View Full Version : Wireless cable router wanted..
Admiral Huddy
22-01-2007, 17:48
Any recommendations?
Need one that has quite a long range i.e. to the bottom of the garden to my work house.
I'm assuming that the 802.11 g isn't going to be enough and I'd be looking at the 802.11n??
What you are after is a bigger antenna rather than the baud rate of the wireless. If you are transferring loads of big files then go for N. One other thing to consider is.... aren't you running a power cable from your house?
If so then why not get one of those powerline network adapters? They do 100mb/s ones that will be more secure than wireless.
As far as I'm aware there's little in 802.11n to do with range, only throughput, plus you'll be paying a premium for the spec at the moment.
Might be worth investing in a couple of cheaper 'g' routers and bridging them, if you're sure 1 wont be good enough :)
I might be in the neighbourhood for a cable router in the near future so I'll keep an eye regardless. Cant stomach the cost for a Draytek and I've never really looked at the consumer grade cable stuff.
I wouldn't bother with 802.11n stuff for now, not until the standard has been ratified at least.
As for 802.11g cable wireless stuff, a Linksys WRT54GL will do the job nicely.
Admiral Huddy
22-01-2007, 17:59
Ok cheers guys, I just wasn't too sure about the range outside. Electrics run to the workshops via a seperate supply from the garage, soit's not a viable solution.
WRT54G, that'll do you reckon Paul?
The GL would be better than the G. The GL's have a bit more RAM and bigger flash so if any of the 3rd party firmwares interested you, you'd have a wider choice with the GL.
Yup. If you can get a WRT54G in whichever flavour is compatible with something like Sveasoft firmware (I believe that be the GL or an older model G or GS). Or as Daz said, get two and bridge 'em. After flashing, you can turn up the output power to ridiculous (and somewhat illegal) levels. :)
That's what I had before I switched to powerline (well, I still have, but it's back to being a regular router now).
Any experience with openwrt Mark?
Nope. I did research it but went with Sveasoft as that seemed to be easier (and therefore somewhat less likely to brick the router).
Admiral Huddy
23-01-2007, 10:47
What about a signal booster? Do any of these take an external arial?
So out of these, which one would be better?
[/URL]
LINKSYS WRT54GSUK WIRELESS 125MBPS ROUTER WITH SPEEDBOOSTER
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1400888468.116954512 6@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccefaddjmdehjhlcflgceggdhhmdfjg.0&page=Product&fm=13&sm=1&tm=1&sku=250537&category_oid=-28361 (http://here)
or the
LINK DI-634M MIMO 108MBPS WIRELESS ROUTER
[URL]http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1400888468.116954512 6@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccefaddjmdehjhlcflgceggdhhmdfjg.0&page=Product&fm=13&sm=1&tm=1&sku=340037&category_oid=-28361
The later appears to have a wider range.
WRT54GS routers are only supported by 3rd party firmware up to revision 4 (the current revision is revision 6). D-Link hardware isn't supported at all by 3rd party firmware.
The reason for looking at 3rd party firmware support is because this firmware allows you to turn up the output power and also supports client bridged and WDS modes (which will be very useful to you and which a lot of routers at the cheaper end of the market don't support). If you do not feel confident about flashing the hardware or do not want to (it voids the warranty), then this isn't an option for you anyway.
The other option you could look at is to get a pair of outdoor directional antennas and point them at each other (one on the house, one on the shed). This will allow you to get whatever router you like (providing the antennas are detachable), but the antennas themselves can be expensive as you need special cables as well as the antennas themselves. This option does not solve any problems you may have getting the routers to 'talk' to each other.
WRT54GS routers are only supported by 3rd party firmware up to revision 4 (the current revision is revision 6).
Not entirely true - there are 3rd party firmwares for the v5 and v6 GS's but they have a relatively light feature set compared to the older hardware versions.
Huddy, look for a GL.
You are barking up the wrong tree with output power, signal boosters etc etc. Its all a crock of ****.
What you NEED is a better antenna - like this:
http://gallery.shockradio.co.uk/albums/album19/IMG_0299.sized.jpg
- which will get a 54g connection at near full data rate about 2 miles without touching the output power.
Obviously slightly excessive for the job you are doing, but some of the better purpose-built 2.4GHz units are fairly small and will have no bother over the range you are talking about - plus its LOS more or less and very very directional so you arent giving the whole world access to your LAN ;)
Output power *does* work to some extent, but I agree with you that for pure line of sight range you can't beat a good pair of directional antennas, and I did include that in my comments. :)
Admiral Huddy
24-01-2007, 10:39
Not entirely true - there are 3rd party firmwares for the v5 and v6 GS's but they have a relatively light feature set compared to the older hardware versions.
Huddy, look for a GL.
Got any links Paul?
I'm not Paul, but price order, lowest first...
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/103185
http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=3YRT
http://www.ove*************.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-052-LS
Admiral Huddy
24-01-2007, 15:04
ok cheers .. what's the difference between the GS and the GL then? GL is only 54Mbps and the GS is 128Mbps with range booster.. surely the later is better?
G...
L = Linux
S = Speedbooster
Yes, Linksys actually listened to customers and when they dumped Linux from the GS range they created the new GL range.
I've never had any benefit from Speedbooster or any other similar technology.
Speedbooster isn't worth bothering with unless ALL the devices you'll be using are also speedbooster compliant.
I'm not a fan of these 108/125/whatever mbit wireless kits, in my experience they're not as reliable and can cause problems for bog standard 802.11g cards as the speedbooster is made up of 2 x 54Mbit radios that have been arsed about with.
