• Can I avoid the problems of a mixed-mode wireless LAN by setting up separate 11b-only and 11g-only access points?

This technique will minimize, but not entirely eliminate interference between the two flavours of wireless LANs. However, it's practical only for wireless LANs with only a single access point due to the small number of non-interfering channels available with 11b and 11g.

You'll need to do the following to set this up:
- Use only channels 1, 6, or 11 and set the 11b and 11g APs to different channels.
- Disable 11b protection on the 11g-only AP (this is frequently called 11g-only mode)
- Set each AP to a different SSID (not essential, but helps for troubleshooting purposes)

You will still get some potential throughput hit from clients when they transmit Probe Requests on all channels in the process of finding the AP that they want to associate with. But since 11b protection is disabled on the 11g AP, throughput loss will come from re-transmissions due to packet collisions and not speed reduction from the protection mechanism kicking in.

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• Can I bridge a wireless router even if it doesn't have built-in bridging?

Sure. Using a Wireless to Ethernet bridge or adapter set to Infrastructure mode should allow you to wirelessly connect your router's wired LAN to a remote wired network. Since bridging methodology tends to vary, you're probably best to stick with bridges from the same manufacturer. For example, if you want to bridge a Linksys WRT54G router, use a WET11 or WET54G.

For more info see the TomsNetworking Wireless Bridging NeedToKnow.

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• Can I use two wireless routers in the same network?

You can, but since each router creates a separate subnet, file and printer sharing won't work properly.

Use an Access Point to extend range, or you can configure the second router to act as an access point. See this FAQ for the how-to.

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• How do I configure multiple Access Points to expand my wireless coverage?

Here are the basic steps for an Ethernet-based network that has a single router with a DHCP server:

1) Connect each access point (AP) to the Ethernet LAN. If any of the APs has a built-in DHCP server, disable it.

2) Assign each AP a static IP address in your LANs subnet. This will ensure that you always know where to reach them for admin purposes. Use IP addresses starting at the top of your network's range, so that your static IP's don't conflict with the addresses assigned by your router's DHCP server. For example, if your LANs computers have IP addresses 192.168.0.10, 192.168.0.11, etc. assign the access points' addresses as 192.168.0.254, 192.168.0.253, etc.

3) Set each AP to a different channel, using channels 1, 6 and 11. If you have the APs set to the same channel, they will interfere with each other, possibly causing worse performance.

4) Assign the same SSID (also known as ESSID) to each AP.

5) If your are using WEP, enter the same WEP keys in each AP.

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• How do you set the channel on a wireless card that is using Infrastructure mode (connected to an access point)?

You don't. The channel that the card uses is automatically set when the card associates to an access point.

If you want your wireless LAN to work on a different channel, set the desired channel on the access point.

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• Do adapters exist to convert a USB device into a *wireless* USB device?

If by "device" you don't mean a computer, then no, none that we're aware of as of January 2004.

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• Can I substitute an access point that supports wireless bridging for a dedicated wireless bridge device?

Maybe. If all products support WDS-based bridging, you'll probably be able to get products from different manufacturers to work, provided that you can figure out the screwy bridging settings that most products have.

If the AP you're trying to substitute does not support WDS, but does support "AP Client" mode, you might be able to connect to a standard AP or wireless router. But the AP in AP Client mode will probably support only a single attached device.

Finally, if the AP you're trying to use supports bridging, but isn't WDS-based and doesn't support "AP Client" mode, you'd better use it only with an AP made by the same manufacturer. And even then, no guarantees that it will work!

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