Extend Wireless Network Architecture

[devster]

I have currently have 2 extremes & 2 expresses, bought to extend my wireless network throughout my concrete walled house. The main Extreme which creates the network is at one end of the house since that is where the ISP cable is. I was hoping that I could daisy chain the airports to the other end of the house to cover all of it.

After reading more it seems that each 'extend the network' airport is only extending the signal from the base station.

Is this correct?

If so how then do you get any more range than one 'extender' worth from your base station. Seems rather limiting if you can only extend the wireless signal once in every direction.

I have heard of WDS but it seems very limiting in bandwidth & I lose the benefit of wireless 'n'

Ideas? Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[Biolizard]

Your research is correct; 802.11n wireless extension only allows for one 'hop', so what you propose to do cannot work.

My assumption is that because each router acting as an extender is relaying the radio signal received, you're halving your bandwith because it takes two units of time to send a signal (once for the initial transmission, the second for it to be relayed by the extenders), so any more hops than one would halve available bandwith yet again; then performance would start to be awful ;-)

A multi-vector solution is probably the only way to achieve what you want; for example, is it possible to use powerline-esque equipment to get the signal from your primary router to the secondary wifi devices?

 

[balamw]

is it possible to use powerline-esque equipment to get the signal from your primary router to the secondary wifi devices?

Or, do you happen to already have coax already in the walls?

B

 

[Biolizard]

Or, do you happen to already have coax already in the walls?

B

This also. I forget that coax is more than a cable from a roof aerial straight to your TV; at least where I live

 

[laurenr]

Or, do you happen to already have coax already in the walls?

B

Use Powerline Ethernet Adapters with the extra base stations- they work the same as "coax in the walls", and create a ROAMING NETWORK. That way you will not suffer the degradation of bandwidth you will get with extending the network wirelessly.

 

[devster]

Thanks very much guys. Unfortunately the set up is not what |I hoped for.

I do have and use powerline but I need it for cabletv from my ISP modem to the cable tv box. I tried running 2 networks on powerline, 1 from the modem for cable tv and one with the LAN output of my extreme carrying my home network. I couldn't get it to work with both running through the powerline. PPPOE kept disconnecting and reconnecting.

I guess I could use powerline to take the output of my modem to a more central room then set up my Base extreme there. Then I could put the other extreme back in the lounge and use it as extend the network.

Thanks for all your help. Any other ideas would be great

 

[balamw]

I've never had good success with powerline.

Is there just no way to run Cat 5 throughout the place?

How is any other low voltage run? Is there conduit in the walls? Or is it just run on the surfaces?

B

 

[laurenr]

Thanks very much guys. Unfortunately the set up is not what |I hoped for.

I do have and use powerline but I need it for cabletv from my ISP modem to the cable tv box. I tried running 2 networks on powerline, 1 from the modem for cable tv and one with the LAN output of my extreme carrying my home network. I couldn't get it to work with both running through the powerline. PPPOE kept disconnecting and reconnecting.

I guess I could use powerline to take the output of my modem to a more central room then set up my Base extreme there. Then I could put the other extreme back in the lounge and use it as extend the network.

Thanks for all your help. Any other ideas would be great

I've never had good success with powerline.

Is there just no way to run Cat 5 throughout the place?

How is any other low voltage run? Is there conduit in the walls? Or is it just run on the surfaces?

B

You have to make sure the Powerling Adapters are on the SAME elelctrical circuit, otherwise they cannot "talk" to each other. I am using them in my house, and they work flawlessly in extended the range of my 802.11n network over 4,500 sq ft.
If you use the latest devices,capable of greater data transfer speeds, such as the NETGEAR XAVB5001 Powerline AV 500 Adapter Kit, you would maximize performance:
http://alwaysbestbuy.blogspot.com/2011/04/netgear-xavb5001-powerline-av-500.html

 

[devster]

Once again thanks guys.

I live in Hong Kong, where there are no conduits in the walls and they are all concrete so wireless range is very poor.

I moved my Base extreme to a more central room, then used Extend Network with the other extreme in the living area where the main iMac is. I also use an express at the far end of the house in Extend mode to cover the bedrooms. Kind of like a wheel and spoke setup.

Performance is still not great.

I have tried a roaming network before, using powerline to take the modem output to the bedroom and Creating a wireless network there with the same SSID and WPA as my main network in the living area. I was using PPPOE to connect to the internet from both the living area Extreme and bedroom Express.

Internet access was fine throughout the house however I couldnt share my itunes library from the bedroom, I guess because it was on a different network which just happened to have the same name. Similarly when connected to the bedroom express my macbook couldnt see my living area iMac.

My basic requirements are quite simple. Internet access throughtout the house and the ability to share computers and itunes throughout the house.

Seems remarkably difficult even with Apple gear.

Once again thanks for the help. Any more expert opinion/ideas appreciated.

 

[DarwinOSX]

Use Powerline Ethernet Adapters with the extra base stations- they work the same as "coax in the walls",

Coax, Cat 5, or any real network cable is much faster, much more reliable, and will work in every case unlike Powerline adapters using power lines which can fail to work or deliver sufficient speed for a variety of reasons. So I wouldn't say they "work the same".