Hi Guys,

I'm getting really confused - I can't find a simple step to step guide regarding using the AP 700 as a unversial repeater, just to extend the wireless signal.

I'm using the Draytek 2820n at mo and have bought 4 wireless AP700 - can someone advise please if possible.

All access points AP700 will have a network cable connecting to them.

Thanks
Geoff

If I have understood your requirements then you simply want to extend the coverage of the wireless to a whole area. If that is the case it is a reasonably simple case of seeting all the APs and router to the same SSID and wireless security settings. Then the only thing to play with is the wireless channel number of each of the stations. Where possible these should not be duplicated but if they have to be then they should be as physically far appart as possible to prevent them interferring with each other.

inSSIDer
http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/?utm_expid=190328-1&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dinssider%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D1%26ved%3D0CF8QFjAA%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.metageek.net%252Fproducts%252Finssider%252F%26ei%3DlgXeT-nNNerb0QW2pZmGCw%26usg%3DAFQjCNGFqYFjIImVp8ZAVgD5ECVjr_yxug
is a realy good tool in helping you spread you channels and helping you choose ones that do not overlap others

ok thanks for the valid input I've connected all the access points up. but how do I get the device to connect to another one automatically.

For example

AP 1 SSID ilex is in the kitchen the ipad connects to this fine - I walk out to the garden, another point is out there in the summer house. however because it still can see the kitchen roughly 5/10% strength it does't jump automatically onto the one in the summer house. - Is there a setting I need to set, to force the device to another AP.

On all access points I'm using unversial repeater setting.

Thanks for your help in advance

Hi

This is an issue often called the 'bug-light syndrome' as 802.11 doesn't really handle handovers very well. Very roughly speaking, with a GSM phone, the phone notes any other sites and their relative signal strengths (I think it tracks a maximum of about 4 sites) and then it tells the network which site it would like to use. The connection is set up in the network and then the handover takes place. Of course, the handover could be between sector antennas (and thus transceivers) on the same site (if you're driving round it in a big circle). So handovers on the mobile network are very well orchestrated (as it was designed with handovers as a key part of the system functionality).

With 802.11, the handover is entirely up to the client, and whilst some things are pretty good, other things are terrible! I've tried an experiment with three Cisco 1252 WAP's; one in my front room, another in the middle of the house (i.e. my main one) and a third on the back room window ledge (all set to minimum power and with the antennas tucked down to make coverage as poor as possible). With several different devices, I then walked from the front street, through the house and out the back garden and over my back wall (this vastly confused my neighbours). My Samsung Q1 Win XP tablet was really well behaved and roamed between the three WAPs. My old HP 214 PDA hung on like grim death and only changed over when the signal actually failed (I was standing right next to a WAP when it was trying its best to hang on to the distant one) and my Android phone worked pretty well.

The other issue some things have is that they don't change rates to suit signal conditions. Again, the HP-214 PDA was terrible in that it was trying to work at 54 MB when it should have throttled back to a lower rate. Going back to a single WAP, it struggled at 54MB, then when the signal dropped out, it reconnected at 6 MB. Of course, it didn't have the intelligence to realise it could adapt to a higher rate when things got better; it still remained on 6 MB even when it was placed right next to the WAP! The Samsung Q1 managed it really well; it throttled down and up as signal levels weakened and strengthened again.

Back to the handover situation; I believe an Inter Access Point Protocol (IAPP) was introduced to help traffic handover go more smoothly when it does hand over, but the client is still in control of when it hands over (and thus this doesn't help with the bug-light syndrome). I think IAPP was proposed after some vendors had implemented their own solutions, so there's no guarantee it'll work in mixed vendor environments. I don't know what Draytek use (if anything) when adding a Deaytek WAP to a Draytek wireless router (it would be interesting if anyone can chip in with that information).

---oops, I've exceeded the character limit, so I'll post the second half in a second---

---continued from above---

I have heard that on some managed wireless network systems (i.e. where you have 'dumb' WAP's and an 'intelligent' wireless server) handovers can be improved. I'm not sure how these systems achieve this (as I've never been asked to install one) but my guess is they might do it by chucking a client off a weak WAP and thus pushing it into re-associating with the stronger one. As I say, that's a guess, but I can't see how else they can do it when you consider that it's the client that's normally in charge of taking that decision.

Hope that's of some interest and apologies if there are any inaccuracies in the text. I looked into all this a long time back and things might have changed with more modern devices. I now use 802.11 VoIP on an old iPhone 3Gs without any SIM (I use Draytel, of course) and it seems to have a really great 802.11 radio (very sensitive receiver) and makes a great VoIP handset. My plan is to set up some WAPs again and see if I can achieve a WAP handover without dropping a VoIP call, but realistically, I think the chances of that working are pretty slim!!

Bri