Wireless Access Point

Luke227 · 31 Dec 2012 at 15:45

Hi all,

Looking for some help extending my wireless signal on my home network. I am a Virgin Media customer using a DLink 615 router. I also have an additional DLink 615 running DD-WRT firmware which I would like to use as a wireless access point/repeater.

My router is located upstairs resulting in the wireless signal down stairs being poor. Sadly it is not practical to move this router downstairs.

I have a set of Devolo dLan 200 AV homeplugs and was hoping to use these to connect my access point. If I was to connect one homeplug to one of the spare ports on my main router - then the other homeplug into the uplink of the access point, would this work?

Other than disabling DHCP, are there any other settings that would need to be changed on the DD-WRT router? I have tried looking online for this but not been able to find an answer to if this is possible.

Many thanks

KIA · 31 Dec 2012 at 17:36

Luke227 said:
I have a set of Devolo dLan 200 AV homeplugs and was hoping to use these to connect my access point. If I was to connect one homeplug to one of the spare ports on my main router - then the other homeplug into the uplink of the access point, would this work?

Yes, connect it to one of the LAN ports, not WAN. Disable DHCP & you might want to change the access points IP (same subnet).

Luke227 · 31 Dec 2012 at 18:13

KIA said:
Yes, connect it to one of the LAN ports, not WAN. Disable DHCP & you might want to change the access points IP (same subnet).

Thanks, am I right in thinking that I plug the homeplug into one of the 4 normal LAN ports on the main router, then the other end into the Internet/Uplink port of the router that will be used as the access point?

Also - do I set the SSID the same for both routers?

Thanks again.

KIA · 31 Dec 2012 at 19:19

From LAN on router to LAN on access point.

You can set the SSID as the same on both.

Luke227 · 3 Jan 2013 at 18:02

Help!

Hey all.

I have tried setting up this set up but am having trouble this up.

I have set up the wireless access point and connect it to the LAN port on my main router and the LAN port on my access point.

The router has an IP of 192.168.1.1 and the access point 192.168.5.1, I have turned of DHCP and set the SSID the same on both wireless devices. Both devices are also set up with the same WPA2 passkey.

I originally had 2 wireless networks appear (with the same SSID) when searching for networks but since setting the WPA code the same on both I know only have one. The signal appears to be about the same strength as before so I don't think I'm connected to the repeater but unsure.

Any help would be greatly appreciated -very confused!

Thanks

KIA · 3 Jan 2013 at 18:22

Name the second access point something unique. I would put the access point on the same subnet, for easy management.

pepp77 · 3 Jan 2013 at 18:27

Both devices should be on the same 192.168.1.x/24 network, both should have the same SSID and be on different channels.

Luke227 · 3 Jan 2013 at 20:17

Thank you for the replies.

I currently have the router on channel 6 and the access point on channel 11 with the same SSID. Should I leave this the same then?

So I need to try changing the IP of the access to point to 192.168.1.2 for example?

At the moment I have also enabled WPA2 on the access point and set up the same password as the main router, is this correct?

Sorry for all the questions, I have been trying to follow this guide but am not having much luck.

bremen1874 · 3 Jan 2013 at 21:01

You'd usually want the same SSID and security settings, but different channels.

Give the access point an IP to fit the rest of the network. So if your router is 192.168.1.1 then 192.168.1.2 would be fine, just make sure it's excluded from the DHCP range.

MillsyOC · 3 Jan 2013 at 21:35

If you are using two different WiFi broadcasts I would suggest channels 3 and 9, keeps them apart and avoids the three most commonly utilised channels (1,6,11).

You may find some useful information here.

bremen1874 · 3 Jan 2013 at 21:45

MillsyOC said:
If you are using two different WiFi broadcasts I would suggest channels 3 and 9, keeps them apart and avoids the three most commonly utilised channels (1,6,11).

Causing problems for yourself and everyone else.

Channel 3 will overlap anyone else on channels 1 or 6. Channel 9 will overlap anyone on channel 6 or 11.

Channels 1, 6 & 11 are used for a very good reason. They're the only channels that don't cause any overlaps. As soon as people start picking channels at random the system breaks.

MillsyOC · 3 Jan 2013 at 23:32

bremen1874 said:
Causing problems for yourself and everyone else.

Channel 3 will overlap anyone else on channels 1 or 6. Channel 9 will overlap anyone on channel 6 or 11.

