Bridge---->Extender too??

[Qwertyman]

I was looking at this article on anandtech (forgive me): http://forums.anandtech.com/message...eyword=&STARTPAGE=1&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

I knew that a WRT54G could do it before, but now I really want to try it.

Now my question is, if you do setup a bridge will it also act as an extender or will just be a simple bridge just with more ports for connectivity?

Thanks.

 

[QwertyJuan]

I know the dlink bridges just LINK.... and give no wireless access..... not sure about Linksys.

QJ

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Yes if your router and firmware supports "WDS"....it can truely act as a wireless repeater/booster. However...your throughput gets cut in 1/2 with this mode.

Experiment with hyper-wrt and even better...dd-wrt, on your wrt54g (long as its version 1-4...not 5)

 

[Qwertyman]

i'm looking at WRT54G V4, i have around 2.2 with sveasoft and its working well so far (knock on wood.)

If anything I'm going to do DD-WRT v23 with WDS, but the 1/2 throughput what exactly does that mean? If I'm downloading a file whose connected wirelessly to the network does it download half as slow or something else?

Also WDS is a bridge and extender right? b/c i want to set it up upstairs, connect a cat5 cable from the bridge to my ps2 and have the "cool" extender capabilities at the same time.

Thanks very much for your help.

 

[amenthes]

If anything I'm going to do DD-WRT v23 with WDS, but the 1/2 throughput what exactly does that mean? If I'm downloading a file whose connected wirelessly to the network does it download half as slow or something else?

Half throughput would affect your speed copying files across the LAN, but shouldn't make a difference downloading from the internet, since you'll likely still be transmitting at multi-megabit speeds on your WLAN (unless you have a ridiculously fast Internet connection).

When you use an access point as a repeater, its basically sending and receiving any data that comes to it twice. Thats a little oversimplified, but it gets the point across. Since most APs only have one radio in them, this cuts your throughput in half.

There are newer APs and specifically designed repeaters that utilize two or more radios to eliminate this problem. I know Linksys makes a few.

 

[0ldman]

Bridge doesn't really hit bandwidth by half, I'll test it today if I get the chance.

Repeater does hit the bandwidth.

Linksys APs in bridge mode do not broadcast an SSID or are even seen by Netstumbler.