Expanding wireless network

hostyle

Before I go and buy some extra gear, can anyone tell me if this will work.

I connect to the internet via a Netgear DG834G in my neighbours house (yes, I have his permission - its my gear). Its a mixed b/g network so everything runs at b speed. He has wired / wireless devices connected. All of mine are wireless.



I have recently picked up some old hardware that I would like to add to the network - some of them will be wired-only. I'd like the wired ones on the same network and able to connect to the internet via neighbours broadband.

Will a Netgear WGR614 allow me to do the following?

Plug in 2 PCs and a Mac via ethernet into the WGR614. Set up the WGR614 as a repeater (if thats the correct term, a bridge perhaps?), to connect to the DG834G next door wirelessly and allow these wired machines to access the net and be on the same network as everyone else. I also want to run the WGR614 in g-only mode, as all my own wired gear is g. (Also, when the DG834G next door goes down - happens a little too regularly - I'll still be able see my own machines even without having net access.)



Any thoughts appreciated.

dkane

all u need is a ethernet hub. connect your main pc (which has wireless connection to next door) and the other wired devices to the hub. then on your comp with wireless bridge the wired and wireless network cards. This way all the computers will have access to the broadband.

The only slight problem is that your pc with the wireless card needs to be on for the other machines to be connected. On the other hand if next door goes down you have a working network instead of 2 sections of a network sitting looking for an access point.

Rew

Buy a wireless to ethernet bridge (eg a linksys WET11) that way you wont have to leave ure PC on all the time.

sillild

stay away from wgr614 mine worked for around 6 months and then died, wireless bridge is all thats needed.

btw

Why dont you have the DG834G (works excellent btw) in your house and allow your neighbour to use a wireless bridge for his network.

I doubt its line rental €25pm (with 3 PCs a Mac and a Laptop) price could not an issue.

alternatively drill a hole through the wall and run the network from your house.

hostyle

dkane wrote:

The only slight problem is that your pc with the wireless card needs to be on for the other machines to be connected.

a solution, but not ideal - I can't guarantee the uptime of any one machine. i don't mind spending a little money in any case.

Rew wrote:

Buy a wireless to ethernet bridge (eg a linksys WET11) that way you wont have to leave ure PC on all the time.

sounds good, i'm presuming i can plug this into an switch / router? don't think i'll go for a Linksys though - i've had an awful lof of hassle with their wireless cards in the past.

sillild wrote:

stay away from wgr614 mine worked for around 6 months and then died, wireless bridge is all thats needed.

I've found Netgear gear to be solid thus far. I'll do some more checking online before I buy.

sillild wrote:

Why dont you have the DG834G (works excellent btw) in your house and allow your neighbour to use a wireless bridge for his network.

i don't have a phone line and i'd rather not line eircoms pockets unless absolutely necessary.

sillild wrote:

alternatively drill a hole through the wall and run the network from your house.

rented house - not an option. neither is running a cable between windows out the back. thats an open invitation to thieves.

BTW: I'm considering a WGR614 in particular because I may move house at some point and having the option of plugging in either a DSL or cable modem without needing new gear would be good.

Thanks guys!

sillild

hostyle wrote:

a solution, but not ideal - I can't guarantee the uptime of any one machine. i don't mind spending a little money in any case.



sounds good, i'm presuming i can plug this into an switch / router? don't think i'll go for a Linksys though - i've had an awful lof of hassle with their wireless cards in the past.



I've found Netgear gear to be solid thus far. I'll do some more checking online before I buy.



i don't have a phone line and i'd rather not line eircoms pockets unless absolutely necessary.



rented house - not an option. neither is running a cable between windows out the back. thats an open invitation to thieves.

BTW: I'm considering a WGR614 in particular because I may move house at some point and having the option of plugging in either a DSL or cable modem without needing new gear would be good.

Thanks guys!

Apologies for the bluntness

However if you do go down the WGR614 route please note you will be tempted but "abstain from firmware updates untill all other roads are travelled" advice I wish I had given myself.

And isn't it ironic.

hostyle

hostyle wrote:

Set up the WGR614 as a repeater (if thats the correct term, a bridge perhaps?), to connect to the DG834G next door wirelessly and allow these wired machines to access the net and be on the same network as everyone else. I also want to run the WGR614 in g-only mode, as all my own wired gear is g. (Also, when the DG834G next door goes down - happens a little too regularly - I'll still be able see my own machines even without having net access.)

After having a look around various other forums, it seems that what I want to do isn't possible. Apparently if WGR614 is set up in bridge/repeater mode, it will no longer work as a WAP, so the wireless PCs / laptop on my own house will still need to connect to next doors DG834G. Therefore if the DG834G goes down my wireless devices are off the network. Anyone got any other ideas?

Rew

Get an access point (with a switch if you dont have one). Plug the bridge (WGR614), 2 PCs and the mac in to it. That way you ahve your own local access point, your net connection to next door via the bridge and all is happy.

hostyle

Rew wrote:

Get an access point (with a switch if you dont have one). Plug the bridge (WGR614), 2 PCs and the mac in to it. That way you ahve your own local access point, your net connection to next door via the bridge and all is happy.

Hrm. That might work. Just to confirm - I need to buy both an AP (built-in switch preferably) AND a wireless bridge? Or alternatively an AP, a switch AND a wireless bridge?

Webmonkey

There are Access Points that will do WDS(Repeater)/AP mode simultaneously but these I imagine are a good deal more expensive. Buying bother Bridge and AP Seperatly will probably be cheaper. You can also do a DIY job but this will end up being a lot more expensive again.

Webmonkey

Rew

hostyle wrote:

Hrm. That might work. Just to confirm - I need to buy both an AP (built-in switch preferably) AND a wireless bridge? Or alternatively an AP, a switch AND a wireless bridge?

Yup thats it.

The bridge connects through the wall to the other AP. The bridge connects in to the switch on your AP as does the other wired PC's. The new AP give you solid signal around your house.

There are loads of units that do WDS and there not any more expensive BUT you have to use 2 AP's that both support WDS and the big "gotch ya" is that they alos have to be the same brand and they may even have to be the same model. So WDS is no good to you unless the existing AP supports it. WDS also hurts preformance, so you would lower your throughput but thats only an issue if you are transfering files from one house to the other.

Be carefull when buying a bridge. Some only support one PC pluged in to it where as others (like the WET11) support up to 254.

hostyle

Picked up the Netgear WGR614 and the Netgear WGE111. After some farting around on a laptop with a dodgy ethernet connection nothing worked properly and I managed to bring down the WAP next door while everyone was asleep. But once I remembered that it had a crap ethernet connector and plugged in working equipment the next day everything just worked. Thanks for the help everyone.