Recommendation for Wireless-G access point with WPA encryption

My parents have an ADSL router and want to add a Wireless-G access point for
use with a new laptop that has a built-in wireless adaptor.

At a quick glance on the Dabs site, all the APs that I can see[*] only
support WEP encryption and not WPA.

Can anyone suggest an inexpensive AP that supports Wireless-G and WPA
encryption.

It must be a separate access point because the access point needs to be in a
different location to the router (well, the hub part of it) in order to get
good wireless coverage and yet accommodate the existing Cat 5 cabling.


[*] I've looked at:

- Dlink DWL-2000AP+
- Belkin F5D7130UK
- WAP54G-UK





Martin Underwood

In article <42585610$0$42333$(E-Mail Removed)>,
Martin Underwood says...
> My parents have an ADSL router and want to add a Wireless-G access point for
> use with a new laptop that has a built-in wireless adaptor.
>
> At a quick glance on the Dabs site, all the APs that I can see[*] only
> support WEP encryption and not WPA.
>
> Can anyone suggest an inexpensive AP that supports Wireless-G and WPA
> encryption.
>
> It must be a separate access point because the access point needs to be in a
> different location to the router (well, the hub part of it) in order to get
> good wireless coverage and yet accommodate the existing Cat 5 cabling.
>
Why does it need to be? Are you running those abysmal USB WiFi
adapters?


--
Conor

"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." O.Osbourne.

"Martin Underwood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:42585610$0$42333$(E-Mail Removed):

> At a quick glance on the Dabs site, all the APs that I can see[*]
> only support WEP encryption and not WPA.
>
>[*] I've looked at:
>
> - Dlink DWL-2000AP+
> - Belkin F5D7130UK
> - WAP54G-UK

- WAP54G <http://tinyurl.com/29u6t> supports WPA.
- Belkin F5D7130UK <http://tinyurl.com/4dunp> doesn't
- DLink 2000AP is discontinued and is replaced by the 2100
<http://tinyurl.com/2xttx>, which does


You should really check specifications with the manufacturers, not
believe what the retailers tell you. I found all this information within
5 minutes.

--
treeherder.co.uk (marcus)

Any reference to trees or their herding is purely coincidental.

"Conor Turton" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) t...
> In article <42585610$0$42333$(E-Mail Removed)>,
> Martin Underwood says...
>> My parents have an ADSL router and want to add a Wireless-G access point
>> for
>> use with a new laptop that has a built-in wireless adaptor.
>>
>> At a quick glance on the Dabs site, all the APs that I can see[*] only
>> support WEP encryption and not WPA.
>>
>> Can anyone suggest an inexpensive AP that supports Wireless-G and WPA
>> encryption.
>>
>> It must be a separate access point because the access point needs to be
>> in a
>> different location to the router (well, the hub part of it) in order to
>> get
>> good wireless coverage and yet accommodate the existing Cat 5 cabling.
>>
> Why does it need to be? Are you running those abysmal USB WiFi
> adapters?

I *was* testing the coverage with a Netgear WG111T USB WiFi adapter as it
happens. Does this type of adapter generally perform worse than an adapter
that's built into a laptop (ie not a plug-in card that's got its own rubber
duck aerial)?

One thing I found with my Netgear DG834GT router was that the signal was
very noticeably attenuated when I put it in place of my parents' own
router, down on the study floor next to a huge metal filing cabinet. When I
moved it up into the loft (the house is a bungalow) and slightly closer to
the area where coverage is needed, the coverage area increased dramatically.
Unfortunately the lengths of the Cat 5 cables don't allow a router to be
positioned further away from the filing cabinet.

"Treeherder" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:Xns963452311A54Ftreeherder@212.23.3.119...
> "Martin Underwood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> news:42585610$0$42333$(E-Mail Removed):
>
>> At a quick glance on the Dabs site, all the APs that I can see[*]
>> only support WEP encryption and not WPA.
>>
>>[*] I've looked at:
>>
>> - Dlink DWL-2000AP+
>> - Belkin F5D7130UK
>> - Linksys WAP54G-UK
>
> - Linksys WAP54G <http://tinyurl.com/29u6t> supports WPA.
> - Belkin F5D7130UK <http://tinyurl.com/4dunp> doesn't
> - DLink 2000AP is discontinued and is replaced by the 2100
> <http://tinyurl.com/2xttx>, which does
>
>
> You should really check specifications with the manufacturers, not
> believe what the retailers tell you. I found all this information within
> 5 minutes.

Yes, I probably should have checked the manufacturers' web sites. I found
the Dlink 2100AP but I noticed that this was significantly more expensive: I
was being my usual parsimonious self and trying to do things on the
cheap :-)

One problem is that sometimes retailers are selling out-of-date revisions of
products: the Netgear WG602 (V1) does not support WPA (according to Netgear)
whereas the V2 and V3 do. Dabs don't distinguish which version they are
supplying.

broadbandbuyer.co.uk, which I found later, does make it clear which version
you are getting. It seems to have a lot of good background information about
wireless technology as well, even if its Security page only mentions WEP and
not WPA!

