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.

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

>Brian A wrote: 
>
>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?


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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

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"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.

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

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

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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... 
>
>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 ?

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

>Brian A wrote: 
>
>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:
> 
>
>I set one up in the pub that works fine.
> 
>
>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.

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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 :-)

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