Recommendations for a Wireless Ethernet Bridge

I am interested in purchasing a Wireless Ethernet Bridge.

I want to use it with a free WiFi source (not my own).
I want to be able to connect a computer and an ATA - though I don't
mind using an additional router if necessary to get more LAN outputs.

I have looked at various makes/models on the Net.
I was interested in the high power Buffalo, it had many glowing
reports on amazon.com but, on another site reviews gave it an equal
'thumbs down' - that made me rather suspicious of amazon.com.
The only one that seems to get reasonable reviews, except for comments
on the difficulty of setting it up and it getting rather hot, is an
SMC model
(SMCWEBT-G 2.4GHz 108 Mbps Wireless Ethernet Bridge)

Any suggestions to suit my application?
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Brian A wrote:
> I am interested in purchasing a Wireless Ethernet Bridge.
>
> I want to use it with a free WiFi source (not my own).
> I want to be able to connect a computer and an ATA - though I don't
> mind using an additional router if necessary to get more LAN outputs.
>
> I have looked at various makes/models on the Net.
> I was interested in the high power Buffalo, it had many glowing
> reports on amazon.com but, on another site reviews gave it an equal
> 'thumbs down' - that made me rather suspicious of amazon.com.
> The only one that seems to get reasonable reviews, except for comments
> on the difficulty of setting it up and it getting rather hot, is an
> SMC model
> (SMCWEBT-G 2.4GHz 108 Mbps Wireless Ethernet Bridge)
>
> Any suggestions to suit my application?
> Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.

Personally I rate the Buffalo wireless APs/routers very highly. I work
in an old mill with very thick walls and once as a test I had a Linksys
AP sat a few meters away from me on the top floor with no walls in
between and the Buffalo as far away as possible in the basement. I
still got a stronger signal from the Buffalo. Also, since then the
Linksys AP seems to have just died and I can never connect to it anymore.

cheers,
Paul.

On Fri, 19 Jan 2007 09:40:07 +0000, Paul <nomailforme@polog40.org.uk>
wrote:

>Brian A wrote:
>> I am interested in purchasing a Wireless Ethernet Bridge.
>>
>> I want to use it with a free WiFi source (not my own).
>> I want to be able to connect a computer and an ATA - though I don't
>> mind using an additional router if necessary to get more LAN outputs.
>>
>> I have looked at various makes/models on the Net.
>> I was interested in the high power Buffalo, it had many glowing
>> reports on amazon.com but, on another site reviews gave it an equal
>> 'thumbs down' - that made me rather suspicious of amazon.com.
>> The only one that seems to get reasonable reviews, except for comments
>> on the difficulty of setting it up and it getting rather hot, is an
>> SMC model
>> (SMCWEBT-G 2.4GHz 108 Mbps Wireless Ethernet Bridge)
>>
>> Any suggestions to suit my application?
>> Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.
>
>Personally I rate the Buffalo wireless APs/routers very highly. I work
>in an old mill with very thick walls and once as a test I had a Linksys
>AP sat a few meters away from me on the top floor with no walls in
>between and the Buffalo as far away as possible in the basement. I
>still got a stronger signal from the Buffalo. Also, since then the
>Linksys AP seems to have just died and I can never connect to it anymore.
>
>cheers,
>Paul.
Thanks for your comments Paul.
The question that seemed to be raised was compatibilty with other
makes of 11g.

The model I was considering is the Buffalo WLI-TX4-G54HP High Power
Wireless Ethernet Bridge as shown here
http://tinyurl.com/2ktjkm
The reviews are certainly mixed.

Do you use WPA encryption satisfactorily on your Buffalo connection?

The application I want ot put this to is to receive a free WiFi signal
(settings currently unknown) on the Wireless Ethernet Bridge then
connect an ATA and laptop to the output of it - does this seem a
valid set up?


Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.

Brian A wrote:

> Do you use WPA encryption satisfactorily on your Buffalo connection?

I set one up in the pub that works fine.

> The application I want ot put this to is to receive a free WiFi signal
> (settings currently unknown) on the Wireless Ethernet Bridge then
> connect an ATA and laptop to the output of it - does this seem a
> valid set up?

Client mode with dd-wrt.com firmware would do that nicely, or WDS AP
bridge mode if the other end is comparible (no WPA with WDS though).

Buffalo PSU's don't fail anywhere near the rate Linksys ones do.

