I'm a pretty technical person and have been dealing with PCs and networks for 20 years. I'm not an expert with wireless networks but I'm not a novice either. But in this case I need some input and a thorough discussion before I go jacking with my whole wireless network because I know I could end up wasting a serious amount of time.
Here is a description of my residence and equipment location:
Upstairs - Home Office:
Cable Modem
Linksys WRT310N Router (using WEP... I know! I know! I'm wanting to move to WPA2 which is part of the purpose of this discussion)
Wired: Netgear ReadyNAS NV+
Linksys Wireless G Print Server for an HP LJ 1200
Desktop PC
MacBook Pro 17" Unibody (when sitting in office)
Wireless: HP Photosmart C6150 Wireless G
Downstairs: - Living & Kitchen Area
No real equipment here; however I have a MacBook Pro that I take from my office and my fiancee's MacBook that we use to access the network via wireless from the couch and her office.
Basement:
Linksys WAP54G AP in Repeater Mode
XBOX360 via Wireless Adapter
Here is my situation:
It isn't possible to get a wired connection from upstairs to the basement access point. Thus I know that bandwidth already sucks down there because using the AP in repeater modes halves my capacity to around 27Mbps. However, for gaming purposes and streaming photos and music from the Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ this has been sufficient. Obviously, it isn't sufficient for streaming video content which would be a great bonus but I don't see it happening without a wired connection.
I need my fiancee to be able to run backups to the ReadyNAS via wireless from the downstairs living area and her office (of which it is also not feasible to have a wired connection). I also do a lot of large file transfers to and from the NAS wirelessly and have grown tired of dealing with the 54Mbps G bottleneck.
That being said... because Microsoft is too lame to create a freakin' wireless N adapter for the XBOX 360 console and because I have two printers that are G i'm stuck with G clients.
I understand the common recommendation is to separate the G and N networks. Knowing that I need to get off WEP and onto WPA2 to achieve N speeds for the wireless laptop connections but I still need a G WIRELESS network to get a connection down to the XBOX in the basement and the printers.
Obviously the NAS and the N laptops would be running on the WRT310N but I am thinking of configuring an older WRT54G as a downstream AP. I have a couple basic questions before moving forward. I've seen the tutorials on configuring an old router by disabling the DHCP and wireless radio and setting it to a static IP address outside of the upstream DHCP.
1) Do I have to disable the wireless radio? I'd still need this to get a signal to the WAP54G in the basement for XBOX connectivity.
2) Would I have to have two separate SSIDs, one for the N and one for the G?
3) If I do need two seperate SSIDs how can I ensure that all devices (i.e. the XBOX in the basement can still hit the NAS on the N network, i.e. the laptops connected to the N network can still print to the printers on the G network)?
4) Obviously the WRT54G would be wired into the upstairs home office. Can I expect problems due to the close proximity of two wireless networks?
I have prepared both .png image and a Visio diagram of my current setup. I realize this is a lengthy post the but right advice can save me tons of hassle and I'd greatly appreciate any input.
You can view the .png and Visio Diagram from my iDisk at:
http://public.me.com/radesix
If you really don't have anything better to do... feel free to update my Visio diagram!
Thanks in advance for your expertise!
radesix
Here is a description of my residence and equipment location:
Upstairs - Home Office:
Cable Modem
Linksys WRT310N Router (using WEP... I know! I know! I'm wanting to move to WPA2 which is part of the purpose of this discussion)
Wired: Netgear ReadyNAS NV+
Linksys Wireless G Print Server for an HP LJ 1200
Desktop PC
MacBook Pro 17" Unibody (when sitting in office)
Wireless: HP Photosmart C6150 Wireless G
Downstairs: - Living & Kitchen Area
No real equipment here; however I have a MacBook Pro that I take from my office and my fiancee's MacBook that we use to access the network via wireless from the couch and her office.
Basement:
Linksys WAP54G AP in Repeater Mode
XBOX360 via Wireless Adapter
Here is my situation:
It isn't possible to get a wired connection from upstairs to the basement access point. Thus I know that bandwidth already sucks down there because using the AP in repeater modes halves my capacity to around 27Mbps. However, for gaming purposes and streaming photos and music from the Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ this has been sufficient. Obviously, it isn't sufficient for streaming video content which would be a great bonus but I don't see it happening without a wired connection.
I need my fiancee to be able to run backups to the ReadyNAS via wireless from the downstairs living area and her office (of which it is also not feasible to have a wired connection). I also do a lot of large file transfers to and from the NAS wirelessly and have grown tired of dealing with the 54Mbps G bottleneck.
That being said... because Microsoft is too lame to create a freakin' wireless N adapter for the XBOX 360 console and because I have two printers that are G i'm stuck with G clients.
I understand the common recommendation is to separate the G and N networks. Knowing that I need to get off WEP and onto WPA2 to achieve N speeds for the wireless laptop connections but I still need a G WIRELESS network to get a connection down to the XBOX in the basement and the printers.
Obviously the NAS and the N laptops would be running on the WRT310N but I am thinking of configuring an older WRT54G as a downstream AP. I have a couple basic questions before moving forward. I've seen the tutorials on configuring an old router by disabling the DHCP and wireless radio and setting it to a static IP address outside of the upstream DHCP.
1) Do I have to disable the wireless radio? I'd still need this to get a signal to the WAP54G in the basement for XBOX connectivity.
2) Would I have to have two separate SSIDs, one for the N and one for the G?
3) If I do need two seperate SSIDs how can I ensure that all devices (i.e. the XBOX in the basement can still hit the NAS on the N network, i.e. the laptops connected to the N network can still print to the printers on the G network)?
4) Obviously the WRT54G would be wired into the upstairs home office. Can I expect problems due to the close proximity of two wireless networks?
I have prepared both .png image and a Visio diagram of my current setup. I realize this is a lengthy post the but right advice can save me tons of hassle and I'd greatly appreciate any input.
You can view the .png and Visio Diagram from my iDisk at:
http://public.me.com/radesix
If you really don't have anything better to do... feel free to update my Visio diagram!
Thanks in advance for your expertise!
radesix