What is a wireless repeater?

I was under the impression that I could buy a wireless repeater, stick it somewhere in my house, and my reception would increase in dead spots.

After reading a review on ZDNet, I am now under the impression that you must connect the repeater to a wired network or access point for it to be of any use. Here's a quote: Throughput will be cut in half when you enable WDS and use the device as a repeater among other Buffalo AirStations, because in this configuration, the radio must not only receive but also retransmit each individual data packet. Still, the repeater should have bandwidth enough to spare for most applications, even with WDS enabled.

Well, then is WDS what I think a plain-old repeater is?

Here is the review:

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Reply to
Chris
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Well, I'm not the authority on marketing terminology versus creative technical terms, but methinks a (store and forward) repeater is usually a stand alone device. No LAN cable gets plugged in or wireless device connects directly to the repeater. Just an antenna and power. It sits there, repeating everything it hears (after filtering) to wireless clients.

Meanwhile, a WDS (wireless distribution something) allows access points to simultaneously act as a transparent bridge between compatible access points, and to allow clients to connect to it. Therefore it simultaneously acts as a repeater of sorts and an access point while allowing access points to talk to each other. Repeaters do not allow access points to talk to each other, so methinks that's the major distinction.

Incidentally, *ALL* these wireless devices (access points and clients) are bridges, which makes the term "bridge" about as useful as "automobile" in describing a specific function.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Here's how I think it works:

Access point is at point A, repeater is at point B, computer is at point C.

Point C is too far away to reach point A, but point B can be reached from point C and point A. So the repeater at point B just receives whatever is transmitted at point A and retransmits it to point C. Right?

Reply to
Chris

Buffalo seems to use the terms "repeater" and "bridge/repeater mode" as synonyms with "WDS". Exactly what other manufacturers mean by "repeater"

-- or any other term -- is anybody's guess, as the wireless networking industry is somewhat of a Humpty Dumpty world. Whatever the nomenclature, a dead spot is a dead spot, and a bridge/repeater (or whatever) won't necessarily work any better in it than a client wireless card. You can try an antenna, especially a directional one, at one or both ends of the link, but don't expect miracles.

WDS does not require a wired connection to anything; but, as the review points out, WDS shares the capacity of a single wireless channel/network, and 802.11 doesn't transmit and receive at the same time. The Buffalo units can service wireless clients while they are also acting as WDS "bridges/repeaters"; but again, capacity is shared among client and WDS traffic.

Better to get product information straight from the manufacturer: .

BTW, Buffalo's products can do WDS with Apple's Extreme and Express base stations, but they do not yet support WPA with WDS.

Reply to
Neill Massello

Okay. But it appears that this only works with Buffalo access points. My access point is made by Linksys, so will this work?

Reply to
Chris

Okay. But it appears that this only works with Buffalo access points. My access point is made by Linksys, so will this work?

Reply to
Chris

Yes. If the computer at C is just a wireless client (as is typical), the device at B will have to service wireless clients in addition to relaying back to A. To do this with Buffalo hardware, you just enable WDS on the devices at A and B (telling each the other's wireless MAC address and giving both the same channel and WEP key) and permit the device at B to allow clients. In effect, you then have two access points that are also connected to each other via a wireless "uplink".

Reply to
Neill Massello

No. One of the drawbacks of WDS is that it's not standardized and generally only works between devices made by the same manufacturer. The Buffalo and Apple base stations can do WDS together, and there may be other pairs of brands/models that do; but you'll probably have to get another Linksys box -- assuming the one you already have can do WDS.

Reply to
Neill Massello

Hi all,

After lots of trial and error the only repeater that I could get to work as advertised is the D-link DWL-800AP+. I tried a few others and they advertised that they were repeaters, but mostly they were network bridges. The 800AP+ with the current firmware works just as advertised. Just add the LAN mac address (not the wireless mac) of the wireless router and off you go. I've connected up to the neighbors Linksys with no problems at all.

Good luck

Dave

Neill Massello wrote:

Reply to
tes

Wait, I'm confused. So if I do not have a Buffalo AP, then the "repeater" simply allows me to connect a switch or hub to an existing wireless network? Or is the repeater an access point, allowing me to add wireless users to an existing Ethernet network?

Reply to
Chris

As I and other respondents in this thread have indicated, you can't just rely on labels like "repeater": you have to drill down into the product literature and user reports for a specific make and model to find out what functions it can perform. The particular Buffalo product referred to in your original post can *not* connect to an existing *wireless* network other than in WDS mode. That means it can *not* connect to a wireless network created by a Linksys product.

Any access point of any make can bridge an Ethernet network to the wireless network it creates. You can have multiple APs of different manufacture all connected to the same Ethernet physical network, but each AP will be creating a separate *wireless* physical network that will onyl be "connected" to the other wireless networks by virtue of the Ethernet cables running between the APs. In the world of broadcasting, those radio devices would indeed be called repeaters. In the world of wireless networking, they're just multiple access points; and such an arrangement -- multiple wireless networks bridged to a single Ethernet network -- is not referred to as WDS but as "roaming".

Reply to
Neill Massello

Okay I get it now. Unless I have the Buffalo router, the only way the Buffalo repeater is useful to me is if I run a Cat 5 cable all the way downstairs to where my laptop will be. Then I will have two devices that allow me to connect to the same wireless network.

Reply to
Chris

Okay, I decided to give the D-Link DWL-G800AP a shot.

"The 800AP+ with the current firmware works just as advertised. Just add the LAN mac address (not the wireless mac) of the wireless router and off you go."

I don't see a place in the configuration to input a MAC address of any kind. It just asks for the SSID and WEP key. How did you configure yours?

Reply to
Chris

It's in the "WIRELESS" screen where it asks for the "remote AP MAC". i'll email you the screen shot if your email address is valid.

Dave

Chris wrote:

Reply to
tes

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