Quick setup help (wireless)

Smellyirishman

OK here goes.

2 houses, wanna connect wirelessly to eachother. about 70-90m apart.

Is this possible and if so could you reccommend a card that will do the trick.

{EDIT} and a quick sketch of the situation http://server6.uploadit.org/files/smellyirishman-wirelesssetup.JPG

jbkenn

Are them green scribbly bits trees ?

jbkenn

Jaden

Can you see one anothers windows?

Smellyirishman

Green is a field not a forest, Eh not really, his pc is at the back of his house(not diagram)

We used to be able to but not any more his is in the back of his house through about 3walls

Ok, you can do it a few ways. If you have two wireless cards and no access point you can set them up in ad hoc mode. You will more than likely need to provide some sort of directional antenna as the output of wireless cards is weaker than the access points. In fact for the distance you mention I would imagine this is not an option. 70m - 90m is touching the out limits of card to access point communication as it is.

You can set up two access points you can set them up to comunicate with each other. This will have the benifit of a stronger signal and you will be able to extend the network a larger distance. AFAIK there is a way to get two access points to communicate in this way (the name escapes me) but you can do it on the linksys wrt54g I have.

Alternativly you could try one access point and see how you get on. At that distance you will need a clear view with no walls etc iinbetween and possibly a directional antenna to boost the signal.

HTH

Smellyirishman

So I need two of these
http://www.itdirect.ie/products.asp?cat=10000300

and two cards?
I can put the access point up on my window sill and then there is only a window to go through, so could he put his(his acces point) on one of the winows that I can see so they have a clear signal then get that to communicate with his card through his walls?

Hold on and I shoot up an image real quick

http://server6.uploadit.org/files/smellyirishman-housesetup222.JPG there.

since these are BB sharing routers since we both have BB could we shift the flow if needed so say I could download at 70-80 Kb/s??

anyway would that setup work and if not how do we boost the presence of the wireless

thanks for that last post, it was very informative

[EDIT] SO all I need is

2x wireless Ap WRT54G/UK(found on above link)
and
2x wireless nic cards WMP54G/UK http://www.itdirect.ie/products.asp?cat=10000263 (16th from bottom)

Ap costs €99.44
Nic costs €64.65

total of €164.09, each, is that correct?

Yeah. That should do it.There is an option on my router (wrt54g)for setting the wireless mode to client. That should allow it to connect to your mates AP when configured correctly. I don't know if it is supported out of the box as I have 3rd party firmware on it.

since these are BB sharing routers since we both have BB could we shift the flow if needed so say I could download at 70-80 Kb/s??

Not easily. They are two seperate connections so they will have to be combined somehow. Maybe get right or flash get will support this?

Its an interesting project. Even if u don't get it workin u will still have ur own wireless network.
Good Luck

Smellyirishman

I Have a network with cabling at home, only want this connection to my mates house, if it doesnt work then we got two Aps and two nics we aint gonna use!

I dont got a job but he does, so this is quite an investment for me and for him too. What are the chance you think that we could pull this off?

Your positive the APs will communicate? Ill have to ask the shop if they would by any chance allow us to pick up the stuff and bring it back if its not what we need even for an exchange.

Nothing is certain. On paper it should work :rolleyes:

It direct are, how should I put it, not very enthusiastic about returning goods!

Smellyirishman

Ye well there is no-one else I could really go to that may give me a slight chance, I mean I would buy the stuff in itdirect and if it didnt work id trade it for like maybe a new 160GB HDD which iv been wanting

tomk

Originally posted by ronoc
AFAIK there is a way to get two access points to communicate in this way (the name escapes me) but you can do it on the linksys wrt54g I have.

<edit>Apologies for the partial post - my daughter wanted to play</edit>

The name ronoc is looking for is WDS - Wireless Distribution System. It is not a standard inclusion on the WRT54G, but you get it if you upgrade to the Sveasoft OS he refers to.

Originally posted by Smellyirishman
since these are BB sharing routers since we both have BB could we shift the flow if needed so say I could download at 70-80 Kb/s??

This is a different matter altogether - you shoud look on it as Stage 2, Stage 1 being a successful wireless network between the 2 houses. You're talking about load balancing here, and it would mean adding another machine to your network to handle this. If I was going to tackle this, I'd use a Linux box - there's a load of Googleable information about this, but it's not for beginners.

Smellyirishman

Fine wont be attempting stage 2 then, was just wondering.

Well now my biggest question is, will I be able to connect the AP to my d-link 504 as this is what I use to route my BB and setu my home network, so would I be able to plug in the AP to the dlink? or would the AP need to go direct into an ethernet card or wireless card in my PC?
does that make sense?

