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802.11n WDS Network kit - NOT Apple?

edesignuk

edesignuk

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Mar 25, 2002
19,232
2
London, England
Hoping someone here can share with me their wealth of knowledge...

Here's what I need to accomplish (this is for work rather than home, btw):
  • Broadband Router
  • Wired Switch
  • 802.11n Wireless
  • Increase 802.11n network coverage by way of adding...?
  • Keep Wireless under a single network name (SSID)
  • Non-Apple kit
I'd like to pick up a Linksys WRT350N. This gives me the router, switch, and 802.11n which has most bases covered. Problem is I'd also like to be able to extend the range of my N Wi-Fi network if the WRT350N isn't enough (which it almost certainly won't be). Linksys do a WAP4400N, which is an 802.11n access point. An access point is fine since I can run a cable back from it to the switch over quite a distance. The only thing is I can't find anything anywhere on how I can get WDS (or something equivalent) to work so that my various 802.11n access points (say 1 at the router, plus an additional 2 access points) all act as 1 network under one name (SSID).

Can anyone help? Am I going down the wrong path entirely?

Thanks!
 
I think you can just set the SSID on each device to be the same then enable WDS. See the English section of this (search for SSID)

Edit to add: do you absolutely need WDS: it cuts speed in half according to stuff I've read for each WDS hop. Can you not get an access point with removable antenna and cable antenna further apart to get more coverage?
 
robbieduncan said:
I think you can just set the SSID on each device to be the same then enable WDS. See the English section of this (search for SSID)
Click to expand...
Hmmm, but that's on 3rd party firmware. I wouldn't want top be violating any warranty as this is company kit.
Edit to add: do you absolutely need WDS: it cuts speed in half according to stuff I've read for each WDS hop. Can you not get an access point with removable antenna and cable antenna further apart to get more coverage?
Click to expand...
I need it or something like it. I can only spread the range of the Wi-Fi through ethernet (which is why I was thinking additional access points) as in the office it is of course already laid all over the place.

My thinking was this:

Broadband Link -> Linksys WRT350N (Router/Wi-Fi) -> Uplinked to corporate patch panel out to selected ports on the office floor -> Linksys WAP4400N's (Access point) located around the office (all Wi-Fi access points acting as 1).
 
edesignuk said:
Hmmm, but that's on 3rd party firmware. I wouldn't want top be violating any warranty as this is company kit.
Click to expand...

The second link seems to say that the SSID is not important to WDS: that works on MAC address. But some clients won't work as well with one SSID as they won't hop between APs as quickly as they should.
 
Hang on, correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're planning on wiring up the access points back to the router, you don't need to worry about WDS and you can literally just set the SSID to the same thing, and maybe change the channels to something different for each.

WDS is designed for a repeating system, so for access points that aren't connected via a backbone ethernet cable. The signal from one router or access point is then wirelessly repeated to another AP.
 
mrock said:
Hang on, correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're planning on wiring up the access points back to the router, you don't need to worry about WDS and you can literally just set the SSID to the same thing, and maybe change the channels to something different for each.
Click to expand...
If that's the case, then great. This is what I wasn't sure of, and why I asked if I was going totally wrong somewhere. Apparently I was!

So yes, each wireless access point will be wired back to the "main" router. That being the case, I can just name all the access points the same, match up the security passwords, and I'll be set?

How will this work, won't each one show up separately when you search for a network to join?
 
edesignuk said:
That being the case, I can just name all the access points the same, match up the security passwords, and I'll be set?

How will this work, won't each one show up separately when you search for a network to join?
Click to expand...

Yes that should work. I recently set up a wireless network for a church which had a wireless router and 2 access points. One access point was wired back over ethernet, and the other was connected as a repeater via WDS.

I setup all three to the same SSID with the same security settings and it always showed up as one network in the listings. Your computers will just select the strongest signal.

Good luck!
 
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