireless access. This has worked ok, but there
> have been dead spots throughout the house.
>
> Now, my baby sister wants to get a computer and connect it to the
> network. Cabling this is not an option, and she is in a bit of a
> wireless dead spot.
>
> I was wondering whether it is better to get some sort of wireless
> repeater, which I could put in a good area and have the signal
> repeated, or whether it could be worth buying a better access point?
> The thing I like about the D-link is that it fits the wireless clients
> in with the rest of the network, so our DHCP server is getting used
> and they are in the same subnet as the wireless clients.

When I last investigated the option of wireless repeaters about 18 months
ago, I found that all the ones that I looked at only supported WEP
encryption and not WPA encryption. So you have to downgrade your main AP to
WEP in order for the repeater to be able to repeat it. One of the
difficulties that I found was that most repeaters (eg the Dlink 2100 in
repeater mode) come with virtually no information about how to configure the
repeater AP (beyond putting it into repeater mode and configuring it with
the master AP's MAC). For example, should the repeater be configured with
the same SSID and channel as the master AP or should they be different?
After a long phone call to Dlink, even they couldn't answer the question or
work out why, for an unsecured master AP, the repeater didn't seem to be
putting out a copy of the signal. I tested by putting a laptop in a point of
weak but just detectable signal and then turning on the repeater which was
positioned between the master AP and the laptop - no increase in signal
strength was detectable. After my colleagues and I (all PC support
technicians) failed to make it work, we opted for plan B...

.... Which was: go for Ethernet-over-mains instead for remote PCs!

Solwise do various models, which work at either 14, 85 or 200 Mbps. 14 is
probably sufficient for anyone who only wants to access the internet (the
fastest ADSL is only 8 Mbps), but you'd notice the benefit from 85 if you
want to communicate between PCs in the house - for file or printer sharing.

Models are:

http://www.solwise.co.uk/net-powerline-pla-14-e.htm (14 Mbps)

http://www.solwise.co.uk/net-powerline-pla-85-e.htm (85 Mbps)

I installed a pair of PLA 14s for a customer who only ever wanted internet
access (I asked him several times if he might ever want to share printers or
files and he said "If I want to share files or print on another printer, I
walk the file round on a memory stick") and they worked a dream even in a
very old house with three different "fuse boxes" (actually miniature circuit
breaker) coming from the same meter, with the two ends of the network on
different fuse boxes. This is probably a fairly searching test!

"Martin Underwood" <a@b> wrote in message
news:459fbb6c$0$8714$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Andrew Hodgson wrote in message
> (E-Mail Removed). uk:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I have currently an old Dlink 2100AP which I have been using for the
> > past 2.5 years for wireless access. This has worked ok, but there
> > have been dead spots throughout the house.
> >
> > Now, my baby sister wants to get a computer and connect it to the
> > network. Cabling this is not an option, and she is in a bit of a
> > wireless dead spot.
> >
> > I was wondering whether it is better to get some sort of wireless
> > repeater, which I could put in a good area and have the signal
> > repeated, or whether it could be worth buying a better access point?
> > The thing I like about the D-link is that it fits the wireless clients
> > in with the rest of the network, so our DHCP server is getting used
> > and they are in the same subnet as the wireless clients.
>
> When I last investigated the option of wireless repeaters about 18 months
> ago, I found that all the ones that I looked at only supported WEP
> encryption and not WPA encryption. So you have to downgrade your main AP
to
> WEP in order for the repeater to be able to repeat it. One of the
> difficulties that I found was that most repeaters (eg the Dlink 2100 in
> repeater mode) come with virtually no information about how to configure
the
> repeater AP (beyond putting it into repeater mode and configuring it with
> the master AP's MAC). For example, should the repeater be configured with
> the same SSID and channel as the master AP or should they be different?
> After a long phone call to Dlink, even they couldn't answer the question
or
> work out why, for an unsecured master AP, the repeater didn't seem to be
> putting out a copy of the signal. I tested by putting a laptop in a point
of
> weak but just detectable signal and then turning on the repeater which was
> positioned between the master AP and the laptop - no increase in signal
> strength was detectable. After my colleagues and I (all PC support
> technicians) failed to make it work, we opted for plan B...
>
> ... Which was: go for Ethernet-over-mains instead for remote PCs!
>
> Solwise do various models, which work at either 14, 85 or 200 Mbps. 14 is
> probably sufficient for anyone who only wants to access the internet (the
> fastest ADSL is only 8 Mbps), but you'd notice the benefit from 85 if you
> want to communicate between PCs in the house - for file or printer
sharing.

