Wireless "gaming adapter" repeater thing, *WITHOUT* hacking?

[swbsam]

I've screwed up 3 routers so far (and have had 1 success, with occasional dropouts) attempting to DD-wrt cheapy routers into gaming devices. I'm pretty much done with the cheap route and am just looking to buy a "gaming adapter" thingie to hook up my dishnetork receiver and xbox 360 via ethernet.

Any suggestions?

My router was a netgear 330(?) pseudo-dual band that was really flaky but I have a buffalo 802.11g on the way (the well reviewed one)

 

[JackMDS]

gaming adapter, repeater thing are two completly different things.

What you seem to look for is Bridging ( http://www.ezlan.net/bridging.html ).

http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-...t-Bridge/dp/B00008WMBT

 

[Dravic]

bridging sucks stay away from it.. You will half the speed of the routers and none of the newer ones support better then wep encryption when trying it... they all list wpa, but will fall back to wep only for bridging.


You want a gaming adapter/ethernet converter


Buffalo had great ethernet converters but got sued into oblivion....
these were great old buffalo ethernet converter, still using one in my basement now. 4 port switch built in.

Your other option if to buy a gaming adapter similar to a Dlink Gaming adapter They appear to be the more modern version of the older dlink G820's. I'm still using one of those on a desktop i just dont feel liking running cable to.

I have personally started using ethernet over power lines. Netgear powerline kit These are hit and miss though as it all depends on your wiring. There is no way to test except to buy them and try it out. I would recommend buying locally so you could return them if they don't work with your home's wiring. And only get the newer 200mbps ones.. you'll never see that speed, but the 85mbps once have much less bandwidth.


I was only getting 10mbps (of my fios 20mb) with the buffalo wireless convert to my upstairs office. Can now max out my bandwidth. They are testy though.. If i plug certain additional electronics into the wall outlet on the right side of my room I can knock out the link between them. I assume most of the bad reviews are for things like this.. bad wiring, noisy/poor/dirty signal electronic devices.. etc

I even lost sync once when i left a computer power cable plugged in, but not plugged into the computer, guess it didn't like the unterminated line. Where as my wife's phone charger can be plugged in with no issues...

I've been so pleased I'm going to replace the last buffalo converter I have in teh basement with an additional powerline unit. Hopefully I don't have any strange electrical issues between the other two currently in use.

 

[swbsam]

Thanks for the info, homeplug might be just want I'm looking for - thanks!

 

[JackMDS]

Wireless can resolve almost any issue.

It is a combination of money and knowledge.

The Netgear HomePlug cost more than $100.:thumbsdown:

For the price I can get 3 Asus Wireless Routers put Tomato in to them an cover "Half of the World".

However without the know how might be that the PowerLine (if it works) is an easier solution.:thumbsup:

 

[swbsam]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
Wireless can resolve almost any issue.

It is a combination of money and knowledge.

The Netgear HomePlug cost more than $100.:thumbsdown:

For the price I can get 3 Asus Wireless Routers put Tomato in to them an cover "Half of the World".

However without the know how might be that the PowerLine (if it works) is an easier solution.:thumbsup:

Ha - I absolutely love ww-drt but going on the cheap and buying $25 refurb netgears seems to be the issue - so much trial and error and frustration. One worked awesome most of the time, then started dropping connection until I tried to flash it to the newest dd-wrt, at which point it was bricked. so annoying! but, again, probably due to it being a cheapy refurb.

I just ordered a $126 powerline networking set by linksys and hope it meets my needs, but I still have one more hackable router lying around, maybe I'll flash that and have the ultimate wireless network plus the stability of powerline - I'll take over the world!

 

[Dravic]

If it works with your wiring its money well spent.. gone are the days of restarting routers, and dealing with signal strength.. just to give you an idea of my current setup

Basement
Fios 20/5
smoothwall firewall
-green internal network
-orange for fios actiontek router for STB phone homes / VOD
Buffalo Ethernet converter in basement - xbox360, slingbox (wireless to dir-655)

1st floor
DIR-655 - main wireless router (cat 5 to 8 port switch)
8 port switch (cat 5 to smoothwall)
Wife's docking station for work (cat 5 to 8 port switch)
kids office PC - g820 gaming adapter - (wireless to dir-655)
netgear powerline (cat 5 to 8 port switch)

2nd floor office
netgear powerline (cat 5 to 4 port switch)
4 port switch
game box (sig) (cat 5 to 4 port switch)
Linux workstation (cat 5 to 4 port switch)
old game box (cat 5 to 4 port switch)


My last moves are to get the basement buffalo replaced with an powerline adapter, run the cat 5 to the kids office pc, and MAYBE move the DIR-655 to a new smoothwall zone so wireless guests have no access to my lan.

 

[swbsam]

Originally posted by: Dravic
If it works with your wiring its money well spent.. gone are the days of restarting routers, and dealing with signal strength.. just to give you an idea of my current setup

Basement
Fios 20/5
smoothwall firewall
-green internal network
-orange for fios actiontek router for STB phone homes / VOD
Buffalo Ethernet converter in basement - xbox360, slingbox (wireless to dir-655)

1st floor
DIR-655 - main wireless router (cat 5 to 8 port switch)
8 port switch (cat 5 to smoothwall)
Wife's docking station for work (cat 5 to 8 port switch)
kids office PC - g820 gaming adapter - (wireless to dir-655)
netgear powerline (cat 5 to 8 port switch)

2nd floor office
netgear powerline (cat 5 to 4 port switch)
4 port switch
game box (sig) (cat 5 to 4 port switch)
Linux workstation (cat 5 to 4 port switch)
old game box (cat 5 to 4 port switch)


My last moves are to get the basement buffalo replaced with an powerline adapter, run the cat 5 to the kids office pc, and MAYBE move the DIR-655 to a new smoothwall zone so wireless guests have no access to my lan.

Thanks for that layout - I haven't even thought of getting our network into our basement/garage right now but your config will probably work great for us as well.

Quick question - is homeplug (powerline) compatible between different brands? My linksys will hopefully be pretty robust at 200mbs theoretical, but say a guest room computer would be fine with a lower end adapter, and netgear has some refurbs for pretty cheap

 

[Dravic]

Its suppose to be a standard, and should work together, but i wouldn't bet any money on it. I haven't looked at mix matching at all, and may just buy a second kit to put one in the basement, and have 1 spare/replacement.

 

[Madwand1]

There are lots of different names for wireless bridging products in the marketplace, and what one vendor calls a "bridge" may be called an "ethernet converter" or "gaming adapter" or even "wireless print server" by another. Many of them use the same underlying techniques, although there are some differences. In particular, "gaming adapters" are not guaranteed to support more one client connection -- a device with multiple wired ports is a better bet.

That said, the Linksys WET610N is a modern update to the original WET series which has a single port, but supports multiple devices with an add-on switch. (BTW, DD-WRT's wireless bridge mode was labeled "WET mode".)

The D-Link DAP-1522 has a nice gigabit switch built-in, but might not have as good wireless performance at range.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30778/96/

Belkin has a new "gigabit" powerline kit, but it's apparently out-performed by devices like the DAP-1522 on occasion:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1430533

With powerline, you need to check the underlying technology standard before jumping to conclusion and trying a different vendor's product, or even a different product from the same vendor. Client mode wireless bridging is not without issues, but, as it connects as a standard client, in general provides good interoperability.