Extending wireless...

[mjia]

Originally posted by: nweaver

Originally posted by: mjia

I think that there is no way to move from one network to another without interrupting a transfer in progress. Furthermore, in order to implement such a design you would need 3 routers, 2 as APs and 1 as a bridge (or 1 PC as the bridge). You could alternatively join 2 wireless networks together using other types of networks though, eg. networks over power or phone line.

incorrect, Cisco now has L3 roaming, allowing you to roam to a new AP that does not service that vlan, but remain attached and no hiccup in connection.

Does that use a service like WDS? I was referring to not being able to traverse networks with different SSIDs.

 

[nweaver]

Cisco has several methods for roaming, most use WDS. The fastest is cckm fast roaming. You also have to realize the Cisco AP's offer multiple ssid's, multiple vlans, and a few more options then most SOHO hardware. I sometimes forget that, as I work with the Cisco 1231's all day long.

 

[mjia]

Interesting. Do you know if windows supports changing the SSID it is using without interrupting network activity? Are there any wireless cards that support multiple SSID (other than using multiple antennas)?

 

[spidey07]

not that I know of. when you change SSIDs you are ripping layer1 out from the IP stack, generally bad mojo.

 

[nweaver]

Atheros cards support mutiple ssid's, although IIRC you cannot do seamless roaming from ssid to ssid even in the same wireless profile (at least I've never tried)

 

[Ichinisan]

Originally posted by: mjia
Sorry, I misread your post. Except I'm not completely clear on your setup now. Are you saying that you are obtaining multiple IPs from your ISP? Connecting the modem to a LAN port and disabling the DHCP server on the router would mean that all machines on the network (that use DHCP) will attempt to retrieve an IP from the ISP. How many machines do you have and how many IPs are you given?

Newnan Utilities is the local cable ISP and they lease multiple IP's. I think users can have between 5-8 outside IPs.

 

[mjia]

Alright, I understand your setup now. Why do you need to do it this way though? It shouldn't be any faster (your ISP should limit bandwidth per modem, not per IP). Even a simple consumer grade router will provide a considerable degree of security (compared to no firewall at all). Decent routers (like the WRT54G) are pretty reliable and have no problem doing NAT. Port forwarding is usually sufficient for most needs, and UPnP and DMZs can handle most of the rest.

 

[Ichinisan]

When I said "required to function" I was talking about functioning as an AP instead of a router. Your suggestion of disabling NAT+DHCP would not work if you didn't plug in your WAN device to one of the LAN ports (built-in switch). I've done this multiple times when encountering WRT54G's with blown WAN ports due to lightning damage. Making it behave as an AP in this manner still does not provide WDS configuration options, so it is not a solution for me.

I found this page, which seems to indicate that this Belkin router can do WDS. The router was only $30 at Circuit City with no rebates, so I bought a bunch of them. As it turns out, it does not have the "Wireless Bridge" option that is mentioned on that site. There is no firmware update available for hardware revision 4.

What should I do with these?