Multiple AP setup?

What's the preferred method of setting up multiple A/Ps to cover a
larger area than one A/P can cover on it's own?

Do I use the same SSID and channel on each, same SSID and multiple
non-overlapping channels, or everything different?

Will a laptop be able to seamlessly roam between one A/P and another,
or will it have to manually disconnect from the further one and
connect to the near one?

I've got three D-Link DWL-G800APs, and was planning on using one as an
A/P and the other two as repeaters, but I'm having all kinds of
trouble making this work, and D-Link tech support has been (ahem) less
than helpful, so I thought I'd try something else...

Thanks!

--
William Smith
ComputerSmiths Consulting, Inc. www.compusmiths.com

>What's the preferred method of setting up multiple A/Ps to cover a
>larger area than one A/P can cover on it's own?
>
>Do I use the same SSID and channel on each, same SSID and multiple
>non-overlapping channels, or everything different?
>
>Will a laptop be able to seamlessly roam between one A/P and another,
>or will it have to manually disconnect from the further one and
>connect to the near one?
>
>I've got three D-Link DWL-G800APs, and was planning on using one as an
>A/P and the other two as repeaters, but I'm having all kinds of
>trouble making this work, and D-Link tech support has been (ahem) less
>than helpful, so I thought I'd try something else...
>
>Thanks!

Same ESSID, put one on channel one, one on channel six and the last on
channel 11. Roaming should be seamless.

"AndrewJ" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>
> >What's the preferred method of setting up multiple A/Ps to cover a
> >larger area than one A/P can cover on it's own?
> >
> >Do I use the same SSID and channel on each, same SSID and multiple
> >non-overlapping channels, or everything different?
> >
> >Will a laptop be able to seamlessly roam between one A/P and another,
> >or will it have to manually disconnect from the further one and
> >connect to the near one?
> >
> >I've got three D-Link DWL-G800APs, and was planning on using one as an
> >A/P and the other two as repeaters, but I'm having all kinds of
> >trouble making this work, and D-Link tech support has been (ahem) less
> >than helpful, so I thought I'd try something else...
> >
> >Thanks!
>
> Same ESSID, put one on channel one, one on channel six and the last on
> channel 11. Roaming should be seamless.

You should use the same SSID as Andrew said. But which channels you use
depends on whether the APs communicate wirelessly or over wires. If you're
wiring all three APs to an Ethernet switch, then you should use three
different channels, preferably non-overlapping. But if you're using two of
the APs as wireless repeaters, then you must use the same channel for all
three APs.

Ron Bandes, CCNP, CTT+, etc.

>>
>>
>> >What's the preferred method of setting up multiple A/Ps to cover a
>> >larger area than one A/P can cover on it's own?
>> >
>> >Do I use the same SSID and channel on each, same SSID and multiple
>> >non-overlapping channels, or everything different?
>> >
>> >Will a laptop be able to seamlessly roam between one A/P and another,
>> >or will it have to manually disconnect from the further one and
>> >connect to the near one?
>> >
>> >I've got three D-Link DWL-G800APs, and was planning on using one as an
>> >A/P and the other two as repeaters, but I'm having all kinds of
>> >trouble making this work, and D-Link tech support has been (ahem) less
>> >than helpful, so I thought I'd try something else...
>> >
>> >Thanks!
>>
>> Same ESSID, put one on channel one, one on channel six and the last on
>> channel 11. Roaming should be seamless.
>
>You should use the same SSID as Andrew said. But which channels you use
>depends on whether the APs communicate wirelessly or over wires. If you're
>wiring all three APs to an Ethernet switch, then you should use three
>different channels, preferably non-overlapping. But if you're using two of
>the APs as wireless repeaters, then you must use the same channel for all
>three APs.

Thanks, I described setting up all as AP's since repeater mode cuts
the bandwidth in half.

William P.N. Smith wrote:
>I've got three D-Link DWL-G800APs, and was planning on using one as an
>A/P and the other two as repeaters, but I'm having all kinds of
>trouble making this work, and D-Link tech support has been (ahem) less
>than helpful, so I thought I'd try something else...

Found a DI-624 WiFi router, and the DWL-G800APs appear to repeat that
OK (they just won't repeat for themselves), so I think I'll go with
that option.

Thanks for the hints guys, if the repeater thing doesn't work we'll
run some wires and try multiple APs, but running wires would really be
non-trivial...

Thanks!

--
William Smith
ComputerSmiths Consulting, Inc. www.compusmiths.com

>William P.N. Smith wrote:
>>I've got three D-Link DWL-G800APs, and was planning on using one as an
>>A/P and the other two as repeaters, but I'm having all kinds of
>>trouble making this work, and D-Link tech support has been (ahem) less
>>than helpful, so I thought I'd try something else...
>
>Found a DI-624 WiFi router, and the DWL-G800APs appear to repeat that
>OK (they just won't repeat for themselves), so I think I'll go with
>that option.
>
>Thanks for the hints guys, if the repeater thing doesn't work we'll
>run some wires and try multiple APs, but running wires would really be
>non-trivial...
>
>Thanks!
Home power line networking can help with that:
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,85003,00.asp