"Martin Underwood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:4258f314$0$63443$(E-Mail Removed):
>
> One problem is that sometimes retailers are selling out-of-date
> revisions of products: the Netgear WG602 (V1) does not support WPA
> (according to Netgear) whereas the V2 and V3 do. Dabs don't
> distinguish which version they are supplying.
>
> broadbandbuyer.co.uk, which I found later, does make it clear which
> version you are getting. It seems to have a lot of good background
> information about wireless technology as well, even if its Security
> page only mentions WEP and not WPA!
>
You are probably a lot better off buying from broadbandb than dabs. Even
better, try a local computer shop that is willing to order-in exactly
what you want. May be a touch cheaper, but worth the extra (IMO) so that
you get exactly what you want and have a real person to contact if it
isn't what is ordered.

Good luck!

--
treeherder.co.uk (marcus)

Any reference to trees or their herding is purely coincidental.

In article <4258f313$0$63443$(E-Mail Removed)>,
Martin Underwood says...

> I *was* testing the coverage with a Netgear WG111T USB WiFi adapter as it
> happens. Does this type of adapter generally perform worse than an adapter
> that's built into a laptop (ie not a plug-in card that's got its own rubber
> duck aerial)?
>
Performs about the same as a PCMCIA card but alot worse than a Centrino
based model with it built in and horredous compared to something like a
Dlink 900AP used in client mode or a PCI card with proper screw in
aerial (as opposed to those PCI adapters for PCMCIA cards).

A comparison.

My wifes boss has a 802.11b Belkin WiFi ADSL Modem Router in his house
on the third storey. His workshop, where my wife works, is at the end
of a 80ft garden at ground level. The PC with wifi in the workshop is
behind a leaded window. With the USB adapter the best we've got is
"good" at 2.2MB, pretty much the same story for a PCMCIA card. With a
PCI WiFi card in the signal is excellent,90-95%, at 11MBit.


> One thing I found with my Netgear DG834GT router was that the signal was
> very noticeably attenuated when I put it in place of my parents' own
> router, down on the study floor next to a huge metal filing cabinet. When I
> moved it up into the loft (the house is a bungalow) and slightly closer to
> the area where coverage is needed, the coverage area increased dramatically.
> Unfortunately the lengths of the Cat 5 cables don't allow a router to be
> positioned further away from the filing cabinet.
>
Shame. If there's a spare port on the router, you could run a cable to
the loft and stick the WAP up there.


--
Conor

"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." O.Osbourne.

"Conor Turton" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) t...
> In article <4258f313$0$63443$(E-Mail Removed)>,
> Martin Underwood says...
>
>> I *was* testing the coverage with a Netgear WG111T USB WiFi adapter as it
>> happens. Does this type of adapter generally perform worse than an
>> adapter
>> that's built into a laptop (ie not a plug-in card that's got its own
>> rubber
>> duck aerial)?
>>
> Performs about the same as a PCMCIA card but alot worse than a Centrino
> based model with it built in and horredous compared to something like a
> Dlink 900AP used in client mode or a PCI card with proper screw in
> aerial (as opposed to those PCI adapters for PCMCIA cards).
>
> A comparison.
>
> My wifes boss has a 802.11b Belkin WiFi ADSL Modem Router in his house
> on the third storey. His workshop, where my wife works, is at the end
> of a 80ft garden at ground level. The PC with wifi in the workshop is
> behind a leaded window. With the USB adapter the best we've got is
> "good" at 2.2MB, pretty much the same story for a PCMCIA card. With a
> PCI WiFi card in the signal is excellent,90-95%, at 11MBit.


With a Netgear DG834GT router supplying the signal and a WG111T USB adapter
to receive it, I was getting 108 Mbit/sec in the same room, 36 or 54 in
adjacent rooms, 18 or 24 in further rooms (each with breezeblock walls) and
1 to 5.5 in the conservatory beyond the external brick/breezeblock wall of
the house. That was with the rounter on the floor next to a metal filing
cabinet - hardly ideal conditions!

With the router in the first-floor loft (not connected to anything, but I
could at least "ping -t" the router and look at signal strength) I got 36 or
54 throughout the whole house and in the conservatory or on the patio, and a
usable 24 at the bottom of the garden 100 feet away.


>> One thing I found with my Netgear DG834GT router was that the signal was
>> very noticeably attenuated when I put it in place of my parents' own
>> router, down on the study floor next to a huge metal filing cabinet. When
>> I
>> moved it up into the loft (the house is a bungalow) and slightly closer
>> to
>> the area where coverage is needed, the coverage area increased
>> dramatically.
>> Unfortunately the lengths of the Cat 5 cables don't allow a router to be
>> positioned further away from the filing cabinet.
>>
> Shame. If there's a spare port on the router, you could run a cable to
> the loft and stick the WAP up there.

That's what I'm going to do.

I've identified Netgear WG602 V3 and Linksys WAP54G as affordable access
points. Both are similar prices from broadbandbuyer.co.uk. Does anyone have
any recommendations of one rather than the other.

The laptop has a built-in Wireless-G adaptor (not sure whether the laptop is
Centrino-based) so it wil be interesting to see how coverage as detected by
this compares with my WG111T adapter.