Need Wireless Setup advice

[spartancal]

I have a Linkysys Wireless router (WRT54GS version 5) with Speed Boost.

My current connections are as follows:

Basement Office:

Comcast Cable --> Cable modem --> Linksys router --> 2 computers im my office. (Wrieless capabilities currently disabled).


Future State:


I have an Entertainment Center in another area of the basement (can't run Cat 5 cable to this area) with a Denon 4306 A/V receiver and Toshiba A20 HD -DVD player, both of which have ethernet connections.

My wife just purchased a laptop computer with WiFi capabilities and would like to connect to the internet from her office (main floor) and kitchen (main floor)


My questions:

Which wireless bridge can I purchase to connect the Denon Receiver and the Toshiba HD DVD palyer to my networkand is compatible with my existing Linksys router? DO they support WPA?

I understand that the Linksys WRT54GS version 5 can't be updated with the DD-WRT firmware ( not enough memeory). Is this true?

Can the Linksys WRT54GS be put iinto Bridge mode? In which case I would purchase a more up to date router and use my existing router as a wireless bridge.

Do I need to set-up a WDS to accomplish the future state listed above? Do most routers/ bridges support WPA on a WDS?

 

[Madwand1]

DD-WRT supports the GS v5, although only the "micro" version, and with special loading steps.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices

Try client mode bridging first before getting into WDS. WDS tends to be more proprietary; it needs compatible support on both ends, and not all flavors support WPA. WPA support is more common with simple client mode bridging. In DD-WRT, this is termed "client bridge mode". WPA works, but WPA2 is sometimes flaky.