Wireless Range Extender

> [To use WDS to extend range, you'll need to standardize on your hardware so
> it's all from the same company. If that's not possible, you can run Ethernet
> cable to a closer location, connect another access point, set the channel
> differently, and set the network name (SSID) the same, and use roaming. -Adam]

I have a Belkin WAP (7150 or 7350 I think...) that I use as a bridge on a
MAC network using DSL (SBC Yahoo) and a Buffalo Router which uses the same
Broadcom chipset as the Airport. The Belkin suport folks threw up their
hands and told me I couldn't use the device to bridge on a "MAC network."
But there is not a whole lot of mystery here; just use the Belkin browser to
enable wirless bridging and Airport setup to identify and use the SSID of
the Belkin unit to connect. This operation was my first lesson in setting up
a repeating network.

It ain't rocket science but it can be a tad tricky. BOL.

James

--
James Connolly
5924 Colton Boulevard
Oakland, CA 94611
james.connollysbcglobal.net
Mobile No. 415.425.7890

> [To use WDS to extend range, you'll need to standardize on your
> hardware so it's all from the same company. If that's not possible,
> you can run Ethernet cable to a closer location, connect another
> access point, set the channel differently, and set the network name
> (SSID) the same, and use roaming. -Adam]


I contacted Linksys about a year ago and they claimed that they did in
fact support WDS for my access point, a WAP54G.

To make a long story short, I upgraded the firmware on the Linksys,
purchased an Airport Express (APX) and tested- it worked. I now have
five APXs extending the range of my Linksys access point. Using my
Mac's, in the portions of my dwelling where signal strength used to be
thin, it is now full strength- this is as it should be. My HP laptop,
however, still only uses the main Linksys access point. The HP has had
issues with other access points in the past, specifically those made by
3Com, so I've just kind of written it off as an annoying anomaly. I
should be getting a new laptop soon, so we'll see if that changes
things.

Everything is on the same channel, same SSID. That being said,
sticking with an all Apple solution, as Adam suggests, is for most the
quickest road to a successful implementation.

Regards,

James

I have not found this to be the case with routers. Most Routers I have found can be set to be repeaters and work with any other routers. It is EXTREMELY HARD WORK however to get these things to work because the companies have NOT settled on a standard set of LINGUISTICS. The other problem is to figure out which to set up first and which second. My Airport express works as a base station, a relay or a repeater. I have used it with a d-link and smc and asante--all of these are routers though--not dedicated extenders. Every time I do this I get so mad and frustrated I break about $200 worth of furniture and china and end up explaining myself to childrens services. Usually when i finally get something to work I am not sure how or why it does work.

Be aware that the more hops you make, the slower things get.

A long time ago I recall reading that some of the routers (linksys) could be tweaked to increase their actual wattage if you knew the secret codes to get to the chip settings inside.

Anyway, it seems to me that a simple parabolic foil antenna is probably the easiest thing to try. Look up wireless foil antenna on Google.

If you want to go a real-long-way, buy a cantenna®.

I could not live without wireless, but I sort of think that hardwiring the basestations is probably still the best way to go.

On Mon, Jan 9, 2006 at 6:37 am -0800, Clyde Kahrl wrote:

>A long time ago I recall reading that some of the routers (linksys)
>could be tweaked to increase their actual wattage if you knew the secret
>codes to get to the chip settings inside.

It's not quite as intimidating as that! For Linksys routers, all you
need to do is load one of the third-party firmware updates, like Alchemy
or OpenWRT. There's plenty of advice at sites such as

<http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php>

You can then tweak signal strength, and all sorts of other parameters,
to your heart's content.

TimH

Not exactly on the 'Range topic;' but interesting: http://www.orangeware.com/endusers/end_home.html

Being able to use another range of cards, economically, may add to the range available as well as the alleged benefits of the software; Eg. speed, price.

George 2006 BC

Thanks for the helps guys. I'm back out to sea now, and that problem is at
home. I had already used my AirPort Express with a wire to extend
temporarily. Now, my memory tells me that I might be able to use my Pismo,
which does get good reception to extend my signal. True or false?

I'm in Anchorage on my way to Dutch Harbor, so it will be a week or so
before I pick up mail again, but I'm looking forward to any more good
information.

tjhodgson wrote:

It's not quite as intimidating as that! For Linksys routers, all you
need to do is load one of the third-party firmware updates, like Alchemy
or OpenWRT. There's plenty of advice at sites such as

<http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php>

You can then tweak signal strength, and all sorts of other parameters,
to your heart's content.

I have a Linksys WRT54G whose signal I would like to boost, but I’m finding it tough to identify exactly the firmware update I need and get at it. Would it be possible to get more detailed directions?

Paul Brians
Professor of English
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of English
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-2050
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/

Hello all,

I know this discussion was wee while ago but I wondered if anyone could help with my wireless extension conundrum:

I have an Apple AirPort Base Station (not an Extreme, just the plain old one, but not the Snow one either).

I have a TiBook, with an external card.

Now purchased an Intel iMac (with built-in AirPort).

The distance is too great for the two systems to talk, and we can't really move the location of the iMac or the Base Station.

An AirPort Express can extend the range of another AirPort Express or AirPort Extreme base Station <http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/>.

The question is whether an AirPort Express can be made to extend the range of an older AirPort Base Station or not. Apple's footnotes (5) indicates no, but I'm puzzled as to the technical reason for this.



[The reason is that the original AirPort Base Station doesn't support WDS, which is necessary for the range extension to work. You'll need either two AirPort Express Base Stations, or one Extreme and one Express. -Adam]



If there's not a nice solution that way, then would the easiest thing be to buy an extreme Base Station as well as an Express?

Thanks for any help or pointers. Michelle