Extending wireless strength

Technophobe

Hey all,

I now have my Eircom broadband wired and wireless network set-up in my house using the Xycel router provided by Eircom….
All seems to working fairly well so far…..

One thing though, possibly due to the house being fairly large and also having a precast concrete first floor and/or all internal walls built from block (both upstairs and downstairs) is that the wi-fi signal does show up as low strength/unavailable when in some rooms (mainly upstairs)….

I already have each room wired for a CAT6 double access point and these all terminate back into a Patch Panel & Switch back in my Study. The Eircom router is attached to the Switch also, so I do have wired access around the house:)
Now, I know that I am fairly well catered for because I have the CAT6 access points to use upstairs, but in one room the bed and desk are too far away from the CAT 6 access point, so it would be nice to have stronger wireless for using on my laptop and lovely new HTC Desire HD

I have a spare Belkin N1 wireless router lying around and wondered if I plugged this in upstairs, would it help extend the wi-fi coverage/strength?
If so, do I just plug it into a power supply and connect it into a Cat 6 access point? What configuring etc would I need to do?

Thanks for the help!!

Knasher

Yes you can use that to extend your wireless network. One possible configuration is if you plug the ethernet into one of the LAN ports. You will then also have to disable the DHCP server and possibly the IP address on the router so that its not handing out leases that conflict with your other router. You should set the SSID the same as your main router but on a different wireless channel. This should allow you to roam seamlessly between the two APs.

Technophobe

Thanks Knasher..

Not that tecchie so, hopefully it's not too difficult:D....I should be able to manage to set the SSID the same as the main router and change to a different wireless channel.....

I presume to disable the DHCP server and the IP address on the router, I just plug it in to the power supply, ethernet connect it to the access point and access the Router settings?

thanks again

fergal40

try the following - just bought today in Maplin - easy to install - no configuration needed.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=48539

Technophobe

thanks for the reply Fergal but I already have a wired network (and the described wireless network)set up. I thought these were for where you dont have a wired network set up...........

I am not sure that they will extend the strenght of the existing wi-fi coverage??... which is what I am really after.....

Also I have the spare Belkin router lying around so wanted to use this if possible but only if beneficial also.....

akamossie

your Belkin router, does it have the option to act as an access point or just router?

extending your wireless, i suggest you have a router that have DD-WRT or there is alternative way, which the way i set it up for a friend mine, there is something called WDS which its a buffalo product i used, it scan for the existing wireless, you connect to it, and boost it.
takes about 3 mins to set it up. if you need the model i can get it for you if you want.

Technophobe

akaMossie

thanks for the reply....

I am not great on these things so in terms of my Belkin router, how do I check if it can act as an access point?
If I get the model number and google it, will that make it fairly clear to me?
Am I right in assuming that if it can act as an access point, then I may be able to use it to extend coverage?

Failing that, if this Buffalo product does the job, i would be willing to give it a try, so yes, if you can get the model number, please do...

thanks again:D

akamossie

with the belkin router you might not be able to extend your wireless but you can connect to it via LAN and have a seperate wireless network than the other one.

there is two buffalo products that does the WDS feature:
WHR-HP-G300N
WHR-G300NV2

Technophobe

Well...

had a look at the Belkin Wireless N1 router last night and it can be set as an access point........so what do I need to do now....

I presume:

Plug the Belkin into power (me clever..:D
Connect the Belkin to my laptop via an ethernet cable....
Try to access Belkin router homepage and set up as an Access point only....
The manual mentions something about:

".... This will give you the options to set the IP Address and Subnet mask for the router. These settings should match your existing network settings; by default the IP address will be set to 192.168.2.254 and the Subnet mask will be 255.255.255.0"
Where can I find that info for my current network....?
Once I find that and type it in to the router, should I also set the SSID to be the same and the wireless channel....???

Once all that is catered for, do I just then find a point upstairs (centrally) and plug into power and into the ethernet port....??
How do I know if it is working/doing what I wnt it to do...??