If you still want wireless, here is a netgear powerline device where a
wireless AP is built into 1 of the adaptors:
http://www.netgear.co.uk/wallplugged...er_wgxb102.php

>
> Models are:
>
> http://www.solwise.co.uk/net-powerline-pla-14-e.htm (14 Mbps)
>
> http://www.solwise.co.uk/net-powerline-pla-85-e.htm (85 Mbps)
>
> I installed a pair of PLA 14s for a customer who only ever wanted internet
> access (I asked him several times if he might ever want to share printers
or
> files and he said "If I want to share files or print on another printer, I
> walk the file round on a memory stick") and they worked a dream even in a
> very old house with three different "fuse boxes" (actually miniature
circuit
> breaker) coming from the same meter, with the two ends of the network on
> different fuse boxes. This is probably a fairly searching test!
--
Regards

(E-Mail Removed) - replace xyz with ntl

Andrew Hodgson wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have currently an old Dlink 2100AP which I have been using for the
> past 2.5 years for wireless access. This has worked ok, but there
> have been dead spots throughout the house.
>
> Now, my baby sister wants to get a computer and connect it to the
> network. Cabling this is not an option, and she is in a bit of a
> wireless dead spot.
>
> I was wondering whether it is better to get some sort of wireless
> repeater, which I could put in a good area and have the signal
> repeated, or whether it could be worth buying a better access point?
> The thing I like about the D-link is that it fits the wireless clients
> in with the rest of the network, so our DHCP server is getting used
> and they are in the same subnet as the wireless clients.
>
You can use another access point as a repeater to extend the range but that
will reduce the effective bandwidth.

--
Alex

"I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away"

www.drzoidberg.co.uk www.ebayfaq.co.uk

In message <(E-Mail Removed) .uk>,
Andrew Hodgson <(E-Mail Removed)> writes

>I have currently an old Dlink 2100AP which I have been using for the
>past 2.5 years for wireless access. This has worked ok, but there
>have been dead spots throughout the house.
>
>Now, my baby sister wants to get a computer and connect it to the
>network. Cabling this is not an option, and she is in a bit of a
>wireless dead spot.
>
>I was wondering whether it is better to get some sort of wireless
>repeater, which I could put in a good area and have the signal
>repeated, or whether it could be worth buying a better access point?
>The thing I like about the D-link is that it fits the wireless clients
>in with the rest of the network, so our DHCP server is getting used
>and they are in the same subnet as the wireless clients.

The best way to do this is using WDS if the DLink supports it. If not
then I've had success using generic access points that support Universal
Repeater mode.

The tendency is that Linksys APs will only support certain Linksys kit
and the same for various of the other main manufacturers.

Ones I'd recommend are the Edimax EW7206APG (Dabs) and the Pheenet
WAP554G (Solwise). Those these are quite cheap, I've found they work
well in practice.

Set to Universal Repeater mode
Enter the MAC Address of the original signal
Set the Channel the same as the original signal
You can set the SSID the same as the original or different - I set them
the same so moving between APs is seamless to the user.

As otherwise noted the repeated signal won't be quite as fast as the
original but for ADSL access, my experience is it doesn't make much
difference.
--
Tony

On 6 Jan 2007, "Martin Underwood" <a@b> wrote:

>Solwise do various models, which work at either 14, 85 or 200 Mbps. 14 is
>probably sufficient for anyone who only wants to access the internet (the
>fastest ADSL is only 8 Mbps), but you'd notice the benefit from 85 if you
>want to communicate between PCs in the house - for file or printer sharing.

I recently saw (perhaps on the Solwise site) an audio specific unit too,
but it seemed very expensive as a way to get audio from one part of the
house to another without using a cable!

However, post is mainly to point out that "fastest ADSL is only 8 Mbps"
is only true for BT Wholesale, as some others are offering ADSL 2/2+ and
can give higher speeds.

