What device am I looking for? (wired > wireless, 'reverse AP')

[Maverick2002]

Hi,

I need to hook up a VoIP phone to a network connection in one of our offices, but we don't have a cable dropdown there. The PC in the room is using a wireless NIC, but unfortunately I can't do that with a phone. So, what piece of hardware am I looking for? I need sort of a reverse-access point, but I don't know what that's called.

So it goes: phone > ethernet cable > device > wireless access to our network (so the phone thinks it's connected via ethernet).

TIA

 

[Mushkins]

You want a wireless bridge. It is, in essence, a reverse wireless access point You configure the wireless to connect to your wireless network, and the wired ports act just like a switch. The devices connected to it are wired to it, so they act as if its a regular old wired connection.

You can get a decent SOHO one for like $40-50.

 

[Maverick2002]

Gotcha, what are some good brands/models? From Newegg or Amazon preferably.

 

[JackMDS]

The stand alone Wireless Bridges are usually very crapy.

You are better off getting an inexpensive Wireless router flash it with DD-WRT and configure it as a Wireless bridge.

 

[Maverick2002]

Very crappy how? I don't need anything fancy, just a basic connection to our router down the hall (about 25ft away)

 

[DeathRayLoveMachine]

Crappy as in, "Why does connecting my laptop cause the wireless bridge's signal to drop out, even when they're on completely different wifi segments?"

 

[Maverick2002]

Ok, so what's a cheap router that can be flashed that you recommend? And is it a simple/complex procedure to do so?

And what about this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=33-704-124&Tpk=N82E16833704124 Has some good reviews and is low price.

 

[alkemyst]

can you connect to the PC's NIC?

 

[Enigma102083]

can you connect to the PC's NIC?

This man has a better idea.

 

[Maverick2002]

can you connect to the PC's NIC?

I can try to install another NIC for 2 ports, since the PC is using a wireless antenna in its available NIC. If I install it though, how do I get it to 'port through'?

Also, will the PC need to be on for the phone to function?

 

[alkemyst]

The PC will probably have to be on....it will be like a server at that point for voice. You'd just map it another ip on the same network. I don't have a way to test this here right now (my Smart UPS 1500 just arrived DOA), but I had my UPS setup though one of my PC's NICS and it was reachable on the network.

I think default gateway cannot be set on the second NIC or else all traffic may be confused to which NIC is pointing to the proper segment. It's been a while since I set it up.

 

[JackMDS]

Adding another NIC means some sort of software Routing and double NAT, Not a good idea in this case.

Asus has an Inexpensive AP that they market as repeater. read their data sheets it might be that it can be configured as Wireless Bridge.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833320168

Or this one that is DD-WRT compatible

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-RT-N10-Wi...ref=pd_sim_e_7

 

[smitbret]

You guys must be buying crappy bridges. I've used the Linksys WES-610N and the D-Link DAP-1522 and while the D-Link was a little confusing to setup they were both very reliable even if a little slower than I I would have liked. If I hadn't needed to stream BR rips I would probably still be using them. The wireless seemed to struggle with FF/Rew.

 

[Maverick2002]

Thanks for the responses so far. To clarify, this will ONLY be used for a single VoIP phone, so traffic on it shouldn't exceed 80-160k (this is what was told to me by our provider).

As for DD-WRT compatible, how about this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320158

$30 and it's supported: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices#Asus

I don't know anything about DD-WRT though, so no clue how easy/difficult this will be to set up.

 

[JackMDS]

Thanks for the responses so far. To clarify, this will ONLY be used for a single VoIP phone, so traffic on it shouldn't exceed 80-160k (this is what was told to me by our provider).

As for DD-WRT compatible, how about this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833320158

$30 and it's supported: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices#Asus

I don't know anything about DD-WRT though, so no clue how easy/difficult this will be to set up.

The Asus that I link to cost only $9 more has Dual External MIMo and it is rated N-300.

$9 is the price of a Fat loaded cholesterol infested Burger meal in a Fast Food Joint.

DD-WRT has elaborate instruction pages, if you know how to read you are set.

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

 

[Maverick2002]

The one you linked from Newegg, on the compatibility page it doesn't have a minimum required version of DDWRT ... does that mean any version will work?

 

[JackMDS]

The one you linked from Newegg, on the compatibility page it doesn't have a minimum required version of DDWRT ... does that mean any version will work?

Sorry for the confusion.

The $39 might not be DD-WRT compatible.

However its data sheet states that it can act as a Range Extender wireless modes.

In most cases a repeater Wireless Router is usually Client Bridge too.

It also are Tomato Shibby compatible - http://tomato.groov.pl/?page_id=69

 

[Maverick2002]

Sorry for the confusion.

The $39 might not be DD-WRT compatible.

However its data sheet states that it can act as a Range Extender wireless modes.

In most cases a repeater Wireless Router is usually Client Bridge too.

It also are Tomato Shibby compatible - http://tomato.groov.pl/?page_id=69

So ... should I just get the one from Amazon then?

This is getting overly complicated, I just need a 'wireless bridge' that's going to work for a single VoIP phone. I don't care about top notch or DD-WRT or Tomato or whatever else. I just want something that works. What should I get and how much is it going to cost?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Use the PC in the room that has wireless, and use the onboard wired NIC with Internet Connection Sharing for the phone.

 

[DeathRayLoveMachine]

You guys must be buying crappy bridges. I've used the Linksys WES-610N and the D-Link DAP-1522 and while the D-Link was a little confusing to setup they were both very reliable even if a little slower than I I would have liked.

I have a Linksys WET-610N (basically the same as the WES but with only one ethernet port instead of four). It's awful. The configuration interface is incredibly slow, which would only be a slight inconvenience except it also has the aforementioned glitch where connecting my laptop causes it to drop signal. I think this has something to do with radar detection, which is an undocumented "feature" that prevents the device from even detecting wifi networks on certain channels.

I absolutely hate it and I wish I had just spent a little more to get a cheap dual-band router with DD-WRT support.