A geek in need is a geek indeed.

[jackofallgeeks]

OK, so, here's the deal: I'm renting a room in a house, and internet access is provided. Specifically, the landlord has a wireless network up that gets us into a cable modem, and it works well enough. Unfortunately, the wireless router is on the opposite side of the house from me, so my signal is kind of weak, and sometimes vanishes completely.

Because of this, I've taken upon myself to add in another wireless access point, closer to my computer, to hopefully improve my signal (I can factor the price of said access point into my rent payment, so it's not terribly burdensome, financially). The problem is, I can't seem to get it to work right.

The router itself has an SSID of networkname, no wpa or wep encryption (like I said, not my network), and runs on channel 11. I set up my access point (effectively a wireless hub according to the troubleshooting docs) with an SSID of networkname, no encryption, and channel 1 to avoid interference. I'm not *sure* this is how it should be set up, I've never done it before myself and (aside from the bit about channels and interference) the docs don't offer much help.

The trouble is... Well, without my access point plugged it, I have a weak signal talk to the router normally. As soon as I plug in the access point, though, the signal jumps up two bars but I stop hearing anyone else! I was listening on Wireshark and as soon as the access point goes up the only thing I see are the packets I'm trying to send. Obviously, without hearing anyone else the signal strength doesn't mean much.

So, can anyone out there give me a hand? I'm not sure what the problem could be.

Comments

wireless repeater

[metis2be.livejournal.com]

What exactly did you buy? A wireless router does not necessarily support being a wireless repeater. The router needs to have the ability to connect to the existing wireless network, and at the same time broadcast (on the other frequency) a new wireless network. I believe you should look into purchasing a wireless repeater.... I could be mistaken though. Let me know what model of wireless access point/wireless router you purchased, and I'll see if it can be used as a repeater.

-- Spec

dragoncow2@ubuntu.com

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

Hopefully Ms. Parks will pass this along.

I'm aware that not all wireless devices are created equal, and I'm aware that I don't know much about specific hardware devices, and I'm further aware that many tech-shop employees know less than I do. That being said, I went into BestBuy (or Radio Shack, or Circuit City, or something) and asked for a wireless repeater, and this is what they directed me toward: Linksys Wireless-G Access Point, model number WAP54G. It seems to indicate that it does what I want, but it may just be an extension to add wireless to a wired network, in which case it would do nothing for me. I can't tell from what I've got here in front of me (the box and meager documentation it comes with).

If it's not what I want, I don't know what it.

To Jenny: miss you. We need to get together sometime when I get back to the right side of the country.

m00

[metis2be.livejournal.com]

Read this, and try your hardest to follow it. You're gonna want to replace the words "WRT54G" with whatever router your houselord runs. Good luck!


The WAP54G works great with the Linksys WRT54G but the key is in the "config". The brief notes included in the package stress using the configuration software included with the WAP54G. This is fine for access point use but is extra work for "range extender" use.

You will need to get the following information from your WRT54G:
1. The wireless MAC address (look under “Status/Wireless”, the one you see on the main “Status” page is the wired MAC address).
2. The wireless channel number of the WRTG54G. If it’s on the default channel 6, you might want to try another channel that doesn’t have everyone in the world on it.
3. The wireless network name (SSID). If it is the default “linksys” SSID, change it NOW!
4. If you still use the default password for the WRT54G, change it NOW!
5. Note the security settings you are using, if any.
6. Make sure the WRT54G firmware is up to date and update if necessary.

The easy route is to power up the WAP54G and using a WiFi pc, associate with the "linksys" network, connect to IP 192.168.1.245 (http://192.168.1.245/) with Internet Explorer (some versions of Mozilla based browsers have problems with the Web interface of Linksys products) and enter the default password as shown in the package notes. This will open the Web interface. At this point, note the firmware version and update it to the latest version before continuing. With that out of the way, you can begin the configuration. There are only four things, five if you have security enabled, you have to change to enable the “range extender” function (actually, it’s the “Wireless Repeater” mode you must use with the WRT54G).
1. On the main page of the Web interface, change the channel number to the same one the WRT54G uses. Save the change and click the continue button when it appears. If you don’t see the Web page reappear, you will need to re-associate with the “linksys” network.
2. Click “AP Mode”, select the “Wireless Repeater” radio button, and enter the WRT54G’s wireless MAC address (I know it says “LAN MAC”, but it’s the wireless MAC you need here). Save changes and click continue.
3. Click “Password” and change the default password. Save changes and click continue. You will have to enter the new password.
4. Finally, click “Basic Setup” and change the SSID. If you want seamless handoff between the WAP54G and the WRT54G, you will want to use the same SSID as the WRT54G. This does make it a little more difficult to connect to the WAP54G if something “burps” and breaks the link to the WRT54G. I prefer to use the existing SSID with a “2” appended to it, like “MyNetwork2”. Just set up an additional association for the WAP54G and the pc should “roll” to the strongest signal.
If you don’t use security or use only MAC filtering, you are finished as MAC filtering is automatically “inherited” from the WRT54G. Otherwise, you must…
5. Click the “Enable” radio button next to “Wireless Security” on the main Web page. Then click the “Edit Security Settings” button. When the security settings page opens, enter the appropriate security mode settings. I use “WPA-Radius” in the WRT54G which is now called “WPA Enterprise” in the latest WRT54G firmware. Yes, the WAP54G does support WPA security but still uses the “old” names like “WPA-Radius”.
That’s it, just place the WAP54G in a good location to be able to pick up the WRT54G and relay the signal to your “out-of-range” devices.

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

You're awesome. (As is Ms. Parks.) It doesn't seem to be working, though, and I found this at the bottom of the AP's internal webpage: Note: When set to "AP Client" and "Wireless Bridge" mode, this device will only communicate with another Linksys Access Point (WAP54G). When set to "Wireless Repeater" mode, this device will only communicate with another Linksys Access Point (WAP54G) and Linksys Wireless-G Router (WRT54G).

So, our current router is a Netgear MR814v2. I would hope for industry standards and interoperability, but especially in wireless that might not be the case. Is this a dealbreaker, or is it just a marketing trick (ie, the AP in repeater mode talks to any router and they just happen to name theirs) and there's something else I'm doing wrong?

m00

[metis2be.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing this is a marketing trick, and there may perhaps be something else you're doing wrong. I have no further insights to help you however....maybe googling will give you better answers.

It is possible that they've put that limitation on it being a repeater, in which case you'll need to sell your WAP and/or trade it in for a repeater. I would google around for a known working repeater-device that works with the Netgear MR814v2. Best of luck ~ spec

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the help. Googling found this (http://forum1.netgear.com/showthread.php?t=728) -- in short, Netgear routers don't know how to talk to repeaters. I'll have to talk to my landlord about options, but I know one thing: my home network is going to be Netgear-free.