Still true that the 14 Mbps power line units may be perfectly adequate (in
fact, if a teenager is hammering the router with file sharing traffic, then
shoving power line between them and the router may be an easy way to limit
their "hit" on the router, without having to use anything else...

--
www.netdimes.org - mapping the internet.
Join team UK-24x7 (position 183) Let's beat "United States" :->

Change to DSL Max the way I did: switch ISP <http://www.dslmax.info/>

On Sat, 06 Jan 2007 11:34:47 +0000, Andrew Hodgson <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I have currently an old Dlink 2100AP which I have been using for the
>past 2.5 years for wireless access. This has worked ok, but there
>have been dead spots throughout the house.
>
>Now, my baby sister wants to get a computer and connect it to the
>network. Cabling this is not an option, and she is in a bit of a
>wireless dead spot.
>
>I was wondering whether it is better to get some sort of wireless
>repeater, which I could put in a good area and have the signal
>repeated, or whether it could be worth buying a better access point?
>The thing I like about the D-link is that it fits the wireless clients
>in with the rest of the network, so our DHCP server is getting used
>and they are in the same subnet as the wireless clients.

Have you looked into changing the 2100AP aerial and upgrading it to a
high gain one (as shown on Dlink website). They may just give enough
power to eliminate the deadspot.

John

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Sat, 06 Jan 2007 22:53:28 +0000, John H
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Sat, 06 Jan 2007 11:34:47 +0000, Andrew Hodgson <(E-Mail Removed)>
>wrote:
>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>I have currently an old Dlink 2100AP which I have been using for the
>>past 2.5 years for wireless access. This has worked ok, but there
>>have been dead spots throughout the house.
>>
[...]
>
>Have you looked into changing the 2100AP aerial and upgrading it to a
>high gain one (as shown on Dlink website). They may just give enough
>power to eliminate the deadspot.

No, thanks for that. I was looking more for things such as the
Netgear Mimo wireless stuff, but don't know whether this improves
range or just speed (which I am not really bothered about).

Thanks.
Andrew.

On Sat, 6 Jan 2007 15:08:16 -0000, "Martin Underwood" <a@b> wrote:

>Andrew Hodgson wrote in message
>(E-Mail Removed) .uk:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I have currently an old Dlink 2100AP which I have been using for the
>> past 2.5 years for wireless access. This has worked ok, but there
>> have been dead spots throughout the house.
>>
[...]
>
>When I last investigated the option of wireless repeaters about 18 months
>ago, I found that all the ones that I looked at only supported WEP
>encryption and not WPA encryption. So you have to downgrade your main AP to
>WEP in order for the repeater to be able to repeat it.

Hmm. Not a good option for me and that would put me off using it as a
repeater.

>One of the
>difficulties that I found was that most repeaters (eg the Dlink 2100 in
>repeater mode) come with virtually no information about how to configure the
>repeater AP (beyond putting it into repeater mode and configuring it with
>the master AP's MAC). For example, should the repeater be configured with
>the same SSID and channel as the master AP or should they be different?
>After a long phone call to Dlink, even they couldn't answer the question or
>work out why, for an unsecured master AP, the repeater didn't seem to be
>putting out a copy of the signal. I tested by putting a laptop in a point of
>weak but just detectable signal and then turning on the repeater which was
>positioned between the master AP and the laptop - no increase in signal
>strength was detectable. After my colleagues and I (all PC support
>technicians) failed to make it work, we opted for plan B...

Yes, I saw the repeater mode in the manual, but there is no
documentation really on any other mode but the master mode on the
2100AP, plus some forum posts indicating difficulties. I don't think
that model is current, so the repeater would be whatever I could get
my hands on.
>
>... Which was: go for Ethernet-over-mains instead for remote PCs!

Thanks for the links. On this point, I could do this quite easily,
but could it go through an extension socket? There are only like 2
plugs in the bedroom, and although there are more in the study where
we have all this kit, I don't want to use another plug really.

Thanks,
Andrew.

In article <(E-Mail Removed) .uk>,
Andrew Hodgson says...

> No, thanks for that. I was looking more for things such as the
> Netgear Mimo wireless stuff, but don't know whether this improves
> range or just speed (which I am not really bothered about).
>
What about using the mains wiring as a network?

http://www.netgear.com/Solutions/Hom...Networking.asp
x

--
Conor

Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war - W. Shakespeare.