high power wireless AP? with pics!

[JackMDS]

It is possible (though a little cumbersome) to create dual radios by using pairs of inexpensive Wireless routers.

The Asus can be a good candidate. It only $32/$42 per unit.

Two of them (flashed wit DD-WRT) would be less expensive than a Pro dual radio.



😎

 

[ViviTheMage]

Well, luckily this isn't really a professional setting, uptime/speed isn't a HUGE deal, nobody has complained, outside of lack of coverage in the corners of the building.

My mistake, I forgot about A being on a router requires a second radio.

If this is not really a solution, what is wrong with having an N router, or ABG router, flashing it with DD WRT and having data go down the backbone ( N ), and users connecting on B/G? Theoretically, the 3rd unit out should have the same speeds?

to clarify, I have my WDS set up like this :

WAN1 = DIR655
AP1 = WRT54GS
AP2 = WRT54GS
AP3 = WRT54GS

AP1-3 are running the same DD WRT version, set up in WDS mode. AP1 talks to WAN1, as well as registered with AP2. AP2 talks to AP1, AP3, and WAN1, AP3 only talks to AP2.

I guess I am kind of stumped with what we can do to help the situation, cost effectively, I honestly thought one, powerful AP would do it, but it doesn't sound like it. When they were remodeling the complex, I should have asked to have cat5e run everywhere, but that was the least of my worries at the time.

 

[SunnyD]

As long as you're running dual radio routers/ap's, hypothetically nobody gets hit down the line if you dedicate one radio to WDS. Basically it sounds like the problem you're having isn't really coverage, but the fact that WDS is stealing bandwidth for each hop.

IMHO, the most cost effective solution is to find a shared center wall and see if you can run drops to each floor through it, hooking your AP's up on each floor. I understand that this may not be an option since I don't know your housing situation. Other than that, you might want to try out a couple cheap dual radio routers that are DD-WRT compatible. I love my WNDR-3300, and it only recently got DD-WRT support. They're usually "on sale" refurb from Newegg for about $25-$30 shipped, so it's not a major investment if they don't work out for you.

 

[spidey07]

There is no reason a single AP can't do this. Do as JackMDS suggested and centrally locate the router/AP and use netstumbler to record singal to noise ratio over the place. You should be good provided you don't have a lot of noise or the walls are concrete/super dense.

Wireless repeaters should be avoided at all costs unless you're absolutely desperate.

 

[ViviTheMage]

There is no reason a single AP can't do this. Do as JackMDS suggested and centrally locate the router/AP and use netstumbler to record singal to noise ratio over the place. You should be good provided you don't have a lot of noise or the walls are concrete/super dense.

Wireless repeaters should be avoided at all costs unless you're absolutely desperate.

I thought as much, but what AP can do it? The 3200 one I linked earlier?

I would LIKE to remove as many ap's as I can, and get it down to just a single AP, that can cover the whole building.

And bandwidth dropping down the WDS isn't as big of a deal as it is coverage for 2-3 of the upper units who have signal strength problems. I know I could get DD-WRT running in a better form of WDS, but like I said, I want to avoid multiple AP's/Repeaters.

Sum up my thoughts :

Getting a SINGLE ap into my unit is possible, it's just a matter of which AP can do it...worst case I return it....maybe I will just get the 3200 and try it out, unless someone can recommend me something.

 

[xSauronx]

There is no reason a single AP can't do this. Do as JackMDS suggested and centrally locate the router/AP and use netstumbler to record singal to noise ratio over the place. You should be good provided you don't have a lot of noise or the walls are concrete/super dense.

my parents have a 3-story place and a buffalo WHR-HP-G54, with the unit in the centerish of the first floor, the signal upstairs gets pretty weak in a few spots.

an AP on the 2nd floor provides good coverage on its level, decent coverage upstairs and acceptable coverage downstairs where anyone cares. the second AP was a regular buffalo g54 or whatever...its really worth a shot to move the AP around a few places and see how it works.

 

[spidey07]

I thought as much, but what AP can do it? The 3200 one I linked earlier?

I would LIKE to remove as many ap's as I can, and get it down to just a single AP, that can cover the whole building.

And bandwidth dropping down the WDS isn't as big of a deal as it is coverage for 2-3 of the upper units who have signal strength problems. I know I could get DD-WRT running in a better form of WDS, but like I said, I want to avoid multiple AP's/Repeaters.

Sum up my thoughts :

Getting a SINGLE ap into my unit is possible, it's just a matter of which AP can do it...worst case I return it....maybe I will just get the 3200 and try it out, unless someone can recommend me something.

Cisco 1232 off ebay, heck even a 1231 (802.11g only) would do it. Quality radios and 100 mW. You're making this way more complicated than it needs to be. WAY more complicated.

If a single AP can't do it, for your needs, and a single AP WILL do it unless you have a noisy environment then use repeater mode.

I still don't understand the requirements, because a single AP should be just fine. You don't present a difficult environment unless you have other 2.4 noise sources. I don't mean to sound condescending but this stuff really isn't that hard.

Xsauron - I have a single 1252 in the upstairs office in a larger home. I have nothing but >20dbm SNR in the entire house. There is NO REASON a single AP can't do this. Other than a bad environment. So with that being said it all depends on environment.

 

[ViviTheMage]

It's not hard, but everyone wants me to run a Ethernet drop, which I cannot do. I really have only two places I can place the AP, in the hallways on the first, or second level.

There are no cordless phones in our complex, a few microwaves, but you know how often those get used.

I've never setup a 1232 without an Ethernet drop, will it suffice going in repeater mode? Still be powerful enough to handle the area/coverage? Why is the 1232 better then the DLINK 3200AP?

 

[spidey07]

It's not hard, but everyone wants me to run a Ethernet drop, which I cannot do. I really have only two places I can place the AP, in the hallways on the first, or second level.

There are no cordless phones in our complex, a few microwaves, but you know how often those get used.

I've never setup a 1232 without an Ethernet drop, will it suffice going in repeater mode? Still be powerful enough to handle the area/coverage? Why is the 1232 better then the DLINK 3200AP?

I'm having a serious facepalm moment. A 1232 will have no problems providing 20+ SNR to your entire area unless you have noise problems.

I'm done. There is no reason why a single AP can't meet your needs. Repeaters should not be used. It's been explained.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Found some for 100 bucks on ebay from a local guy .. i'll have to go get one, see how it runs.

I'll try running an Ethernet cable around the stairs, just to see the quality of the connection.

Worst case, do these even do repeater mode? I understand why it's not the best scenario, but do they worst case?