"The Walrus" <nospam@please.com> hath wroth:
>I've learned enough that I could comfortably recommend the WRT54G and
>WRT54GS routers for people in small- to medium-sized one story homes or
>apartments. My house is a tad too long from one end to the other without
>help from a range extender. I can say that the boost you get from a WRE54G
>range extender is good only to within 15-20 of the PC, and it isn't worth a
>shit going through walls. There has to be something better.
Since you're apparently selling this problem as a solution, allow me
to offer some free experience:
RANGE EXTENDERS AND REPEATERS SUCK
A marginal exception are WDS bridges (repeaters), which the WRE54G
sorta emulates. I consider repeaters to be no better than jammers. I
also consider store and forward (single channel) wi-fi mesh networks
in the same class. They all double the amount of airtime used by a
given system. This leaves less airtime for other users who have to
share the same airspace and channel. In addition, the lack of
sufficiently detailed standards and zero Wi-Fi certification for
repeaters, results in some rather rotten implimentations. I've spent
considerable effort trying to make them work including MAC level
parameter hacking trying to get the timing correct and staring at a
protocol analyzer all day. I could make it work for some
configurations, with some access points, at some speeds, and during
some phase of the moon, but there was no way I could conjur something
that would work under all conditions.
There is also the not so minor problem of a 50% minimum slowdown of
maximum thruput speed in such a repeater (or mesh system). Some light
reading.... bug me if you want details:
<http://he-colo.netgate.com/archives/00000072.htm>
<http://wifinetnews.com/archives/003972.html>
<http://black.csl.uiuc.edu/~prkumar/ps_files/exp.pdf>
Note that a repeater is just a two hop mesh network. Most users will
not notice the speed loss unless they are running at fairly slow
wireless speeds and have a fairly slow DSL connection. For example, a
1.5Mbit/sec DSL line will run without slowdown with a repeater down to
a wireless connection speed of about 6Mbits/sec. However, the latest
burstable cable modems running at 15Mbits/sec will require 60Mbits/sec
through a repeater which just isn't possible with todays wireless
devices.
In addition, there are alternatives that work well and can be sold
without doing battle with repeaters. Those are power line, phone
line, CATV coax, and fiber optics. Install one at the other end of
the house and you're done.
Power Line networking:
<http://www.homeplug.com>
Phone line networking:
<http://www.homepna.com>
CATV coax sharing:
<http://www.coaxsys.com>
<http://www.multilet.com>
<http://www.mocalliance.org> (sorta, maybe)
If you can run CAT5, simply installing a 2nd access point at the other
end of the house on a different channel is probably the best solution.
There are also aftermarket antennas, which will tailor the pattern to
the shape of the house and coverage area. However, for multiple
floors, I usually put one access point on each floor rather because
antennas with sufficient horizontal pattern do so at the expense of
vertical pattern. If you want to go cheap, there's also reflectors:
<http://www.freeantennas.com>
Anyway, given the problems and available alternatives, I suggest you
give up on selling repeaters as solutions.
--
Jeff Liebermann
jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
WRE54G Latest Firmware? 
Linear Mode
