Wireless Access Points

Sean · Post by **Sean** » Tue Feb 18, 2003 10:58 pm

I'm guessing there's already a post on this, but since technology is ALWAYS changing, I thought I'd begin a new one. I will soon be moving into a new house in Boise, Idaho. Unfortunately, the house is NOT fully networked. Many houses out there are. So, anyways. After we move, I'll have two computers in my room, so, therefore, the wireless accesspoint and router will be in my room. So, my dad is wondering if there is some new wireless stuff we should look into. Right now, we have a 802.11b access point, by Linksys. This allows 11mbps, but, doesn't have very good reception. I have the following questions on wireless stuffs:

1. What's the best protocol out there right now? (is it 802.11g? 54mbps max, better distance?)
2. What is the best access point (and router included maybe) to look for with the best protocol? (I was thinking Linksys again, because our Wiressless AP / Router has held up great, no problems whatsoever.)
3. Is it possible to get another ap that will act as a sort of gateway. Like, have an AP in my room, that communicates with another AP in the den on the first floor. My AP is hooked to the modem, sending the connection to the other AP. The OTHER AP acts as a router, sending the same single to the computers hooked to it. I'm not sure is this would be cost-effective. But, its just an idea I guess.

Can't think of anything else at the time.

Judg3 · Post by **Judg3** » Tue Feb 18, 2003 11:36 pm

802.11b is the best right now - no one has really standardized on 802.11g, so each maker has a diffrent take on it and thusly one brand isnt usually compatible with the other.
I stuck with Linksys myself, I have the wap11 + the signal booster, use another AP in my mother-in-laws apartment down the street that connects to her PC via ethernet - I also plan on setting up another 2 waps between here and work (3 blocks away) so I can have an inet connection there too.

SO yeah, 2 wap's will work together as a bridge, which is usually how I like to set em up
There's a neat little from linksys that shows how the work in the network right
here

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Tue Feb 18, 2003 11:54 pm

I just bought the D-Link 614+ Access Point along with a matching PCMCIA card. It supports 22Mbit by using two channels. Works pretty well. I can even reach it from my gazebo (the AP unit is right by a window) which is over 25 feet from the house.

Sean · Post by **Sean** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 7:29 am

Oh, so 802.11b is still the best way to go? I was looking around the Linksys website, and saw their 802.11a hardware, which allowed 72mbps at times (at really fast speed). We could always get rid of our 802.11b ap, because we really don't need the built in router, as our modem has that already. I'll probably stick with Linksys also, since we already have one of their USB wireless adapters.

FP, is that dual channel feature only available with D-Link?

Thanks for the info guys.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 8:01 am

Sean: Not sure. Otherwise it's completely compatible with 802.11b systems.

Also, they just came out with 54Mbit units here: http://dlink.com/products/wireless/airxtreme.asp

DoPeY5007 · Post by **DoPeY5007** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 2:05 pm

personally I would get G

in about a month I will get the Linksys G AP

Judg3 · Post by **Judg3** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 2:23 pm

802.11b is still the best way to go right now. 802.11g is still in the draft stage, therefore every current vendor makes their version of 802.11g a tad diffrent then 802.11b - if you want to stick with one vendor, and one vendor only for everything wireless, then G is an ok way to go. Stay away from 802.11a, it is incompatible with 802.11b and 802.11g, however, 802.11g is backwards compatible with 802.11b. 802.11a also has a bad range to it, typically 25-75feet versus 802.11b and 802.11g's range of 100-150 feet. THe only reason to use 802.11a is because you HAVE to, it operates in the less crowded 5Ghz band, so you get less interference then you would with the B and G specs, which both operate at 2.4Ghz.

Overall, if you have to have the 54mbps, then I'd wait until the 802.11g standard is finalized, that's when it will really take off - this early adoption of a draft spec could come back and bite you in the ass, tho if your still gunning for it, and don't need to connect to any other wireless access points, I'd go with Linksys, who usually are usually pretty good with their specs. The worst that might happen is you'd need a firmware update of your linksys gear to get into the proper specs at release.

But definately stay away from 802.11a

chottoED · Post by **chottoED** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 3:37 pm

i vote dlink, they seem to be the best overall by far.. their new air series are nice seeing they've 22mbps and are compatible w/ typical 802.11b

Sean · Post by **Sean** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 4:11 pm

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, Judg3.

Are there 5ghz phones out there? I know all the cordless phones out there now are 2.4ghz, and at home we still have 900mhz phones. Do 2.4 ghz phones really interfere? I wasn't sure, but always more safe than sorry.

By the looks on Linksys's information on the different protocol's, Wireless G is probably the way to go (http://linksys.com/edu/whichstandard.asp). We'll need the signal to reach thru the floor, and maybe to other rooms around the house.

However, I still think my Dad should look into wiring the house. Fully wired houses are sooo much easier. Anyone know of a company, preferably around Boise, that wires houses? Still not sure what we'll be doing, always safe to check our options.

eGoCeNTRoNiX · Post by **eGoCeNTRoNiX** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 4:24 pm

heh.. Don't know how "handy" you two are, but you could always do it yourself..?? I wired my aunt's and grandmother's house. My aunt's was just a matter or crawling around in the attic and finding the right wires that lead down into the wall, and dropping a 10oz weight on a piece of twine and having someone at the cutout in each room grab it and tie/tape the wire to the twine and pull it through and connect it to the jack and mount it on the wall. Since it's cold now, it would be the best time to do it, before it gets hot again. Just my thoughts though.. eGo

Sean · Post by **Sean** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 4:31 pm

Well, I'm sure if we need to, and IF it's possible, we could do that. But, we'll have two floors. Guess we'll have to wait and see. I just like to have everything ready. I know I won't have much downtime, cause I'll finally have a phone and cable line in my room. Man, it's going to be quite nice to have. I can finally watch the news without leaving my computer!

Man, it sure woulda been nice if we had decided on this house sooner, and gotten it fully networked, oh well.

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