Looking for a WPA wireless bridge

[bjrugg]

I have a Belkin 7231-4 (WPA compatible) wireless router connected to a
cable modem and by a lan connection to my wife's computer. I have a
laptop working via the router with a WPA compatible Netgear WG511 card.
I also have an Athlon x64 computer working with the router via a lan
connection to a Netgear WGE101 wireless bridge(not WPA compatible). All
works fine in WEP.

What I want to do is replace the WGE101 with a WPA device that will
allow my netwotk to go WPA. The solution is clouded by the fact that I
run Windows x64 Pro on the x64 and drivers for USB devices and WIreless
NIC cards are not readily available at the moment.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[bumtracks]

maybe a duitall
WPE54G-ENT22 Compex
http://www.cpx.com/proddetail.asp?c=New Products&e=146

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

I have a Belkin 7231-4 (WPA compatible) wireless router connected to a
cable modem and by a lan connection to my wife's computer. I have a
laptop working via the router with a WPA compatible Netgear WG511 card.
I also have an Athlon x64 computer working with the router via a lan
connection to a Netgear WGE101 wireless bridge(not WPA compatible). All
works fine in WEP.

What I want to do is replace the WGE101 with a WPA device that will
allow my netwotk to go WPA. The solution is clouded by the fact that I
run Windows x64 Pro on the x64 and drivers for USB devices and WIreless
NIC cards are not readily available at the moment.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Take a look at the Viewsonic WAPBR-100:

http://www.viewsonic.com/products/networking/wirelessdatanetworks/accesspoint_repeater/wapbr100/

It's on sale at CompUSA:

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=319753&pfp=cat3
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

I have a Belkin 7231-4 (WPA compatible) wireless router connected to a
cable modem and by a lan connection to my wife's computer. I have a
laptop working via the router with a WPA compatible Netgear WG511 card.
I also have an Athlon x64 computer working with the router via a lan
connection to a Netgear WGE101 wireless bridge(not WPA compatible). All
works fine in WEP.

What I want to do is replace the WGE101 with a WPA device that will
allow my netwotk to go WPA. The solution is clouded by the fact that I
run Windows x64 Pro on the x64 and drivers for USB devices and WIreless
NIC cards are not readily available at the moment.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

In a previous reply, I recommended looking at the Viewsonic WAPBR-100,
which is on sale at CompUSA:

http://www.viewsonic.com/products/networking/wirelessdatanetworks/accesspoint_repeater/wapbr100/
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=319753&pfp=cat3

Someone (bjrugg?) sent me an E-mail message (that I accidentally
deleted) saying that the WAPBR-100 has bad reviews on web sites.

I use a WAPBR-100 as an access point client (wireless bridge) to give
wireless network access to computers that only have a wired Ethernet
connection. It works fine in that application, connecting to my
Belkin 802.11g wireless router and using WPA-PSK encryption.

However, the product's documentation is terrible, and I had a hard
time figuring out how to configure it.

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see, not as E-mail.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking).

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[bjrugg]

Steve - it was me that indicated that the viewsonic had bad reviews. One
review even stated that it was going to be discontinued. If you have it
working as a wireless bridge (like I need in wpa mode), that is good
enough for me.
BJ Rugg

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

Steve - it was me that indicated that the viewsonic had bad reviews. One
review even stated that it was going to be discontinued. If you have it
working as a wireless bridge (like I need in wpa mode), that is good
enough for me.
BJ Rugg

I hope that it will work for you, too. Here are the steps that I
followed to configure it:

1. Connect to the device's built-in web server.

2. Click the Operating Mode tab and select AP Client.

3. Enter the wireless access point's MAC address. Ignore any warning
message saying that it doesn't support WPA.

4. Click Apply.

5. Click the Primary tab.

6. Under Wireless, enable security.

7. Click "Configure Security" and enter the settings for the wireless
access point.

8. Click Apply.

9. Specify a static IP address in the same range as wireless access
point.

10. Under Wireless, enter the wireless access point's mode, SSID, and
channel.

11. Click Apply.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Mark]

Hi folks,

Based on a web posting I saw a couple of months ago (which I can no
longer find) I purchased the wapbr-100 from CompUSA. So far I haven't
had any luck. As previously stated, the manual is horrible, and the
context around config options in the web interface is also pretty bad.

I consider myself pretty good with these things, but I'm baffled.

I'm attempting to use this thing as an ethernet bridge. It's possible
that my expectations are wrong. I'm hoping to allow a laptop on which
I have no permissions to change network settings to connect to my
wireless network through the lan port on the wapbr-100. The laptop is
configured for DHCP.