Phil

"Brian A" <no_spam_bca1000@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:7djvq219du4p4opd2da47adi6gjf52c2du@4ax.com...
>I am interested in purchasing a Wireless Ethernet Bridge.
>
> I want to use it with a free WiFi source (not my own).
> I want to be able to connect a computer and an ATA - though I don't
> mind using an additional router if necessary to get more LAN outputs.
>
> I have looked at various makes/models on the Net.
> I was interested in the high power Buffalo, it had many glowing
> reports on amazon.com but, on another site reviews gave it an equal
> 'thumbs down' - that made me rather suspicious of amazon.com.
> The only one that seems to get reasonable reviews, except for comments
> on the difficulty of setting it up and it getting rather hot, is an
> SMC model
> (SMCWEBT-G 2.4GHz 108 Mbps Wireless Ethernet Bridge)
>
> Any suggestions to suit my application?
> Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.

Fritzbox 7050 can do bridging, but I can't comment on reliability of the
connection, as I haven't used this. WLAN seems to work as you would expect
with ecryption etc.

Brian A wrote:
> Do you use WPA encryption satisfactorily on your Buffalo connection?

I use a buffalo WHR-HP-G54 wireless access point. Works very well with
WPA to my laptop?


You can turn them into bridge mode if required, so that they become a
wireless client.

I'm not sure whether the product you mentioned is the matching bridge.

It is worth pointing out that the Buffalo access point was a bit iffy
with its original firmware. Easily upgraded and much better. May
explain the mixed reviews.


> The application I want ot put this to is to receive a free WiFi signal
> (settings currently unknown) on the Wireless Ethernet Bridge then
> connect an ATA and laptop to the output of it - does this seem a
> valid set up?

When you say `free`, do you mean you are using somebody elses connection
without their permission?

Tim

On Fri, 19 Jan 2007 18:25:35 +0000, Tim <nutnews@kooky.org> wrote:

>Brian A wrote:
>> Do you use WPA encryption satisfactorily on your Buffalo connection?
>
>I use a buffalo WHR-HP-G54 wireless access point. Works very well with
>WPA to my laptop?
>
>
>You can turn them into bridge mode if required, so that they become a
>wireless client.
>
>I'm not sure whether the product you mentioned is the matching bridge.
>
>It is worth pointing out that the Buffalo access point was a bit iffy
>with its original firmware. Easily upgraded and much better. May
>explain the mixed reviews.
>
>
>> The application I want ot put this to is to receive a free WiFi signal
>> (settings currently unknown) on the Wireless Ethernet Bridge then
>> connect an ATA and laptop to the output of it - does this seem a
>> valid set up?
>
>When you say `free`, do you mean you are using somebody elses connection
>without their permission?
No, I wouldn't do that. This is something I want to experiment with in
view of using it with an officially free planned service which has yet
to be brought to fruitian.

Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.

On Fri, 19 Jan 2007 18:04:48 GMT, "Herman"
<whitehousemadhouse-2005@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

>
>"Brian A" <no_spam_bca1000@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>news:7djvq219du4p4opd2da47adi6gjf52c2du@4ax.com.. .
>>I am interested in purchasing a Wireless Ethernet Bridge.
>>
>> I want to use it with a free WiFi source (not my own).
>> I want to be able to connect a computer and an ATA - though I don't
>> mind using an additional router if necessary to get more LAN outputs.
>>
>> I have looked at various makes/models on the Net.
>> I was interested in the high power Buffalo, it had many glowing
>> reports on amazon.com but, on another site reviews gave it an equal
>> 'thumbs down' - that made me rather suspicious of amazon.com.
>> The only one that seems to get reasonable reviews, except for comments
>> on the difficulty of setting it up and it getting rather hot, is an
>> SMC model
>> (SMCWEBT-G 2.4GHz 108 Mbps Wireless Ethernet Bridge)
>>
>> Any suggestions to suit my application?
>> Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.
>
>Fritzbox 7050 can do bridging, but I can't comment on reliability of the
>connection, as I haven't used this. WLAN seems to work as you would expect
>with ecryption etc.
That is veeeeery interesting. I was consiedering buying a Fritzbox
anyway. Do you mean that I could simply use a Fritzbox and the VoIP
would work 'as is' without the use of an Ethernet Bridge?

Having said that I will have to make a good receiving aerial, probably
use a small, portable dish, so I won't be able to have the antenna
lead to long.

I did, originally, have the idea of using a WiFi USB dongle at the
antenna end, actually in the dish. I would then need some form of
converter from USB to ethernet. I am not so confident that that would
work, though it would be ideal if it would, but I might have some
muddled thinking there.
Anyone got any thoughts on that ?

Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.

