Wireless Access Point

[claw]

I have a wireless router in one part of the house. I want to add a wireless access point in the other part of the house for two desktop machines. Will it work if I have that access point connect to an Ethernet switch that connects it to the two machines? Or do both machines need their own wireless cards? Also, I want to give both machines (locally) static IP addresses.

Thanks!

 

[rw120555]

I haven't tried it, but I think it would work, at least if you have a WAP that can be configured as a bridge.

Another option that I think would work, if you have WinXP and don't mind leaving one machine on all the time: Get a USB or other wireless card, and connect it to one of the PCs. Have winxp create a bridge between that pcs wireless and ethernet networks. Then, hook both PCs up to a switch.

I just did something very similar, using hpna rather than wireless; see this thread. Or, if you don't want to wade through all the details, here is the critical part, from the winxp help. In your case, you are trying to mix ethernet and wireless networks. So, you either need a standalone bridge, such as I suggest in my first sentence, or you need to let a PC act as your bridge:

Using a mixed network environment. When planning your home or small office network, you might want to use a combination of Ethernet, wireless, and home phoneline network adapter (HPNA). For example, you might have two computers in adjoining rooms that are connected using Ethernet adapters and a network hub. If you have other computers in other areas of your home or small office, you can connect those computers to the network using a home phoneline network adapter (HPNA) or wireless network adapter.

In this example, there are two computers in adjoining rooms that are connected using Ethernet network adapters, cables, and a hub. One of these computers is running either Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional. There is a third computer in your child's bedroom, and a fourth computer in the den. The bedroom and den computers each have a home phoneline network adapter (HPNA) installed and are on a network together. To connect the two HPNA computers with the Ethernet computers, install a home phoneline network adapter (HPNA) in the Ethernet computer that is running Windows XP. If your laptop computer has a wireless network adapter, you can join it to the network as well by installing a wireless network adapter in one other computer on the network that is running Windows XP.

In a mixed network, also called a multi-segment network, one or more computers have multiple network adapters. Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home Edition have network bridging, which allows the computers and devices on each of the network segments to communicate with each other. Without network bridging, the computers connected using Ethernet can only talk to each other, and the same for computers using HPNA or wireless. Network bridging makes each of these network segments transparent and appear as one continuous network.

 

[JackMDS]

Access point connected to Hub/Switch can provide, and interact with the wired computers that are connected to the switch (these computers don?t need Wireless cards).

However, almost all entry level Wireless Cable/DSL Routers can only be configured as a Master, and can interact only with Client Wireless Cards.

Good Wireless Access Point on the other hand can be configured as Master, or Bridge. As a result, Wireless Cable/DSL Router can not talk to a WAP.

You need to buy two WAPs that can be configured as Bridges. One WAP goes into a regular port on the Router, the other into a regular port on the Switch (the one in the other side of the house).

What will be the result; Client Wireless Cards that are in the range of the Wireless Router will be able to work wirelessly. The other side of the House will be bridged to your Network, but will work Wired of the Switch.

 

[rw120555]

Based on what Jack says, the 2 WAP solution could be a bit expensive; the client card solution with winxp that I suggested would be cheaper if you don't mind keeping the bridge machine on all the time. Or, just buy 2 wireless client cards and forget about the WAPS. You could still hook up your pcs by switch if you want high speed file transfers between them.

Also, you don't have to use wireless for the bridge; you could buy cheapie HPNA cards. Or, if it is going to cost $200 bucks to buy 2 WAPS, maybe you could just hire somebody to do some ethernet cabling for you.

 

[claw]

I see what you guys mean. Just to be a bit more specific, I have a D-link DI-614+ wireless router and am thinking of getting getting the D-link DWL-900AP+ access point.

What got me a bit confused was the fact that they advertise the DWL-900AP+ as having four modes: (1) Access Point, (2) Wireless Client, (3) Wireless Bridge, (4) Multi-point Bridge. Getting two of these and setting them both to (3) or (4) would be exactly what Jack suggested, however, I was wondering if I could get away with only one access point by setting it to mode (2) and then connecting it to the switch, which connects to the two desktops. Unfortunately, I looked at the manual of the DWL-900AP+ online and it doesn't seem to define what "Wireless Client" means.

Any ideas?

 

[rw120555]

Wireless clients let you connect to wireless access points.