I'd avoid a GS unless you can get a v4 or lower. The later ones were pretty crippled with the amount of RAM they have so if you're a P2P or BitTorrent user you'll find that the GS will crumble under the pressure of the open connections and need a reboot quite often.
Yeah, I'm the same on Speedbooster, and MIMO for that matter. The 2.4GHz spectrum is crowded enough without using multiple frequencies for some perceived (and in most cases misguided) speed benefit. Also, if you use Speedbooster, you have no choice at all over what frequencies you use, so if there's another Speedbooster-capable device in close proximity, you're probably stuffed as far as range goes before you even start.
I turned off Speedbooster on my v4 GS within about a minute of plugging it in for the first time, but I'll bet I'm in the vast minority in doing that.
You can just get a slightly higher gain antenna - I've covered easily over 40m with LOS. You won't need a point to point link either, just a well placed AP/Router with a decent AP to receive it in your workshop. I doubt you'll even need any high gain antennas either. Not sure how big your garden is though or where your router is situated.
You've done far better than me. I could get, ooh, about 1-2Mbps with standard antennae on my original setup, from a bedroom to the lounge (which are both on the same floor). Go downstairs to the front door and it was bye bye signal.
Even with high-gain antennae I had to have direct LOS to get signal good enough to sustain a 20Mbps data stream. Now I accept that's above normal requirements for most people, but with all these reports of supposed wireless reliability I'd assumed (wrongly) that I'd get that without trouble. And I still lost signal by the front door.
I gave up and went powerline. Wish I'd been able to do that from the outset but the technology didn't exist back then.
I forgot to say it was inside a steel shipyard dock (enormous volume) but lots of reflection and diffractions etc... The dock itself was about 150m long and 40m wide! Still it was handy having p2p wifi link from the offices (one end) and the junction box (other end). It just depends on your patience and a little skill. I've managed a 100m link using directional antennas in the past :)
Solid lead walls eh, Mark?
With my WRT54GL running WPA I get a real throughout (measured with iperf) of about 30Mbit which I was very pleased with.
I have no idea. Solid brick walls and concrete floors for sure (no plasterboard or wood here, no siree). I blame the 60s. :)
Admiral Huddy
03-02-2007, 17:09
Sorted.. Thanks guys.. I got the linksys and I'm in my workshop now :D
Not a great signal.. around 15-20Mbps but doesn't really notice too much.
It will do for what I need anyway
It's faster than your internet connection, so for browsing it'll not even bother you in the slightest.
It's not far to walk if you need a big file transfer. :p
Admiral Huddy
03-02-2007, 19:18
It's faster than your internet connection, so for browsing it'll not even bother you in the slightest.
It's not far to walk if you need a big file transfer. :p
Thanks Mark, you were a big help.:)
Interesting to see so many device listed on the client?? Couldn't determine if I was actually connected to mine.. I changed the SSID which reveled I am haha..
I've also notice on the client that it says that security isn't setup.. yet I've said yes on the router?
Anyone nearby want to try some wardriving (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardriving)? ;D
Admiral Huddy
06-02-2007, 10:30
Holy Acne Batman!
I was expecting maybe a login and password when connecting from the wireless client.. Any tips chaps? I've switched WEP on but it still says security not set on client?
Matblack
06-02-2007, 10:40
YOu may need to disconnect from the router, then set the security and then reconnect, I would also suggest you hide the SSID so people can't see your network unless they know the actual SSID to look for.
MB
Admiral Huddy
06-02-2007, 11:10
YOu may need to disconnect from the router, then set the security and then reconnect, I would also suggest you hide the SSID so people can't see your network unless they know the actual SSID to look for.
MB
Hmm can't find an option to hide SSID. If i hide the SSID then how do I find it from the client?
Type it in rather than search for it :) There's an 'add' button on the connection properties page, or somewhere around there.
Admiral Huddy
06-02-2007, 11:44
Type it in rather than search for it :) There's an 'add' button on the connection properties page, or somewhere around there.
I'm using the software that came with the Linksys.. should I be using the XP software.
Yes, imo. It will connect when the system boots rather than when you log on, and since XP SP2 the integrated solution is much lighter and cleaner than third party apps.
Random note: I have my WRT54GL next to me now, running OpenWRT. Looks like exactly what I wanted, so cheers folks :)
Admiral Huddy
06-02-2007, 15:07
I could only get the GS.. GLs don't seem to be around much.. I wanted to buy out of the shop in case it was no good. PC World were quite happy to accept a return should it not have been in range.
Does the job though.
SSID hiding isn't going to stop anyone finding your network - fire up a copy of Netstumbler and it'll report the hidden SSID's to you in a couple of seconds.
WEP blows goats, turn it off and use WPA (or WPA2 if your clients support it) with a nice long pershared key.
He's right about WEP y'know, though I was thinking more sheep than goats, but either works. ;D
Shame most consoles can't be bothered to support WPA. Grrr. :(
I have some lovely linux tools on my laptop which need a mere 50mb of data to crack 128bit WEP keys!?! :shocked:
WPA is where it's at - at least for a start anyway.
I have some lovely linux tools on my laptop which need a mere 50mb of data to crack 128bit WEP keys!?! :shocked:
Ditto :|
Unfortunately I'm stuck with it though for now so we can use the DS's. Looking at a multi-SSID solution at the moment so I could put the DS's in their own wireless VLAN and lock that down plenty.
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