So I dont have to buy a wireless card instead I can cable it into my dlink or into my PC saving me about 70 euro : D

Oh and by the way thanks for all the great help guys

parsi

Originally posted by tomk
<edit>Apologies for the partial post - my daughter wanted to play</edit>

The name ronoc is looking for is WDS - Wireless Distribution System. It is not a standard inclusion on the WRT54G, but you get it if you upgrade to the Sveasoft OS he refers to.

.

The WAG54G also has it now with firmware 1.02.3 .. main dif between the two devices is tha the WAG has the DSL modem inbuilt..

Smellyirishman

Can anyone answer the question on hooking the AP into my dlink as this is all I need answered before making the purchase

tomk

You should have no problems connecting the AP to your router - mine is set up in a similar way. Things may get complicated if your mate has a similar setup i.e. a router feeding a private network. If he doesn't, it's relatively straightforward - his PC effectively becomes another client on your LAN, connecting wirelessly instead of wired. He will get his IP address from your router via DHCP.

<SNIP> his PC effectively becomes another client on your LAN, connecting wirelessly instead of wired. He will get his IP address from your router via DHCP.

Not an Ideal situation though.

What gateway will his router give you ( as there will be two on the network). This could mean only one broadband line get used.

What happens if his router goes down.

If there is only one router doling out DHCP I don't think it will be able to give different gateway information for the two wireless areas on the lan. Thats if both WAPs are acting as routers.

Pehaps another option would be to subnet some of the private address space.

Lan 1 10.10.10.0 (These are just indicitive)
Lan 2 10.10.20.0

On each WAP assign a static route to the other LAN. This way the routers could dish out DHCP information for their own subnets. The question is do the WAPs need to be on the same subnet to communicate with each other.

This would be a good way if configured properly as it would mean if your broadband line was down it would route it through his line.

Smellyirishman

Hum OK, I have a network of 2 pcs using the D-link, He has no network, he will simply be plugging his Lan card into one of the Ethernet slots in the AP.

Well It sounds like it can be done so if we buy these will you help me set it up If we are having trouble as you have been most helpful already.

Thank you Very much

[EDIT] OK itdirect will have the wrt in stock on monday if all goes well, So ronoc if im setting up then will it be OK to pm you if I have a problem as it sounds like it may get sticky especially with the dlink connection, its OK if your busy or anything

I like helping out but I'm not going to hold your hand all the way through it!

All the info is there on google. Ive never done exactilly what ur doing. I find with these things just messing around with them does no harm and u learn alot. Chances are many people have already done what you are trying to do.

A good place to start

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/equip,16
Huge forum for linksys routers with lots of info.

Good Luck

Smellyirishman

Oh ye Ill definitly give it a good go alone first but If I just cant get it up and running was just looking for someone to point in the right direction!

Smellyirishman

Oh and btw I dunno If it makes a dsifference but it may, in the way is power lines howveer they are higher than our windows so we dont need to go through them but is there any magnetic flux or anything?

Smellyirishman

OK well iv bought the two APs and am trying to set them up but am struggling, Iv still got a few tricks so need to try them.

Once I bought it people started saying WDT cant be done with the WRT54G and I was SO worried yesterday! thought it was €190 down the trap.

Seems possible just like you say tho so will be trying again today

Ciaran500

Good Luck

Smellyirishman

OK trying to set up WDS, and iv almost got it but when i click save settings on the WDS IE cant go back into the router, I put in the right IP 192.168.1.10 and I just get a page cannot be displayed error.

Now im also asked all the time to detect for a connection or work offlne this shouldnt be coming up but I dont know why it does, On this PC none of that happens but on the second PC I get all this crap

Ok you have downloaded the firmware with WDS on it?

Is the SSID on both routers the same?

Smellyirishman

yes I have Satori V4.0 V2.07

both have same SSID.

Problem is when I try to log into the settings on the 2nd pc I cant, I get a page cannot be displayed error with IE.

How will I know when the two APs can communicate?

Smellyirishman

YES!!! Got the net onto the other PC anyway!

Ronoc thanks a million! Dunno if the LAN is going yet but at least I know something is working

{EDIT}When I view workgroup computers I see ANDY(me) and John(other pc) but when I click on john it says //john is not accesible.You might not have permission to use this netowrk resource... etc

Infact let me make sure all firewalls and stuff are off

{EDIT} and as soon as I go into Wireless-->WDS and set the MAC address of the other router then I cant go back into the 192.168.1.2 in IE

Smellyirishman

GOT IT!!

Got it all! I cant believe its up!

Now hopefully it will cover the distance as I only set the network up within my house and the APs are about 2 foot from each other!



Ronoc, thanks a million

Nice one!
dont forget to secure your access point when ur done!