Two access points in same house

I have a house that is just slightly too large for 1 access point so I
have two, a Dlink DI-624 (router & access point) and a Dlink
DWL-2100ap. This system works pretty well, but I have found that if
you have an issue, Dlink's tech support is abysmal. My question is
this, what is the best way to set these two access point up for the
best performance and reliability of connection? One issue I can't seem
to resolve is finding a convient way to move around the house with a
laptop or tablet and have them switch from one access point to another
seamlessly. it always seems to involve a little tweaking of the
wireless settings to get the connection setup after switching from one
access point to the other. Another issue is the wireless client
doesn't seem able to switch to the stronger access point. All of my
wireless clients are dlink except for the tablet which can use either
the dlink client or an intel client (I've got the Dlink usb nic for
use with it, it also has an intel 2200b minipci nic in it.

Thanks in advance for any pointers anyone can give me

The Ghost of Thomas Jefferson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>I have a house that is just slightly too large for 1 access point so I
>have two, a Dlink DI-624 (router & access point) and a Dlink
>DWL-2100ap.

I've given up on D-Link products, they just aren't worth screwing
around with IME.

I've had good luck with multiple Linksys WAP54G APs with the same SSID
and Intel 2200BG clients roaming nearly seamlessly (might drop a few
packets during the switchover).

So it can be done, but I don't know if it can be done with your
hardware.

William P.N. Smith wrote:
> The Ghost of Thomas Jefferson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>> I have a house that is just slightly too large for 1 access point so
>> I have two, a Dlink DI-624 (router & access point) and a Dlink
>> DWL-2100ap.
>
> I've given up on D-Link products, they just aren't worth screwing
> around with IME.
>
> I've had good luck with multiple Linksys WAP54G APs with the same SSID
> and Intel 2200BG clients roaming nearly seamlessly (might drop a few
> packets during the switchover).
>
> So it can be done, but I don't know if it can be done with your
> hardware.

Ditto on the Linksys WAP54G's (about $48 at walmart), have 2 in the house,
and another in the garage (cabled to the ones in the house), with the same
ssid and channel. 5 Acres, can roam around with my laptops. Started with the
dlinks, but trashed em and went to linksys..

"William P.N. Smith" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> The Ghost of Thomas Jefferson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> >I have a house that is just slightly too large for 1 access point so I
> >have two, a Dlink DI-624 (router & access point) and a Dlink
> >DWL-2100ap.
>
> I've given up on D-Link products, they just aren't worth screwing
> around with IME.
>
> I've had good luck with multiple Linksys WAP54G APs with the same SSID
> and Intel 2200BG clients roaming nearly seamlessly (might drop a few
> packets during the switchover).
>
> So it can be done, but I don't know if it can be done with your
> hardware.

I've been experimenting with my wireless lan today and I've noticed that it
takes quite awhile for the PC/Windows to recognise that something has
changed and to repair the connection - sometimes upto 30 seconds. A 30
second loss of connectivity would be a pain.

This site looks like it might help...

http://www.uninett.no/wlan/roaming.html

Quote:

To avoid interference the channels selected should be properly spaced apart.
The graphics illustrate how one can reuse a channel and still avoid
interference. The client will seamlessly roam between these access points.

For the client to be able to roam seamlessly, it is necessary for the access
points to:

Be connected to the same IP subnet so the client won't have to change IP
address
Have the same SSID to identify the wireless network
Have the same authentication and encryption schemes so that the client knows
how to authenticate and encrypt.

If one or more of these requirements are not met, network communication for
the client will halt. The client will not regain communication before it
configures the correct parameters for the new access point or until the
client reaches another access point which has the same configuration as the
first one.

Continues

CWatters wrote:
> I've been experimenting with my wireless lan today and I've noticed
> that it takes quite awhile for the PC/Windows to recognise that
> something has changed and to repair the connection - sometimes upto
> 30 seconds. A 30 second loss of connectivity would be a pain.

If you are using XP, check your seurity settings.. Usually when I install
software (or sometimes updaing windows itself), the firewall gets reset and
turned back on.. (Have a 3rd party firewall, and don't use windows and it's
exceptions anyway)

"CWatters" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>I've been experimenting with my wireless lan today and I've noticed that it
>takes quite awhile for the PC/Windows to recognise that something has
>changed and to repair the connection - sometimes upto 30 seconds. A 30
>second loss of connectivity would be a pain.

Again, it depends on the specifics of your LAN, your APs, and your
client radios. We don't know what you have, so it's hard to tell what
your point is...

Thanks for everyone for the ideas. I had them set on 2 seperate
ssids, I'm going to try changing them to the same thing.



On Sat, 20 May 2006 19:00:25 -0400, William P.N. Smith
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>"CWatters" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>I've been experimenting with my wireless lan today and I've noticed that it
>>takes quite awhile for the PC/Windows to recognise that something has
>>changed and to repair the connection - sometimes upto 30 seconds. A 30
>>second loss of connectivity would be a pain.
>
>Again, it depends on the specifics of your LAN, your APs, and your
>client radios. We don't know what you have, so it's hard to tell what
>your point is...

The Ghost of Thomas Jefferson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>Thanks for everyone for the ideas. I had them set on 2 seperate
>ssids, I'm going to try changing them to the same thing.

OK, but again it's going to depend on the information you are keeping
secret from us, the manufacturer, specific model, and firmware
revision of your APs and the manufacturer, specific model, and driver
version of your client. [Gee, I'm sounding like Jeff. 8*]

I've detailed what hardware/software combination works, and I wouldn't
waste any time with Duh-Link hardware, good luck with whatever you
have.

On Sun, 21 May 2006 07:52:41 -0400, William P.N. Smith
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>The Ghost of Thomas Jefferson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>Thanks for everyone for the ideas. I had them set on 2 seperate
>>ssids, I'm going to try changing them to the same thing.
>
>OK, but again it's going to depend on the information you are keeping
>secret from us, the manufacturer, specific model, and firmware
>revision of your APs and the manufacturer, specific model, and driver
>version of your client. [Gee, I'm sounding like Jeff. 8*]
>
>I've detailed what hardware/software combination works, and I wouldn't
>waste any time with Duh-Link hardware, good luck with whatever you
>have.
I have a Dlink DI-624 revc firmware version is 2.70 and a DWL-2100ap
firmware v2,00. I'm trying to test the roaming with the builtin
Broadcom 802.11g adapter that came with a HP Pavillion dv5140us.

I tried changing the SSID on the access point to match the SSID of the
router late last night. At that point the laptop appeared to connect
to the Access point, but was unable to pass ip traffic at that point.
At that point the network became completely unstable, with the router
losing connection to the wan.

Sadly, because I have invested a lot of money in the Dlink junk,
coming to realize that their hardware is junk. I have tried to use
Dlinks support people, they are the biggest asses I have ever tried to
deal with in my 30 yrs experience in the IT field.