Repeating (range-extending) a network with WPA encryption

When a repeater is used to extend the range of a wireless network, does it
need to be programmed with the WPA key of the router whose signal it is
extending or does it simply reproduce whatever signal it sees, with or
without encryption, without needing to be configured itself?

The router is a BT 2100 and the range extender is a Belkin F5D7130.

When I enabled encryption on the BT 2100, a PC that can only see the
Belkin's signal failed to connect to the wireless network whereas it worked
OK with the BT's encryption turned off, despite configuring the PC's
wireless software with WPA key of the BT 2100.

This makes me think that the Belkin needs to be configured with the BT's WPA
key so it can connect to that network, and then maybe needs its own WPA to
be defined for the connection between the PC and the Belkin. Is this right?

I was called in to look at a customer's wireless network which uses these
devices and I noticed that he was running with no encryption - but when I
turned it on at the router, it broke the repeater signal. The customer is
looking for the Belkin's user manual at present.

What is the default IP of the Belkin? I tried a variety of IPs in the same
subnet as the router (eg 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.254, where the router is
192.168.1.1) but I couldn't find an address that allowed me to browse to the
Belkin's web configuration interface.

Belkin's UK site doesn't seem to have anywhere that allows you to download
user manuals :-(

Martin Underwood wrote in message
443ec111$0$23172$(E-Mail Removed):

> When a repeater is used to extend the range of a wireless network,
> does it need to be programmed with the WPA key of the router whose
> signal it is extending or does it simply reproduce whatever signal it
> sees, with or without encryption, without needing to be configured
> itself?
> The router is a BT 2100 and the range extender is a Belkin F5D7130.
>
> When I enabled encryption on the BT 2100, a PC that can only see the
> Belkin's signal failed to connect to the wireless network whereas it
> worked OK with the BT's encryption turned off, despite configuring
> the PC's wireless software with WPA key of the BT 2100.
>
> This makes me think that the Belkin needs to be configured with the
> BT's WPA key so it can connect to that network, and then maybe needs
> its own WPA to be defined for the connection between the PC and the
> Belkin. Is this right?
> I was called in to look at a customer's wireless network which uses
> these devices and I noticed that he was running with no encryption -
> but when I turned it on at the router, it broke the repeater signal.
> The customer is looking for the Belkin's user manual at present.
>
> What is the default IP of the Belkin? I tried a variety of IPs in the
> same subnet as the router (eg 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.254, where
> the router is 192.168.1.1) but I couldn't find an address that
> allowed me to browse to the Belkin's web configuration interface.
>
> Belkin's UK site doesn't seem to have anywhere that allows you to
> download user manuals :-(

Ah! I've found the manual, together with a Range Extender Guide, on the US
site. Why couldn't they put it on all the other country-specific sites as
well as the US one?

It says that the repeater *does* need to be set to the same encryption type
as the router. It also seems to imply that only WEP and not WPA encryption
is supported when repeating a network. I wonder if that's a restriction
that's common to all WPA networks or whether it's just this device that
can't repeat a WPA network.