Is it possible to configure the wapbr-100 to "pass through" the DHCP
abilities of my linksys wrt54g? Is it possible to use the wapbr-100 to
allow a lan connection given my scenario?

If so, and someone knows how, please respond and if possible give
explicit directions on what to configure on this thing. I'm lost.

Thanks for any help and sorry if this is somewhat off-topic for the
group; it's the only reference to wapbr-100 I could find!

Regards,
Mark

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

Hi folks,

Based on a web posting I saw a couple of months ago (which I can no
longer find) I purchased the wapbr-100 from CompUSA. So far I haven't
had any luck. As previously stated, the manual is horrible, and the
context around config options in the web interface is also pretty bad.

I consider myself pretty good with these things, but I'm baffled.

I'm attempting to use this thing as an ethernet bridge. It's possible
that my expectations are wrong. I'm hoping to allow a laptop on which
I have no permissions to change network settings to connect to my
wireless network through the lan port on the wapbr-100. The laptop is
configured for DHCP.

Is it possible to configure the wapbr-100 to "pass through" the DHCP
abilities of my linksys wrt54g? Is it possible to use the wapbr-100 to
allow a lan connection given my scenario?

If so, and someone knows how, please respond and if possible give
explicit directions on what to configure on this thing. I'm lost.

Thanks for any help and sorry if this is somewhat off-topic for the
group; it's the only reference to wapbr-100 I could find!

Regards,
Mark

To configure the WAPBR-100, you must access its built-in web server at
http://192.168.1.2 . That requires assigning a static 192.168.1.x IP
address to your computer's wired Ethernet connection, for which you
need permission to change network settings.

Perhaps you can use someone else's computer to do the configuration.
Here's the full procedure that I used on my WAPBR-100

1. Access the device's built-in web server.

2. Click the Operating Mode tab and select AP Client.

3. Enter the wireless access point's MAC address. Ignore any warning
message saying that it doesn't support WPA.

4. Click Apply.

5. Click the Primary tab.

6. Under Wireless, enable security.

7. Click "Configure Security" and enter the settings for the wireless
access point.

8. Click Apply.

9. Specify a static IP address in the same range as wireless access
point.

10. Under Wireless, enter the wireless access point's mode, SSID, and
channel.

11. Click Apply.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Mark]

Thanks for the (very quick!) response Steve, I should have mentioned
that I do have another PC from which I can configure the device, and
that I did try your set of instructions.

In the end, what I see is that DHCP does not seem to work on the LAN
port, and so my target PC (the one I can't configure) gets no IP
address.

Regards,
Mark

 

[Jack]

Hi
I am not familiar with the wapbr-100 however from what I see it is a combo.
AP Repeater.

It seems that you just want to use it as a Client, so make sure that it has
a Client mode.

Take into consideration that many times these specialty Access Point would
be compatible with other Wireless while in plain infrastructure Access Point
Mode. Using other Mode it might have a compatibility issues with Wireless
hardware that uses other chipset. Wireless Modes:
http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Modes.html

Jack (MVP-Networking).

 

[Mark]

Hi
I am not familiar with the wapbr-100 however from what I see it is a combo.
AP Repeater.

It seems that you just want to use it as a Client, so make sure that it has
a Client mode. [some stuff deleted]
Wireless Modes:
http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Modes.html

Thanks for the link Jack. It did fill in some areas of knowledge for
me. My main problem right now is, as was mentioned by others in the
thread, the documentation for configuring this thing is horrendous.
It's not clear which parts need to be filled in, and even, for what.

Regards,
Mark

 

[bjrugg]

Well Steve. The Viewsonic wapbr-100 arrived today but it was DOA. It
powers up and all the lights show ok, but it will not talk to my Belkin
802.11g router with any security setting (including no security). I
tried only as an access point client (how I want to use it). I have
tried it with 2 computers (xp32 pro desktop and xp home laptop) via an
ethernet cable (2 different ones) with no success. I will find out how
good CompUSA return/refund online policy is.

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

Well Steve. The Viewsonic wapbr-100 arrived today but it was DOA. It
powers up and all the lights show ok, but it will not talk to my Belkin
802.11g router with any security setting (including no security). I
tried only as an access point client (how I want to use it). I have
tried it with 2 computers (xp32 pro desktop and xp home laptop) via an
ethernet cable (2 different ones) with no success. I will find out how
good CompUSA return/refund online policy is.

