|
In this guide we had in mind to show how you can link together 2 accesspoints through WDS bridging.
Pros with WDS
- |
Possible to use the accesspoints wireless and through cable at the same time they are linked together.
|
- |
The accesspoints can form one large network. |
Cons with WDS
- |
Compability issues between different manufacturers. |
- |
Performance issues with WDS due to it uses one channel for all linking. The possible wireless speed will be divided with number of WDS accesspoints in the network.
|
First we do an checklist of what you need to do a successfull WDS link.
Accesspoints
You will need 2 accesspoints to do an standalone linkingstation.
There will be certain requirements on the functionality of these accesspoints. They will need following:
- |
Antenna connector (Detachable original antenna) this is good if you want do to a long range link of 100m and more. |
- |
Support for WDS bridging or Client mode (Possible to use client mode for easy non WDS linking) |
- |
802.11G (54 Mbit) / SuperG (108 Mbit)
or another standard that use 1 detachable antenna / Accesspunkt (not MiMo / 11n). So you easy can mount an antenna of your choice for long range links. |
Most of the accesspoints today have similar configuration for WDS, we will in this guide show how to setup an Planex GW-AP54SP for WDS use.
Click to make the picture larger
Most of the reasons why someone want to use WDS linking is to share an internet connection on greater distances than a ordinary network cable will accept. We will use pictures from an Planex GW-AP54SP as example. Most of the manufacturers today have similar settings for WDS. The only thing thats usually different is the webinterface.
1. Check what hardware adresses (MAC) there is on Accesspoint 1 and Accesspoint 2
The first thing you need to know is what hardware adress (MAC-adress) your accesspoints have on the wireless interface.
Accesspoint 1 have hardware adress
00:90:cc:cd:10:02 on the wireless interface. Check the same thing on Accesspoint 2 and write it down, in our case it will be 00:90:cc:cd:05:02.
2. Configure Accesspoint 1
We must setup the configuration for Accesspoint 1 first.
Choose bridge mode and then click Apply, on certain Accesspoints this function can also be namned WDS Bridge mode or just WDS.
Some Accesspoints can also have Point to Multipoint bridging, thats actually the same thing but the link goes from one to multiple Accesspoints.
In Accesspoint 1 webinterface we put the MAC adress of Accesspoint 2 got on its wireless interface.
Do exactly the same thing on Accesspoint 2 webinterface, but there you put MAC adress of Accesspoint 1 wireless interface. Its also possible to set encryption of the network by choosing the security tab.
3. Connect the network and test if you can get an IP adress through the wireless link from the Router
There where no troubly at all to get an DHCP IP adress assigned from the router to PC1.
|
Categories
