On Fri, 7 Oct 2005 10:01:51 -0700, Henry House wrote: > I finally have no choice but to get a wireless interface for my > home workstation. Given the difficulty with changing chipsets and > poor driver support, I am thinking of a ethernet-to-wireless > bridge, which is alleged to bridge a one-device ethernet network to > an existing wireless network with an existing access point, all > without any drivers on the PC. Here are two products, both by > Linksys, that claim to do just that: > > http://www.buy.com/prod/Wireless_G_Game_Adapter/q/loc/15625/10351886 .h > tml > > http://www.buy.com/prod/Wireless_G_Ethernet_Bridge/q/loc/15625/10346 52 > 5.html > > The second is about twice the price of the first. > > My questions are: > > - Am I on the right track going with an ethernet bridge? > > - What reasons are there to prefer the more-expensive device? I > loathe wireless networking and so would prefer to spend as little > as possible. I am not really interested in special features.
Hmm. First, you will of course need two devices unless you have an existing wireless access point. You didn't specify, though I'm guessing from your phrasing that you're tying into an existing network. I quickly read through the installation instructions on the game adaptor. As far as I can tell, one of those will do what you're asking. You can even use WEP encryption if you do the settings manually (don't depend on the "Easy Setup" stuff). However, WEP isn't very secure. I personally would prefer WPA. However, AFAICT it should work. It's being marketed as a gaming console device only, but I would think it should let you use it for anything. I'm guessing it's set up only to do AP client and ad-hoc modes, rather than being a true bridge. The WET54G looks like it's a dual-band device, for one thing. I think the WGA54G is g-only. The WET54G has WPA. The WET54G also supports Power Over Ethernet, which you don't care about, but I'm noting differences that would account for the higher price. :) Looks like it also has some fancy WEP options that are irrelevant (probably won't drive the price up much though). ===== Note: This next bit assumes you are creating a new wireless ===== network, not tying into an existing one. But it might still be ===== relevant depending on the existing access point. I'm gonna toss another possibility into the mix. These are specialty devices, which logically should be cheaper and more powerful for the purpose. But they don't have the economy of scale of the WAPs. http://www.buy.com/retail/searchresults.asp?qu=WAP54G&search_store=1 Yes, that's an ordinary, cheap Linksys wireless acces point. Not even a router. It's the cheapest they seem to have unless you go with the WAP11, which is a possibility if you don't mind losing some of the security. The important bit is right here in the user document. Here's a link to their web site, first: http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?childpagename=US%2FLayout&pac kedargs=c%3DL_Product_C2%26cid%3D1126536803676&pagename=Linksys%2FComm on%2FVisitorWrapper Ooh, ugly. http://tinyurl.com/9d3gd Anyway, here's a quote from the manual. - - - - - Wireless Bridge. This mode connects two physically separated wired networks using two access points (use additional access points to connect more wired networks). This feature only works with another Wireless-G Access Point (model number: WAP54G). - - - - - So... you can bridge two WAP54G access points! There's also another mode that might work: - - - - - AP (Access Point) Client. When set to AP Client mode, the AP Client is able to talk to one remote access point within its range. This feature only works with another Wireless-G Access Point (model number: WAP54G). This mode allows the AP Client to act as a client of a remote access point. The AP Client cannot communicate directly with any wireless clients. A separate network attached to the AP Client can then be wirelessly bridged to the remote access point. To use this mode, select AP Client and enter the LAN MAC address of the remote access point in the Remote Access PointÂ’s LAN MAC Address field. If you do not know the remote access pointÂ’s MAC address, click the Site Survey button. Select the access point you want to use and click the Close button. If you do not see the access point you want, click the Refresh button to search for access points again. - - - - - Looks to me like the wireless bridge lets you connect two networks, while AP client lets you do the same thing while continuing to use the other access point as an access point for other clients. 1) If you're building your own wireless system from scratch, I'd use that. You have the options of later converting one or both access points to normal access point mode if you like, or selling them, or whatever. Bridges may be harder to sell. (Or maybe they'll sell just fine but get a higher price. Dunno.) In that case, if you're simply making a bridge, I'd use the bridge mode. Less insecure. This setup is much more versatile than using the bridges, includes both b and g, gives you WPA, lets you lock your MAC addresses and not broadcast SSID, and so on. The WAP11 only does 802.11b and WEP, but I believe everything else is still relevant, and it's $20 cheaper. Each. ===== 2) If you're tying into an existing wireless setup you can only do this if the AP you're tying into is the same model. Linksys will let you connect to another WAP54G but won't let you just bridge with anybody else, willy nilly. (I'm sure this is a marketing decision. They make more money by selling specialty devices and limiting their general-purpose devices' abilities.) Same with the WAP11, it will only let you tie into... well, here's what mine says: - - - - - When set to "Access Point Client", "Wireless Bridge" or "Wireless Bridge - Point to MultiPoint" mode, the device will only communicate with another WAP 11 ver. 2.6,WAP 11,WAP54G,WAP55AG,WRT54G or WRT55AG. - - - - - Your decision may very well hinge on what the existing access point can do, unless you don't care about the security, in which case the WGA54G will probably do just fine. _______________________________________________ vox-tech mailing list [email protected] http://lists.lugod.org/mailman/listinfo/vox-tech