Sorry for all the questions:(

akamossie

1) connect to your main network, hit start->run->cmd
type ipconfig /all

take a note of the ip address, subnet mask, default gatewat, DNS

2) connect the belkin to the laptop, make its AP and not router, where by default it will have 192.168.2.254 as you mentioned.
Assign a static ip address to the PC with the same range of this so something like that 192.162.2.200 your subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 and default gateway 192.168.2.254

3) open the web browser and type 192.168.2.254 you should be able to be in the AP.

4) assign static ip which will the same range of the previous network and configure the details as requested.

5) SSID could do the same and password too so when you loose connection from the router it will kick in to the AP straight away.

Once that done, plug to the wall socket and you are good to go

sounds easy but lets see now

Technophobe

akaMossie...

thanks again for the input...:D

I am going to give it a go this evening I hope....
So with regard to your steps...

Step 1 I can do....
Step 2) connect the belkin to the laptop, make its AP and not router, where by default it will have 192.168.2.254 as you mentioned.
Should be able to manage this I hope

Assign a static ip address to the PC with the same range of this so something like that 192.162.2.200 your subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 and default gateway 192.168.2.254

Here I am not sure...:eek:
Do you want me to assign an address to the laptop...?? how to do?



3) open the web browser and type 192.168.2.254 you should be able to be in the AP.....hopefully yes

4) assign static ip which will the same range of the previous network and configure the details as requested. So would address of 192.162.2.200 work here or does it need to be different ??
5) SSID could do the same and password too so when you loose connection from the router it will kick in to the AP straight away.
Should be able for this...

Once that done, plug to the wall socket and you are good to go..If only !!

akamossie

for the static ip address, depends on your Operating system. check this might help http://www.hotcomm.com/faq/faq_staticipxp.asp

or just google how to assign a static ip address.

step 4, depends on your original router ip address, when you do step 1 take a note of teh ip address, if its different that the other one.
assume original router 192.168.1.1 but access point at the moment 192.168.2.1
It wont work you need to have it at the same range.

If you have any troubles, post it here, i should be free in the evening for a while anyway

Kanedmick

Hi! am also looking at upgrading my old crappy netopia to an N wireless modem router.

Same issue - phone connection is downstairs so need to get though concrete floors to upstairs rooms.

What would be the best N one for about €100?

And please correct me if I am wrong, but these new N modems are designed to send the signal further, are they not?

Thanks!

Technophobe

Hey akaMossie,

Bit of a delay in me getting back to you on this...

Despite several attempts, cannot get the Belkin to budge and cannot even get into the router homepage....So I am going to thorw the towel in on this one and go with your suggested Buffalo solution...

I am going to order either the WZR-HP G300NH or the WHR-HP G300N today or tomorrow off Amazon...I presume they are cheapest but will check..

I presume when I get it, I will need to connect it to my laptop to configure it as an Access Point only? Is there much to this step(s).. ??


Then, is it just a case of connecting it somewhere as central as possible upstairs, either by:

a) plug it into a power point and it will pick up the weak wireless signal and boost/extend it around rooms upstairs..?

b) plug it into a power point AND connect it to the ethernet point in a central room and let it pick up the weak wireless signal and boost/extend it around rooms upstairs..

Considering I have the ethernet point available, is it best to use it by method b......?

thanks for the help again...:D

akamossie

for some reason, i thought you got it working, since haven't heard anything from you. Dont buy the WZR-HP G300NH as its can only access point via cable and not wireless, but WHR-HP G300N is the one that have the extending wireless and access point. In this situation i would set it up as wireless extender and no need to connect cables. i can give instructions step by step once purchased, easy to setup anyway.

Technophobe

Ah no afraid not...sure if I had got it working I would have been back with a big thumbs up and thanks.....;)

Have the Buffalo ordered now, so will post back when received...