OT: Wireless network questions, know there are some network gurus here... Options

[blitZ]

I have a wireless network in my house, works great. My son has moved to our basement, two floors down from where the my router is, so don't want to run a cable. I picked up an access point, thinking I could attach a switch to it so multiple devices can connect. I want to connect his xBox and PC. Apparently, it's only possible to connect one device directly to the AP, the switch doesn't work.

The access point works fine on the xBox.

Any ideas on a simple solution?

[SirAndy]

Any ideas on a simple solution?

does the AP support DHCP? does it connect to your wiresless by DHCP? if so, you need to configure the two to use different IP networks, they can't both use the same.

if the AP is single IP only, you're out of luck. you need something that supports an IP range. any good router does that these days, so it's probably just a configuration issue.


oh, and btw., take all that wireless stuff of yours and give it the float test! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon8.gif)

then, buy some cat6 cable and run real wires. you'll thank me later ...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/type.gif) Andy

[bperry]

Any ideas on a simple solution?

does the AP support DHCP? does it connect to your wiresless by DHCP? if so, you need to configure the two to use different IP networks, they can't both use the same.

if the AP is single IP only, you're out of luck. you need something that supports an IP range. any good router does that these days, so it's probably just a configuration issue.


oh, and btw., take all that wireless stuff of yours and give it the float test! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon8.gif)

then, buy some cat6 cable and run real wires. you'll thank me later ...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/type.gif) Andy

Not everybody needs the bandwidth, lower latency, or lower bit error rates of
dedicated wired connections.
For things like Internet access, simple filesharing and printing,
wireless is more than satisfactory.

He already has the wireless equipment and doesn't want to run wires,
so lets help him make it work.

----

Some APs can be configured as bridges and many can be configured
to act like bridges. This may allow hooking up a switch to the AP,
if there isn't one built in, and then run wires from the Xbox and PC to the switch
and wireless from the switch back upstairs to the main router.
The router would then see both the PC and Xbox as wireless clients and
do all the IP address assignments as if both units were wireless.
Even if the AP wants to act like a router, there may still ways to configure it
to work.
(Note: some of this may depend on being able to run in AdHoc mode)

I've actually used wireless routers as a wireless access point with a built
in LAN bridge by disabling the routing functions and not using the WAN port.

I think an equipment list & diagram would be most helpful in getting something to
work as there are often multiple ways to hook things up and configure them.
Also, understanding a bit of what the network will be used for would help
as while certain configurations may work, they may be very sub optimal for
certain applications/uses.


--- bill

[banger]

You could also use powerline adapters. These are pretty easy, plug one into the wall next to the router, and plug the cable in. The in the basement, plug the other one in, and connect the ethernet to it. These work quite well, and are plenty fast.