Mailing List os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com Archived Message #2101

From:	"Lewis G Rosenthal" <os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com>	Full Headers Undecoded message
Subject:	Re: [OS2Wireless]Re: WDS firmware for WRT54G
Date:	Fri, 23 Jun 2006 23:53:16 -0400
To:	OS/2 Wireless Users Mailing List <os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com>

On 06/23/06 11:30 am, Howard Winter thus wrote : Stan, On Thu, 22 Jun 2006 09:02:41 -0400 (EDT), Stanley Sidlov wrote: ... Also, at $50/unit, it may be cheaper than buying several wireless cards/nics and supports 4 computers with wires. Also, since it's G wireless, you can use better encryption, and the clients can be hard wired to the router box rather than using the weaker WEP encryptions. Ah, until you said that I hadn't realised that you can use it to relay a WiFi signal to *cabled* PCs - I thought you meant it was just for repeating the radio signal to other WiFi-equipped PCs! Now that would be a very handy thing to do... Essentially, the unit functions as a bridge, so it connects two physically separated LAN segments. In a simple setup, one unit is connected to the broadband, has wired clients, serves up DHCP addresses, and functions as an access point for wireless clients. In addition, with WDS enabled, another unit (or units) connect(s) to this "main" one via Wi-Fi (and yes, the link may be encrypted with WPA or WEP). The second (and subsequent) unit(s) are configured for no DHCP and no routing (the WAN interface is disabled). Wired clients may be connected to it and their traffic bridged back to the main unit. Wireless clients are handled similarly. I did one of these on a temporary basis about a year ago at a client site, after the construction crew cut a fiber loop on the campus. By positioning two WRT54G's with line of sight, using the SVEASOFT Talisman firmware, and tweaking the output wattage, I was able to connect the far building (four workstations and a printer, at the time) to the main network. It wasn't 100Mbps, obviously, but considering that the construction job was union (meaning: what took five minutes to cut, took four weeks to repair), it kept them connected to email and data files. In the Talisman firmware, encryption on the WDS links takes a heavy toll on the performance. I don't know if they have been able to improve upon that in the more recent builds, as I haven't had to set up another one. The Sputnik software we use for Hautspot now supports WDS, and we may have an installation on the horizon which would utilize it. But, I have found with 6 computers, that having a Gigabyte SWITCH attached to the WRT for the wired computers, makes the WRT much more stable since the intranet load is reduced. That's interesting - I imagine the switching behaviour takes processor cycles that otherwise can be used for WiFi activity. Not something I would ever considered. I'd have to take Stan's word on this. I haven't seen stability issues with the 54G's I've got in the field. However, this does make sense. <OT> Geez, the footer on this list has grown to gargantuan proportions. If someone has a suggestion for trimming some of that junk out of there, please pass it on (either the links or the CAN-SPAM ACT notice). I'm all ears... </OT> -- Lewis ------------------------------------------------------------ Lewis G Rosenthal, CNA, CLP, CLE Rosenthal & Rosenthal, LLC Accountants / Network Consultants New York / Northern Virginia www.2rosenthals.com eComStation Consultants www.ecomstation.com Novell Users International www.novell.com/linux/truth Need a managed Wi-Fi hotspot? www.hautspot.com ------------------------------------------------------------

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