I'm sorry that you're having problems with it. Did you follow the 11
steps that I gave? Did you turn the unit off and then on after making
the settings?

If so, the only suggestions I can give are to either call Viewsonic
for help or return the unit to CompUSA. Good luck.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[bjrugg]

I'm sorry that you're having problems with it. Did you follow the 11
steps that I gave? Did you turn the unit off and then on after making
the settings?

If so, the only suggestions I can give are to either call Viewsonic
for help or return the unit to CompUSA. Good luck.

I followed the steps and did turn the unit on and off. What was
interesting is the security settings did not seem to stick, by that I
mean I would enable a security setting and after the unit saved the
settings and continued the radio button still showed security disabled.
That is why I tried with no security - that also failed. Viewsonic was
no help. CompUSA is taking the unit back.

 

[TomRossi7]

I was unable to get my WAPBR-100 to operate under the "AP Client mode".
I'm not sure why, but it was not passing my DHCP requests through. I
tried all kinds of combinations, but just couldn't get it to "bridge"
correctly.

I switched it to the "AP Repeater" mode and that seems to have fixed
the problem. Now I have two SSID's, but that may be good for extending
my network.

Let me know if anyone wants any more detail on how I got mine to work.
Not a bad deal for $25, but I wouldn't pay more than that.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[JustinC]

Tom,

I am attempting to configure the Viewsonic WAPBR-100 in repeater mode
to extend my current wireless network, but it isn't working. I bought
2 from CompUSA to use as repeaters and one as a bridge, thanks to this
group for pointing out the online sale.

The device is broadcasting its default SSID of 'viewsonic' and I can
successfully connect to it and view the config page once I set a static
IP for my computer, 192.168.1.10. (I am not setting a gateway or DNS,
so they are defaulting to 192.168.0.1, which seems incorrect to me, but
the documentation didn't mention setting those to anything specific.)

The steps I have tried for configuration are:
1. set to AP Repeater operating mode.
2. Type in MAC address of my working wireless LAN's AP. (A DLink
DI-624)
3. Hit Apply.

No luck, it isn't repeating, or at least I can't reach the internet. I
figured the MAC address was all the repeater needed to find and repeat
my working wireless LAN, but maybe not.

What were your step by step configurations for repeater mode?

How did you configure the IP, gateway, and SSID on in the WAPBR-100s
Primary tab? Do these have to match the settings on the working AP I
am trying to repeat? Do they have to be on the same subnet? (i.e. the
DLink DI-624 I am trying to relay has an IP of 192.168.0.1, but the
WAPBR-100 is 192.168.1.2 by default.) I would prefer to set the
WAPBR-100 up for DHCP so it automatically acquires an IP from my
DI-624, but am not sure the WAPBR-100 has that functionality when
operating as a repeater. You mention that you now have two different
SSIDs on the same network.

How did you configure the IP, gateway, and DNS on your computer that is
connecting to the WAPBR-100? I would prefer to set it up for DHCP, but
am not sure the WAPBR-100 can dynamically assign me an IP when
operating as a repeater.

Thanks, Justin

 

[JustinC]

Hey guys, I just got off the phone with Viewsonic tech support, and
their tech flat out told me that the repeater functionality doesn't
work, but the WAPBR-100 does work in the other operating modes. He
said they didn't discover it until after the device was released.
Crazy. So, Tom, if you have gotten it to work in repeater mode, please
post some step by step instructions simmilar to those Steve posted.
Based on this tech's revelation, I would say DO NOT buy this device to
use as a wireless repeater!!

As for me, I am going to try to configure one of my three for "AP
Cleint" mode so I can connect an ethernet network printer to my
wireless network, and then return the two I was planning to use as
repeaters...

 

[JustinC]

All who may be reading.... A final update on my saga to configure the
WAPBR-100...

I have attempted to configure it in AP Client mode and Repeater mode,
but didn't have success in either configuration. I am going to return
them to CompUSA.

For AP Cleint mode, when I would chose that radio button on the
configuration page the configuration page would just spin, never finish
loading, and never accept the setting.

For Repeater mode, I was able to set to that mode, type in the MAC
address, and set the IP, but it never actually forwarded a signal. Tom
in the newsgroup was able to get it to work, but he was repeating the
signal from a Viewsonic AP, and I think this WAPBR-100 only works if
you are trying to repeat a signal from a Viewsonic AP. I could never
get it to repeat my Netgear or Dlink APs, and the Viewsonic tech I
talked to on the phone said that the repeater functionality has never
worked.