Channels 1, 6 & 11 are used for a very good reason. They're the only channels that don't cause any overlaps.

If several access points in an area are broadcasting over channels 1, 6 and 11, then picking another channel for your own router will tend to give you a more stable connection. Channels 3 and 9 (or 4 and 8) are better to go for in such a situation as they are further from the main sources of interference (1,6,11) than the likes of 2, 5, 7 etc.

As soon as people start picking channels at random the system breaks.

I didn't say to pick a random channel. If channels 1, 6 and 11 are heavily saturated in your area, channels 3, 4, 8 and 9 will almost always give you a much more stable connection.

bremen1874 · 4 Jan 2013 at 00:00

Choosing any channel outside the normal three will cause interference to both your neighbours and yourself. It undermines all of the efforts made to try and allow many wireless networks to coexist in close proximity.

MillsyOC · 4 Jan 2013 at 00:09

I'm not arguing with how it's supposed to work, but in my experience avoiding channels 1, 6 and 11 when they are heavily utilised and using channel 9 or 3 can have a significant, positive effect on the connectivity of a WiFi network.

Having a channel to yourself with some overlap is better than using the same channel as several other people.

bremen1874 · 4 Jan 2013 at 00:23

MillsyOC said:
I'm not arguing with how it's supposed to work, but in my experience avoiding channels 1, 6 and 11 when they are heavily utilised and using channel 9 or 3 can have a significant, positive effect on the connectivity of a WiFi network.

Having a channel to yourself with some overlap is better than using the same channel as several other people.

If this has worked for you it's more by luck than judgement, and at the expense of your neighbours. It makes you the wireless equivalent of the family with the broken fridge and a rotting sofa in their front garden.

This article over at SmallNetBuilder is worth a read if you haven't come across it before.

MillsyOC · 4 Jan 2013 at 00:35

bremen1874 said:
If this has worked for you it's more by luck than judgement, and at the expense of your neighbours. It makes you the wireless equivalent of the family with the broken fridge and a rotting sofa in their front garden.

This article over at SmallNetBuilder is worth a read if you haven't come across it before.

I don't use WiFi personally, my job is 1st line tech support and a large part of the job is configuring routers.

I can't see it being luck when I've tried every channel in every conceivable situation and channel 9 has consistently proven to provide a more stable connection than channels 1,6,11 when they are already in use.

If the physics don't add up then there must be some other variable I'm missing, but as I've said I have seen much stronger connections and higher bandwidth/link speeds by switching from 1/6/11 to 9.

I'll certainly read the article you linked, looks interesting. Cheers.

bremen1874 · 4 Jan 2013 at 00:54

The right way to do it is to install something like inSSIDer and make a judgement based on the channel and signal power of any neighbouring access points. Usually just getting off channel 6 onto 1 or 11 will make enough of a difference.

The basic problem is that the channels are only 5MHz apart and you need 20MHz of bandwidth for the wireless (plus another 5MHz each side for channel separation). For example picking channel 9 will have an impact on channels 6 thru 12.

There are also other nasties like routers that'll allow a forced 40MHz channel even when they shouldn't, and people boosting the power beyond what's allowed. It all pollutes the wireless neighbourhood.

Luke227 · 4 Jan 2013 at 17:28

Thanks for the replies.

I have set the SSID back to the same and changed the IP addresses so they are now both on the same network. I can now log into both routers wirelessly from my laptop.

Even though both devices are now on the same network, I don't think the router is working as a repeater as the wireless signal (even when sat next to the access point) is only 3 bars, which makes me think it is still connecting to the main router upstairs?

I have set the access points to channels 6 and 11 respectivly, but the router is still set as an "AP Access Point" in DD-WRT, does this need to be changed to repeater? (Other options are AP, Repeater, Repeater Bridge, Client and Adhoc)

Thanks again

KIA · 4 Jan 2013 at 17:38

Do you want devices to roam between the two access points?

AP mode is fine.

Luke227 · 4 Jan 2013 at 17:40

KIA said:
Do you want devices to roam between the two access points?

AP mode is fine.

Ideally yes, or to connect to the strongest connection.

I was able to access both routers and the Internet for a while, then I could only access the router IP addresses and no internet? I had to reboot the main router to get internet access back. Not sure if they were conflicting but both devices have seperate IP addresses?