Can I use WL-hdd as wifi 'repeater'

[cottonpickers]

Hi,

I've got my wl-hdd now, and am trying to set it up as a wifi 'repeater' (if thats the right term) I have an existing wireless network, and want to add this in to extend the reach of my network. If I connect the wl-hdd to the lan with cat5 and use the same ssid but different frequency it acts as an access point to extend the wireless side (no surprise there...) however, looking at the set up, it seems as if 'hybrid' mode might somehow allow me to do this without using any cat5 utp. Is this possible? I can't get it to do this, but it would be pretty neat if it did. Any ideas?

Thanks

[Antiloop]

Hi,

I've got my wl-hdd now, and am trying to set it up as a wifi 'repeater' (if thats the right term) I have an existing wireless network, and want to add this in to extend the reach of my network. If I connect the wl-hdd to the lan with cat5 and use the same ssid but different frequency it acts as an access point to extend the wireless side (no surprise there...) however, looking at the set up, it seems as if 'hybrid' mode might somehow allow me to do this without using any cat5 utp. Is this possible? I can't get it to do this, but it would be pretty neat if it did. Any ideas?

Thanks
yes that's possible

you will have to use Hybrid, which is a WDS mode and has to be supported by your current existing network.

[cottonpickers]

Thanks Antiloop -looks like my other router does support it. :-)

[.al.]

Hi!

I just descided to purchase a wl-hdd since I think it suits my needs most.

One questoin though: if using in repeater-mode - can a media-client connected to the ethernet-port still access the hdd as well?

And if yes: will this client be able to obtain an ip via dhcp or would it have to be static in same subnet as rest of network (not a big deal - I would just prefer dhcp)

In general: my situation is most equiptment in basement and a dsm320 (mediabox) in 1st floor which I want to have wired since it does not support WPA (and ontop I don't trust wireless on streaming video). Also I will need a repeater in 1st floor anyway for notebook access. My thought was to reduce to just these two devices and still not go back to WEP (what would have to be done with a stand-alone repeater and the dsm - or buy more hw).
If someone has better ideas/solutions - would be appreciated ;)

thx for any reply/answer/comments/suggestions
.al.

[cottonpickers]

I'm afraid I can't answer your question, but one thing to be aware of, is that in 'repeater' mode (WDS etc) the device has to send and recieve, so throughput is half that of normal throughput. Given this device is a tad slow anyway, I ended up hard wiring for performance reasons. WDS did work though.

[.al.]

Thanks for the info!

I'm still thinking which will be the best solution... I'm moving to new 'environment' in July so I still have some time.
But other solution would be dsm, nas, swich and ap in living room which might be too much hardware I don't want to have there.

If it were just for moving files to nas I woul not really care about half throughput - but working wireless with two notebooks - don't know if I can accept 50% of anything ;)

Here's another stupid question - doesn't any 'repeater' than go down in throughput?
Since an AP would be set to extending existing WLAN as well.... (don't they use different channels for communication with other AP and clients?

It seems I will look into this some more...

cu
.al.

[cottonpickers]

WDS (repeater mode) is the part that causes it to go slow. (where you don't connect any cat5 to hd-wll the device at all.)
Using it as an Access point (where you link it back to your network with Cat 5) allows you to create a second wifi hotspot without repeating the first spot. (hope that makes sense) upshot is that throughput is much better than WDS mode, but obviously means you need to cat5 to the wl-hdd.

Personally I'd say hard wire as much stuff as you can, as frankly the agro with weak spots, and buying better antenae etc etc is not worth it. I set mine up as an access point with a different Channel as you suggest. Much better than going the WDS route. My main pc is hard wired. laptop then has 2 APs it can connect to in my house.