Topic: Wireless Bridge
started by: jim
Posted by jim on May 02 2002,18:17
Me and a friend of mine both bought new houses in a new subdivision. We live on different street, but our backyards touch.We've been kicking around the idea of running cable to connect our networks, but their were some issues with that. First off, I'm getting a pool soon and I don't want them digging up my cables, next I'd have to run the cable across the utility easement, another cable dig up risk.
So I started looking into a wireless solution, but most wireless access points seem to be only able to bridge wired, and wireless networks.
Then I came across the < Linksys WAP11 >. It is also meant to be used as a normal bridge between wired and wireless networks, but have now released a < firmware upgrade > which enables wired to wired network bridging.
Me and my buddy installed these 2 bad boys last night, and they work like a champ.
We now reside on the same subnet, and have full access to each others network appliances, etc...
We play LAN games, we play XBOX LAN games, transfer files back and forth, and even share the cost of an Enhanced DSL service.
And the Linksys will also take upgrades to the antenna if you choose. It's possible, at a price, to actually connect 2 or MORE networks up to 25 miles away. It has point to point, and point to multi-point bridging. So if any of my new neighbors end up being gamers, will be tossing them on the wireless network as well.
Fucking sweet!
Posted by Jimi on May 02 2002,19:33
Sounds like a damn good plan, I still have to settle for loading five machines into the back of a ford fiesta and networking them in the spare room if me and my friends want a network game.
Posted by just_dave on May 02 2002,21:03
| Quote (jim @ 02 May 2002,01:17) |
| blah blah Linksys stuff bla bla |
Does it come with encryption so you can set a key for computers to use to join your wireless network? If not with XP someone can pop a wireless card in and pickup on ya network, of course you will see them but its possible. I know with Cisco Aironet you have to encrpyt each card with the 128 bit key thats on the AP before they will connect.
dave
Posted by Beldurin on May 02 2002,21:09
| Quote (just_dave @ 02 May 2002,15:03) | ||
Does it come with encryption so you can set a key for computers to use to join your wireless network? If not with XP someone can pop a wireless card in and pickup on ya network, of course you will see them but its possible. I know with Cisco Aironet you have to encrpyt each card with the 128 bit key thats on the AP before they will connect. dave |
I don't think you'd need XP specifically...and WinDoze OS should be able to pop in if you haven't set up security as simple as an SSID.
As for the Cisco Aironet, I don't think you have to set up the WICs with the WAP key if you don't want to, but it's a good idea.
Posted by just_dave on May 02 2002,22:13
9-->| Quote (Beldurin @ 02 May 2002,049) |
| [quote=just_dave,02 May 2002,15<!--emo&][quote=jim,02 May 2002,01:17]blah blah Linksys stuff bla bla |
Does it come with encryption so you can set a key for computers to use to join your wireless network? If not with XP someone can pop a wireless card in and pickup on ya network, of course you will see them but its possible. I know with Cisco Aironet you have to encrpyt each card with the 128 bit key thats on the AP before they will connect.
dave[/quote]
I don't think you'd need XP specifically...and WinDoze OS should be able to pop in if you haven't set up security as simple as an SSID.
As for the Cisco Aironet, I don't think you have to set up the WICs with the WAP key if you don't want to, but it's a good idea.[/quote]
Yeah, but with a college it was a necessitaty their bandwidth was metered. But we used a 128 bit key to keep students off.. the wireless was for the med students only. We installed the keys and then we had software to do it ... and i think it had a password you set to be able to even see the key. I didnt do much of the cards, I was setting up the AP's and checking signal strengths and making sure they were working on the dhcp ..
dave
Posted by Wiley on May 03 2002,05:41
Damnit Jim, you could have found this a bit earlier and saved me some headache 
. I Got a WAP11 to connect to my Wireless Proxy router thinking I could bridge off the Wireless Proxy router the same way you could bridge two WAP11s. No dice though, the Wireless Proxy router doesn't support Bridging!!This was the first configuration I setup:
Like I said ...it was no go. I had to stack a WAP11 on top of the Wireless Proxy Router ...rendering the wireless functionality of the Wireless Proxy Router useless. I returned it for a standard Proxy Router (now only $79 with rebate)
So now what I have is this:
Why couldn't Linksys just add a Wireless Bridge option to the damn Proxy Router???
Damn lack of forsight!!
Posted by editor on May 03 2002,05:50
My friend who gives me the MS disks that don't work has one of those and he sells his DSL to other people in the building, if I understand correctly.He has five computers in his office and it sure saves on all the damn cables running around; the dog chews on them sometimes.
Posted by jim on May 03 2002,15:05
Yes they have encryption yada yada yada, but even without the encryption, no one can "hop" on my wireless network, because I don't HAVE a wireless network.With the WAP11's in Bridging mode, that is ALL they do. No wireless clients can connect at all.
Posted by just_dave on May 03 2002,15:18
| Quote (jim @ 02 May 2002,22:05) |
| Yes they have encryption yada yada yada, but even without the encryption, no one can "hop" on my wireless network, because I don't HAVE a wireless network. With the WAP11's in Bridging mode, that is ALL they do. No wireless clients can connect at all. |
Ahh ok ... only using for bridge. I didn't totally read it all, didn't think about it that way. Sometimes you just don't consider things do ya? Well anyways, what kind of range are you getting on those puppies?
dave
Posted by jim on May 03 2002,15:41
With just the out of the box antenna I can connect to his house which is about 200 Feet away.We tried it with us both putting them in our wiring closets, where we'd like them, but that is seperated by 3 brick walls, and at least 4 sheet rock walls, in addition to the 200 feet.
That was a no go.
So instead of spending money on new antenna's we opted to each move our APs to the upstairs bedrooms closest to each others house.
These are still roughly 200 ft away, but in this case there is only 2 brick walls between the routers and we get the full 11 mps bandwidth.
But you can certainly buy a new 2.4 GHZ antenna that is either omni directional or one that requires line of site. They are expensive, roof moutable, but can give you a range of up to 25 miles.
Posted by just_dave on May 03 2002,17:27
That just freaking rocks for the little LinkSys thingies.... hehe .. thats just kewl man. Might have to do that here soon. Thanks for the infodave
Posted by MattimeoZ80 on May 16 2002,02:59
do you have any links for those ones you can mount on the roof... i'd like to look into it
Posted by jim on May 16 2002,14:44
How far are you trying to go?
All you need is an external 2.4 GHZ antenna.
Either a tight beam point-point version, or an omni-directional radius based one which is better if you are doing point to multi-point.
They can get pretty expensive, but if you want to build one yourself, try this link:
< http://www.tux.org/~bball/antenna/ >
And if you are lazy, these are some of the cheaper ones I've considered purchasing for including my friend who lives 3 blocks away.
< http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/antennas_2400.html >