On Fri, 19 Jan 2007 18:25:35 +0000, Tim <nutnews@kooky.org> wrote:

>Brian A wrote:
>> Do you use WPA encryption satisfactorily on your Buffalo connection?
>
>I use a buffalo WHR-HP-G54 wireless access point. Works very well with
>WPA to my laptop?
>
>
>You can turn them into bridge mode if required, so that they become a
>wireless client.
>
>I'm not sure whether the product you mentioned is the matching bridge.
>
>It is worth pointing out that the Buffalo access point was a bit iffy
>with its original firmware. Easily upgraded and much better. May
>explain the mixed reviews.
That is a very useful comment, thanks for that.


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On 19 Jan 2007 08:42:17 -0800, "PhilT" <newsnet@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>Brian A wrote:
>
>> Do you use WPA encryption satisfactorily on your Buffalo connection?
>
>I set one up in the pub that works fine.
>
>> The application I want ot put this to is to receive a free WiFi signal
>> (settings currently unknown) on the Wireless Ethernet Bridge then
>> connect an ATA and laptop to the output of it - does this seem a
>> valid set up?
>
>Client mode with dd-wrt.com firmware would do that nicely, or WDS AP
>bridge mode if the other end is comparible (no WPA with WDS though).
Looks interesting, thanks.

Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.

On Sat, 20 Jan 2007 11:05:41 GMT, Brian A
<no_spam_bca1000@hotmail.com> wrote:

>I did, originally, have the idea of using a WiFi USB dongle at the
>antenna end, actually in the dish. I would then need some form of
>converter from USB to ethernet. I am not so confident that that would
>work, though it would be ideal if it would, but I might have some
>muddled thinking there.
>Anyone got any thoughts on that ?

a laptop PC makes a good USB to ethernet converter :-)

Phil
--
Remember - Global Warming is only a weather forecast :-)

"Brian A" <no_spam_bca1000@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:kdt3r298qdd8f8f8locm82l8f4g1n5o1mg@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 19 Jan 2007 18:04:48 GMT, "Herman"
> <whitehousemadhouse-2005@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Brian A" <no_spam_bca1000@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>news:7djvq219du4p4opd2da47adi6gjf52c2du@4ax.com. ..
>>>I am interested in purchasing a Wireless Ethernet Bridge.
>>>
>>> I want to use it with a free WiFi source (not my own).
>>> I want to be able to connect a computer and an ATA - though I don't
>>> mind using an additional router if necessary to get more LAN outputs.
>>>
>>> I have looked at various makes/models on the Net.
>>> I was interested in the high power Buffalo, it had many glowing
>>> reports on amazon.com but, on another site reviews gave it an equal
>>> 'thumbs down' - that made me rather suspicious of amazon.com.
>>> The only one that seems to get reasonable reviews, except for comments
>>> on the difficulty of setting it up and it getting rather hot, is an
>>> SMC model
>>> (SMCWEBT-G 2.4GHz 108 Mbps Wireless Ethernet Bridge)
>>>
>>> Any suggestions to suit my application?
>>> Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.
>>
>>Fritzbox 7050 can do bridging, but I can't comment on reliability of the
>>connection, as I haven't used this. WLAN seems to work as you would
>>expect
>>with ecryption etc.
> That is veeeeery interesting. I was consiedering buying a Fritzbox
> anyway. Do you mean that I could simply use a Fritzbox and the VoIP
> would work 'as is' without the use of an Ethernet Bridge?

I *believe* so. On the WLAN configuration page, it allows you to set it up
as a repeater station (which would appear to be what you want) or as a base
station that allows repeater stations. However, I guess it depends how the
WiFi network you connect to is set up. If it is a private WiFi network
belonging to someone you know, then I guess it makes it more likely to be
workable as:
a) It will be less likely to have MAC address security for repeater
stations, or if it does, you will be more likely to be able to add the MAC
address because you know the system administrator.
b) It is potentially more secure. I don't believe the firewall of the
FritzBox will be protecting such a connection, because it will consider
itself an extension of an existing LAN. You will therefore need to assure
yourself of the security of the network you're connecting to, but assuming
you can do this, it would seem to be more secure.

I am assuming that the FritzBox will then work like a switch, routing
internet traffic including VoIP over WLAN, but again I do not have the
opportunity to test it. I would recommend being sure this is the case
before buying. There are a couple of bugs in some features (notably dodgy
DTMF recognition for callthrough and no 3 way calling) so well worth
checking.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention to make sure QoS is available, but then you'd
probably already considered that.

Perhaps somebody else with one of the FritzBoxes with WiFi has a bit more
experience?