wireless signal strength and coverage (what solution?)

long standing problem -

1 belkin router downstairs, often used wired to laptop.
...take laptop upstairs, wireless signal weakens.
adequate signal strength gained from changing from 54b+g mode to 11b only.

new situation
i bought a new speedtouch 585 router, and that is now getting max adsl (or it will when it goes live next week).
...the same situation with the signal strength applies as before.

i wondered if and how i could incorporate the old belkin f5d7632 as a repeater.

a bit of messing about and the ST found the belkin SSID during "WDS search for access points."
the radio channel is the same for both routers, and security if off at the moment.
i had already given the belkin an ip in the 192.168.1.*** range (like the ST) and a different SSID than the ST (ive read conflicting advice on this point, but tried giving same SSID also).
i can get the signal from belkin to laptop, and access the belkin router webpage, but i was under the impression i should be able to access the whole 192.168.1.*** network, ie be able to access 1st router (ST) from laptop when connected to belkin SSID (which i thought would access the ST's SSID).

should i purchase a repeater for this job, and accept defeat (ie, this isnt gonna work)?

is there some flaw in the way i've tried to set this up, or understood it, or have i missed anything important?

or should i look out for a better wireless adapter (the one i'm using is belkin f5d7011 125Mbps)?

thanks in advance.

Edited by chainsmoker (Mon 02-Oct-06 01:59:56)

Bunch of troubles here as I see it.

1. Belkin kit doesn't like talking to other stuff much. Often folks with Belkin cards can only get a reliable connection to a Belkin router, and I wouldn't be surprised if the same didn't happen in reverse with your setup.

2. WDS often won't talk to anything but the same kit, and both ends need to support it too. Again, read plenty of folks who gave up and just boought matching kit.

3. If you are running WDS, surely the second access point is just a client and should be set either as a DHCP client or as having no IP at all. You will also need to turn off its DHCP as the IP's should be coming from "downstairs" and not from the "upstairs" router. This should be in effect "dumb" i.e. a wireless card with an ethernet socket.

Hope some of this helps.

thanks PeteK

1: i hope the belkin will continue to pick up the ST's signal (not being any worse or better than when i used the belkin).

2: i've seen somewhere there's an ST repeater, not sure if it has been discontinued.

3: Haven't tried taking the ip away altogether from the belkin (and this would be like changing the router's mode, but that's probably not supported), not sure if it's possible but will have a look. dhcp is off (forgot to mention that). Anyway, i never use dhcp as i had a bad experience with some automatic address, so that i had to format the computer a while back. i always use static ips internally now.

as far as i can see, the belkin's lan part can't be switched off for some other mode (like access point), it isn't supported.
it is after all a gateway not an access point.

i am unsure whether it is acting as an access point, because now i have given both routers the same SSID and same channel, and while moving the lapdancer around the house, it is connecting to the different routers, ie. when downstairs i can access the ST web setup and when upstairs i can access the belkin web setup. whichever one i am closest to, i can not access the other.

having not gone live on adsl yet, i can't know if i can get the internet upstairs (or down for that matter).

time, or someone who knows, will tell.

Just pinging the interal IP of the router attached to your (non) adsl should prove if you are getting thru. If they are on the same SSID then i fear you are just flipping between the two points, much as my staff do in a large office with two identically configured AP's (but connected via cat-5 to server room)

If the second point was running WDS I am pretty sure that once youve added the mac address and ssid of the "master" router to it, it kind of vanishes, merely acting as a dumb "relay" station and you wouldn't be able to see it in itself at all.

afaik the belkin isn't a wds supported router.
i have been looking around for wireless repeaters and they are a bit thin on the ground, but unsure if any of them will do the job properly ie, interact with my ST585 and extend the range of the signal. i checked out the ST180 and it is discontinued, i wonder why.

does anyone here have a working gateway and wireless repeater set up?

Linksys works fine as router and client (well as well as Linksys stuff ever does...!)

i gave up on the idea of using a repeater...

reason 1: that it might not work and thereby not justify the expense

reason 2: the expense!

however, i have increased the tx power from the 585 router and for the first time ever,

i have seen "signal: excellent" in the upstairs room, and an snr of a whopping 41!

the snr fluctuates between 30 and 41. good enough for me.

i used a value of 120 (mW) in the cli by telnetting the router. actually started off at 50

and worked up until i saw improvement. 120mW is almost 21dB, so the routers power

is only slightly higher than a wireless network card at 100% (eg, a belkin fd57011).

i've done some heavy downloading tonight, and the router isn't getting noticably hot, so i'll

see how it goes - but it's looking safe.

thanks Petek again for your suggestions.