aubuti;577716 Wrote: > I'm invoking "the kitchen sink" subtitle of this forum to ask a question > about networking that is only tangentially about SBs, because I know a > lot of the folks here will know the answers. >
There is no "right" answer, it's only about options ;-) aubuti;577716 Wrote: > Option 1 is to replace it with another router that can run Tomato or > DD-WRT, and use Wireless Distribution System to use the second router > as an AP, though I'm not clear yet whether it would be bridging or > repeating. Given that I have the ethernet in place to wire the two > together, I'm not sure of the advantages of WDS to me in this setting, > since I understand that for wifi devices WDS effectively halves the > bandwidth. > I don't see any point in using WDS if you already went through the trouble of laying out an Ethernet cable. WDS is more complicated, more brittle and lower performance, and you may potentially run into compatibility issues. aubuti;577716 Wrote: > Option 2 is basically to replicate the setup I have now, using the > second router as a simple access point. In fact, for this option I > could buy an AP, except they usually cost more and are useless as > backup routers in case my router suddenly dies. > If you find something compatible with OpenWRT/DD-WRT/Tomato, any router can be configured as an Access Point trivially. The difference between an router and an access point is only in the software running on top of it. I have not tried that, but if you configure your two router with the same ESSID on different channel, your clients should be able to roam between the two. It used to work with 802.11b and WEP, but WPA may get in the way. aubuti;577716 Wrote: > For either option, I would seriously look at getting an N-capable router > so that the current -- and now doubt future -- N devices can take > advantage of it. It appears that there is at least one N-capable router > out there (WRT160NL) that supports DD-WRT, so Option 1 would still be a > possibility. > > Any advice? Thanks. If I were to buy a device, I would pick one of the two options. I'm not overall impressed by the quality of the hardware out there, no point in paying 802.11n money to get 802.11g performance and range. First option is another WRT54GL, because it's cheap and very well supported by all the alternate firmware, and I could swap it trivially with all my other WRT54GL. Second option is a NETGEAR WNDR3700, because it's one of the few 802.11n routers to get very good review, because it support 5GHz, has good range, and because it's supported by OpenWRT. http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/30925-start-your-buying-netgear-wndr3700-reviewed http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/netgear/wndr3700 At then end, it really depend on *your* usage patterns. If your usage is mostly toward the Internet, your broadband provider (DSL, Cable...) is likely the bottleneck so no point in getting beyond 802.11g. If you have lot's or internal traffic (file sharing, backup...), then install CAT6 Ethernet cable or get the best 802.11n router you can get. Personally, I'm a cheap guy and I salvaged another WRT54GS in the trash. But I promised myself to install CAT6 one day. Have fun... Jean -- jean2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ jean2's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=33946 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=82108 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