If you have WinXP, you could hook a client card up to a pc and then do the bridging bit. But could you hook a WAP up directly to a switch, bypassing the need for an always on bridge pc? I don't know. If no one else does, I suppose you could always buy one client card, try it out, and then buy a 2nd card if needed. (But, if you do need 2 cards, it is probably cheaper to buy 2 usb client cards than it is to buy 2 WAPs that can be configured as clients - if the WAP in client mode won't work with the switch, it is kind of overkill for your needs, a plain old client card would be fine).

 

[claw]

Hmm... I found the definition of client on the manual of the DWL-900AP, which is similar to the 900AP+. From what it says, it looks like I can do what I originally intended:

----------------------------------------
Access Point Client Mode
The access point can also act as a client on a wireless LAN. When
configured as a client the access point functions in the capacity of a wireless
end station only. Communication through the wireless interface of the device
can only be accomplished using another Access Point functioning in AP
mode. When configured as a client, the access point connects to a single
computer or an Ethernet LAN via the Ethernet interface. An access point
configured to be a wireless client connected to a single computer is
illustrated in the figure below.

This mode can be used to connect a remote Ethernet LAN or a single station
with a central LAN, to create an extended single virtual LAN. In this way, any
station of the Remote LAN can successfully communicate with any station of
the central LAN as if they were members of the same physical LAN. Wireless
end stations can not associate with an Access Point in Client mode except by
means of another access point. As a client, the Access Point must operate
within a BSS and therefore must use a designated BSS base station (usually
another Access Point) for all communications through its wireless interface.
----------------------------------------

Hopefully this works...

 

[rw120555]

Certainly sounds promising, and simpler than what I was tossing out. In the short run, buying a wap and a switch may not save you much over 2 client cards; but if you later add other machines, or other pcs/ethernet devices to the switch, it could be a pretty good deal. And, your pcs will be able to trade files much more quickly, if that is something you care about. Good luck. RW

 

[JackMDS]

LOL. I wonder if the same lawyers that write the small letters part for insurance companies write Network?s hardware specifications.

It seems that this specific WAP can be configured as a Client. I.e. it can communicate with your Wireless Router. It makes sense that if it is suited for computer?s NIC it will be capable to connect to a switch. However when comes to Entry level Network gizmos is possible to work Or NOT...

You can get this WAP from a merchant with liberal return policies and try.

 

[claw]

Well, one reason why I wanted to go with this method was because I already have the switch. If this works, this may be the cheapest option out of all of them.

Thanks for your replies!

 

[rw120555]

This seems more and more plausible to me as I think about it (indeed, this was basically my first impulse, except I was thinking the WAP should be configured as a bridge rather than a client.) If it works, then hooking the WAP in client mode up to your switch has basically the same effect as running a very long cable from your router to your switch (just slower). Everything will be just one big happy network, you won't need to mess around with bridging network connections. You won't need to worry about PCs being on or off, you just need to keep the DSL, Router, switch and WAPs running at all times.

My netgear ME102 WAP also can be figured in client mode, which, I figured, just gave it the potential to be an exceptionally expensive client card. But, if it can be hooked up to a switch and provide network connections to multiple machines, that is a whole different story; you couldn't do that with your typical USB client card, at least not without using a pc as an always-on bridge. With 2 machines it is not that big of a deal, but with several machines this could produce quite a cost savings.

One thing that might still screw you up is if the 2 WAPs make a lousy connection with each other; if so, you might want to consider HPNA or homeplug as alternatives for making the connection.

 

[rw120555]

Claw, please be sure to post a followup one way or the other after you've tried this. I think one of the things this illustrates is that networks don't have to be mutually exclusive, i.e. you don't have to only choose wireless or hpna or ethernet, you can mix. Ethernet is generally the best, cheapest and fastest but also often difficult to get wired up. HPNA or wireless can help you to make connections across your house, but once made you can often use ethernet too.

I started off with an all hpna network, but as I've learned more I've added both ethernet and wireless (just wish I'd learned sooner, as I now have 3 or 4 no longer necessary hpna cards). The HPNA is fine for internet and printer sharing and modest file transfers, but the ethernet is great when I want to transfer monstrous files between two ethernet-connected machines. And, if I ever wanted to add a print server, I believe ethernet would be cheaper than wireless or whatever.

Another plus to your setup, if it works, is that you can fiddle around with getting optimal placement of the 2nd WAP, maybe getting a long cable if necessary. Based on my experience with my laptop, I think I could have used wireless with one of the machines in my basement, but for the other the connection would have been terrible. But, with a single WAP connected to a switch, I probably could have gotten both to work fine.

 

[claw]

I won't be moving into my new place for another month, so I won't know until then. But if you still want to know, private message me with your e-mail address and I can e-mail you when I try it.