wireless bridge

[nitz]

Hi,

My company is expanding into a building across the street. I would like to link the two networks by means of a "wireless bridge". There are quite a lot of hardware choices out there and I'm not sure what we would need. Does anybody have any experience setting up such a network environment?

We have a mixed OS 9/X environment with about 20 computers. Would there be problems with appletalk on OS9 computers across the bridge? Would I need to set up a completely separate LAN in the new building or can the router from the first building hold both networks together? Can the DSL connection from the first building be shared with the second via the wireless bridge?

Is there a proper term for this kind of network setup? Sometimes its hard to google when you don't know what you are googling for.
If anyone could just drop some hints/links it would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Nitz

 

[tomf87]

A bridge would bring the two networks together and they would run on the same subnet, so you can treat those users just like the local ones.

I setup a wireless bridge for a friend, and we useda new wireless access point, Linksys WAP54G. You cannot use the existing access points, since no clients will be able to connect to an AP in wireless bridge mode.

Anyway, you simply go into the web configuration under Setup then AP Mode and tell it to be a Wireless Bridge. Then you enter the MAC addresses of the original access point and the access point across the street.

It states at the bottom of the admin page of the Linksys AP:

*****
Note: When set to "AP Client" and "Wireless Bridge" mode, this device will only communicate with another Linksys Access Point (WAP54G). When set to "Wireless Repeater" mode, this device will only communicate with another Linksys Access Point (WAP54G) and Linksys Wireless-G Router (WRT54G).
*****

Depending on your model of AP, the instructions and models used may vary.

 

[nitz]

Thanks for the info. That should give me a good place to start from.

nitz

 

[nitz]

It says in the User Manual that Windows is required. Is that the case or do they just say that so that as soon as someone says, "I have a Mac," they can say, "Oh, sorry we don't support that. Click"?

How far apart are your access points? Our two buildings are about 60 meters (about 200ft) apart.

Nate

 

[nitz]

No problems except....

I got the wireless bridge set up with 2 external antennas and a few switches. I have 2 eMacs (both 10.3.4) on the remote network and they both work fine. However, I have a black 400MHz G3 powerbook running 9.2.2 that can not see the network across the bridge. It can only see the 2 local eMacs via appletalk. Something with TCP/IP isn't working. I can't see or ping anything on the other side, no router, nothing. I have tried using static and dynamic network settings but that didn't help. I checked the net cables and they all work fine with the eMacs. Earlier before I set up the bridge, I tested it with a different computer running 9.2.2. It could see across the bridge no problem. Any suggestions?

Equipment in use:
2X D-Link DWL-2000AP+
2x External directional antennas
2x D-link 1005D 5 port switches