Running a WAP within another wireless range with same SSID etc.

tigermatt

A friend of mine has a 14/15 year old daughter who wants to get a laptop to use in her bedroom wirelessly. Unfortunately, she lives in a converted barn and therefore the walls are very thick and a wireless signal doesn't get from one end of the building to the other. We can't install wires anywhere either due to the raised ceilings etc.

But, there is another converted building separate to the house that is close to the bedroom where we could place a Wireless Access Point (plugged into the wired network that goes back to the house) and get a decent signal to the bedroom.

My question is: Is it possible to connect a Wireless Access Point which will transmit within the range of the house Netgear DG834G router's wireless antenna and configure it with the same SSID, encryption settings etc. so that it will be possible to move around the house and get a good wireless signal wherever you go? Will the two devices' radio signal conflict? Will it be possible to move around and the laptop will automatically detect the best signal, either from the WAP or router and use that?

Many thanks

spurs1234

The best thing you could do really is buy a PRE N MIMO Router, it gives extended and stronger range, you can always get range extenders to place around the house too, which is what i have done it works well

hope this helps in some way

tigermatt

spurs1234 wrote:

The best thing you could do really is but a PRE N MIMO Router it give extended and stronger range and you can always get range extenders on to of that to place around the house which is what i have done it works well

hope this helps in some way

Thanks for that. I think they would rather use the existing equipment rather than purchase more. I was just hoping I could add a WAP to the network and have it "link in" with the existing network.

espresso

I can see no advantage in using the same SSID. Why not do as you suggest but with a different SSID from the main router. Then depending on where the laptop is situated, you would connect to the main one first and then if that one was unavailable connect to the WAP. Surely you don't need to handover from one to the other, like a mobile phone would.

tigermatt

espresso wrote:

I can see no advantage in using the same SSID. Why not do as you suggest but with a different SSID from the main router. Then depending on where the laptop is situated, you would connect to the main one first and then if that one was unavailable connect to the WAP. Surely you don't need to handover from one to the other, like a mobile phone would.

Thanks for your reply. That's a good point actually - I presume that the laptop will mainly be used in the bedroom so we'll just find the best signal and use that each time, if it is used moving around then we'll have to teach her how to disconnect and connect to the stronger signal. :rolleyes:

Bob63

Powerline ethernet might be a better alternative - using the mains wiring to provide regular wired ethernet. Of course, it does mean you need an ethernet connection on the laptop but many already have one.

An example is this product - http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000A7IE7Y


Mike

village_life

tigermatt - i am not overly sure what scenario you are describing.... let me check i have this right

girl lives in a barn, and you want to provide wireless to it but the walls are too thick- where is your broadband link currently delivered? to the house (seperate) or to the barn itself!?

from what you've siad you could probably configure two WAPs together, put the one in the house in bridge mode connecting back to the master unit (that has the internet connection at the end of it) and that will provide you with the broadest coverage across your site.....

gavinp

This is how you setup wireless roaming - you have 2 access points/routers using the same SSID and encryption key - but using different channel numbers.

To avoid radio interference, the channels used should be 1, 6 or 11 only - so for example, one router uses channel 6, the other uses channel 11.

The laptop wireless card should automatically connect to the strongest signal when joining the wireless network.

If you walk from one part of the house to another, some cards will automatically switch, others will need a rescan to pick up the most powerful signal.

Some wireless cards have a list of different networks which will connect in a pre-defined order but will result in disconnection from the network when changing over.

Thanks

Gavin

tigermatt

gavinp wrote:

This is how you setup wireless roaming - you have 2 access points/routers using the same SSID and encryption key - but using different channel numbers.

To avoid radio interference, the channels used should be 1, 6 or 11 only - so for example, one router uses channel 6, the other uses channel 11.

The laptop wireless card should automatically connect to the strongest signal when joining the wireless network.

If you walk from one part of the house to another, some cards will automatically switch, others will need a rescan to pick up the most powerful signal.

Some wireless cards have a list of different networks which will connect in a pre-defined order but will result in disconnection from the network when changing over.

Thanks

Gavin

This was exactly what I wanted to do! Thanks.

Basically, its a large converted barn with the broadband connection delivered at one end into the wireless router, but with the girls bedroom at the other end but still in the same building. The thickness of the walls means the wireless radio communication can't get from the router to the bedroom, but there's another converted barn seperate to the house which has a wired link with the router, so I want to put a Wireless Access Point high in there which will be line of sight to the bedroom but will also be in range of the wireless router's signal and I didn't want them conflicting.

So, from what you are saying, if I setup my router with SSID "Wireless" and my WAP SSID "Wireless", same encryption settings but router on say channel 8 and WAP on channel 9 I should be able to do this no problems?

Many thanks

Toxteth_OGrady

You need two access points and set up repeater mode. See here.

:cool:

TOG

redux

If the wireless router is at one end, how about making the aerial directional? About 10 or 12dB gain, or are the walls still too thick?

http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template/default.htm
http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template/parabolic.pdf