B@man
02-15-2005, 11:07 PM
I am setting up an Internet access center for a senior's home and I'm having a bit of a problem...
In the city where I'm located there is a broadband wireless network available which provides Internet access to anyone with a wireless NIC. This is free for public use.
All the workstations have a wireless NIC and have no problem connecting to this network (the Fred e-zone) for Internet access.
The problem is that these workstations need to be setup on a peer-to-peer so they can share printers and the occasional file. The coordinator for the access center bought a wireless-g router (INEXQ) for this purpose before I came into the picture.
What I am trying to do is to somehow bridge the existing wireless network into the wireless router, so that all clients can be connected on a LAN and at the same time have Internet access.
I spoke to someone at the city helpdesk and he told me all I needed to do was get a D-link DWL-2200AP wireless access point, which also has a ap-to-bridge mode and a repeater mode. He said to set the D-link up as a repeater, enter the MAC of the AP with the strongest signal, and then plug the D-Link into the WAN port of the router. The router will then have it's Internet access from the D-Link, similar to a cable/dsl connection, and it will provide this Internet connectivity along with LAN connectivity to the wireless clients.
Well it turns out that the guy at the helpdesk is probably a moron, because this does not work. After doing some research, the D-Link will only repeat from D-Link AP's and will only bridge from very specific D-Link bridges. The city is using Cisco equipment for their AP's so the D-Link idea is completely useless...
My question is this: is it even possible to do this? Is there an affordable device out there that will bridge the wireless Internet to the wireless LAN provided by the router without getting into high-end equipment.
If anyone has any ideas or recommendations it would be appreciated.
Thanks...
In the city where I'm located there is a broadband wireless network available which provides Internet access to anyone with a wireless NIC. This is free for public use.
All the workstations have a wireless NIC and have no problem connecting to this network (the Fred e-zone) for Internet access.
The problem is that these workstations need to be setup on a peer-to-peer so they can share printers and the occasional file. The coordinator for the access center bought a wireless-g router (INEXQ) for this purpose before I came into the picture.
What I am trying to do is to somehow bridge the existing wireless network into the wireless router, so that all clients can be connected on a LAN and at the same time have Internet access.
I spoke to someone at the city helpdesk and he told me all I needed to do was get a D-link DWL-2200AP wireless access point, which also has a ap-to-bridge mode and a repeater mode. He said to set the D-link up as a repeater, enter the MAC of the AP with the strongest signal, and then plug the D-Link into the WAN port of the router. The router will then have it's Internet access from the D-Link, similar to a cable/dsl connection, and it will provide this Internet connectivity along with LAN connectivity to the wireless clients.
Well it turns out that the guy at the helpdesk is probably a moron, because this does not work. After doing some research, the D-Link will only repeat from D-Link AP's and will only bridge from very specific D-Link bridges. The city is using Cisco equipment for their AP's so the D-Link idea is completely useless...
My question is this: is it even possible to do this? Is there an affordable device out there that will bridge the wireless Internet to the wireless LAN provided by the router without getting into high-end equipment.
If anyone has any ideas or recommendations it would be appreciated.
Thanks...