"boosting" an existing wireless access point

[Paul]

I have an XP installation which has both wired and
wireless interfaces. I use the wired interface, and I'd
like to use the wireless interface to extend the range of
an existing access point. Is there such a thing as a
repeater in the wireless topology, or do I need two
access points?

 

[Jack]

Hi
Client Cards can not work as Repeaters.
Wireless Modes: http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Modes.html
Extending Distance: http://www.ezlan.net/Distance.html
Wireless Router as an AP: http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html
Wireless Bridging: http://www.ezlan.net/bridging.html
Jack (MVP-Networking).

 

[Kent W. England [MVP]]

Paul wrote on 17-Sep-2004 4:26 PM:

I have an XP installation which has both wired and
wireless interfaces. I use the wired interface, and I'd
like to use the wireless interface to extend the range of
an existing access point. Is there such a thing as a
repeater in the wireless topology, or do I need two
access points?

The easiest way to increase the range of a wireless access point is to
use a directional antenna or to increase the altitude of the antenna or
move the radio away from any immediate metal obstructions. There are
also amplifier boosters that may be able to be used legally to boost the
output of the radio.

 

[Michael Pardee]

Maybe half an answer...

If I understand you right, you want to use the wireless
interface to connect to a distant computer and also
connect traffic from the wired interface to the distant
computer.

The short answer is that you need an access point between
you and the distant computer. Not only do the
transmit/receive frequencies have to swap in mid-air (so
to speak) but the traffic management issues would be a
mess.

The obvious answer is to connect the cable that currently
goes into your computer into the WAN side of a wireless
router (and disable the wireless interface on your
computer). Your computer would then connect to a LAN port
on the router. An important issue would be to ensure the
access points were on different channels, although you
could use the same (non-broadcast) SSIDs and the same WEP
keys.

I don't want to make this sound too easy - I still
haven't figured out how I'd set my D-Link DI-624 to a
different channel. The drop-down only offers channel 6.

Mike