Same or different SSID for 2 AP on same network?

[Eradicator]

I have a motorola WR850G (802.11g) and just got a Netgear MR814 (802.11b). I set the MR814 to be a client of the WR850G. I have the WR814 routed via my LAN back to a LAN port on the WR850G. I am using static IPs for all of my connections to the WR850G. I have the MR814 @ 168.192.10.99 and if I connect via a ethernet cable to one if it's LAN ports it works fine so I believe I have set it up correctly to work with my network....now the real reason for doing this was to extend the range of my wireless network.

I have given the MR814 the same SSID as the WR850G and put on on channel 1 and the other on channel 11. They both have the same WEP 128bit key saved in their configuration for access. Should this be the case or do they need to be different?

What determines which network my laptop connects to? I apparently can only set up one network for each SSID on the laptop configuration software so does it just move automatically? Is it that one signal has to be weaker than the other before it moves? Is there a better way to do this?

Also I have settings for "any available network (access point preferred)", "access point (infrastructure) networks only" and "computer to computer (ad-hoc)" under my wireless's card's configuration. Which should I use? I assume one of the 1st two.

 

[wondersteve]

I think you should use the same SSID. If you are sure you have your AP's in "Infrastructure". Use the 2nd, if not ... use the 1st.

 

[Eradicator]

Originally posted by: wondersteve
If you are sure you have your AP's in "Infrastructure". Use the 2nd, if not ... use the 1st.

Regarding this comment do you mean there is a setting on each AP for the mode? If there is I did not see it.

The problem with the SSID is that I can only set up one in my configuration window on the laptop so how does it know when to switch?

 

[JackMDS]

You can use the same SSID.

:sun:

 

[melthemoose]

the wireless client should seamlessly transition from one AP to the next as you roam or conditions change. the only reason that you would have multiple SSIDs on the same wireless network is if you want to "force" certain clients to specific AP's. This is common in areas where employees and guests access the same physical network but each group has different access rights (employees have run of the network but guests can only access the internet).

 

[Kelemvor]

Normally whichever signal it's getting that's the strongest is what it will hook on to. But then if one goes down for some reason it should grab the other one if it's abailable.