View Full Version : CHEAP 2.4GHZ Access point that supports client mode
Hello,
We really need stable and cheap accesspoints that supports client mode, we are using prism and atheros staros boxes as AP,
Who knows good brand?
?????????????????????????????? :(
titan_wireless
11-15-2005, 08:24 AM
Stable and Cheap??? What do you consider cheap?
In my country popular are realtek (8181/8186) based devices. They are linux based and with some luck and knowledge you can tweak them to suit your needs.
titan_wireless
11-15-2005, 09:27 AM
If you want to use Realtek 8181 based CPE then I would suggest the Zinwell boards. I dont use them but I see lots of companies selling them. Most 250mW rated CPE and AP devices are based on that equipment. Keep in mind the 8181 is discontinued and soon they will be hard to find. The 8186 will replace them and I have not seen one yet? Im not sure if any 8186 based Zinwell boards are sold yet.
any one knows realtek 8181 chipset based brands ? other than minitar edimax alfa
Titan, thanks for the info, I havent heard for those before.
It seems they are selling g based devices now, maybe 8186.
8181 is discontinued a months, it is better to take 8186. We have got those boards, got up to 2,2 MB/s with them in real world tests.
Relatively stable but seems that (at least their implementation) g mode doesnt perform much faster in city interference environments caused by a lot of b devices, but this may be due to depleted uranium spreaded everywhere here too :)
Interesting thing in those realtek designs, especially new 8186 - there are some additional stuff on the board, like additional processing/crypto capabilities and some pcm stuff, supposely related with voip and such things. These havent been used by any firmware. Also, these boards have better capabilities than implemented by standard deployed firmware. There are even firmwares which contains prepared stuff like pptp client, bandwidth shapping etc but which aren't implemented on web interface level. Having seeing those firmwares from inside, they cannot be considered as production software. Drivers are finished particularly and other software included is just droped everywhere on strange way. In this case closed source is stinking.
titan_wireless
11-16-2005, 01:36 PM
but this may be due to depleted uranium spreaded everywhere here too :)
depleted uranium :)
WOW, I thought Trees where a pain in the ass to deal with!
Heh, really here in wider area there are some 40-50 tons of uranium spreaded everywhere due to NATO bombing. Names used for those campaigns were like "Merciful Angel" etc. Anyways, I was always wondering how it looks like in big cities like LA, NY etc where 802.11 equipment is cheap and everywhere. We are much smaller with less networks but on some locations even here interference is becoming critical issue.
Skaught
11-19-2005, 12:31 PM
We see virtually no issues wtih home WLANs. And probably 40% of my clients themselves have WLANs.
Only thing that seems to hurt me is other outdoor LANs.
wmaia
12-17-2005, 08:53 AM
any one knows realtek 8181 chipset based brands ? other than minitar edimax alfa
You can find a lot of brands in
http://rtl8181.sourceforge.net/rtl8181_devices.php
Most of suppliers listed are selling now rtl8186 based products.
Such devices are very stable, powerfull and cheap. With customized firmware you can run NAT, Firewall, Bandwidth control, etc on client side.
Unfortunately we cannot run StarOS on it :-(
[]'s
We use (now) OvisLink WL-5460AP, and are happy with them. Cheap (40 euros), and doing all the CPE functionality we need.
http://www.ovislink.com.tw/WL5460AP.htm
lonnie
12-19-2005, 12:25 AM
These units are too small and limited to be much use. Sure they'll be fine for very basic systems, but there is so much more that is required.
We have been sent eval units and we feel that the designs as presented are not suitable. Surely something better can be built after all these years.
hatster
05-19-2007, 05:46 AM
Hey,
I have just obtained a Buffalo WHR-G54S for eval, and been told I can use this as CPE if I flash the firmware. I have tried 2 different 3rd party firmwares. DD-Wrt, and tomato firmwares. The units themselves seem quite feature rich for a basic AP, but they both produce the same results.
I have set them both up in "client bridge mode", and connected them to my WRAP with Staros v2 using just SSID and channel number.
They both work fine if you leave something like a DOS ping command running to the WRAP to keep the wireless side live, but if you close this activity, within about 10 secs, they wont pass traffic until rebooted. The buffalo itself still shows a wireless connection, but doesnt appear to bridge anymore.
Any ideas ?
Thanks
Kev.
therealboss
05-19-2007, 06:53 AM
Might sound like a silly question, but why not use a WAR1, or am I missing something here?
hatster
05-19-2007, 07:50 AM
I would use a war1 if I could get them. seems to be a ultra-short supply in europe, and I cant afford to miss the customers while I wait....
lonnie
05-19-2007, 08:51 AM
contact Justin Collery justin.collery@wi-pipe.com
They just got their initial shipment. I hope he does not mind me speeding up his evaluation process but I'm sure he can help and I'm also sure the WAR1 will server you better.
wwalcher
05-19-2007, 09:12 AM
Hey,
I have just obtained a Buffalo WHR-G54S for eval, and been told I can use this as CPE if I flash the firmware. I have tried 2 different 3rd party firmwares. DD-Wrt, and tomato firmwares. The units themselves seem quite feature rich for a basic AP, but they both produce the same results.
I have set them both up in "client bridge mode", and connected them to my WRAP with Staros v2 using just SSID and channel number.
They both work fine if you leave something like a DOS ping command running to the WRAP to keep the wireless side live, but if you close this activity, within about 10 secs, they wont pass traffic until rebooted. The buffalo itself still shows a wireless connection, but doesnt appear to bridge anymore.
Any ideas ?
I no longer use these items for new deployments with the arrival of the new generation boards like the WAR1, but I still have quite a few deployed, and they do work. You may need to change the wireless type (B-only, G-only or Mixed) depending on what type of card you are connecting to. Also, they do have a distance setting on them. If using DD-WRT, I usually double the actual distance from the unit. However, if you are less than a 1/2 mile or so away, you don't need to worry about setting it. I usually set mine up as a wireless client instead of a bridge. If you are doing bridging, I think it only supports one client behind the bridge. If you have more, that could be the problem.
hatster
05-20-2007, 12:59 AM
Thanks for the info,
Lonnie, Will contact Justin as you suggested.
Am still curious with these buffalo, and Im almost certain its me.....
My Starv2 AP is Nat'd, I have tried setting up the buffalo as a Wireless client instead of a bridge, and I cant get it to pass traffic at all. Is there a simple list of configuration somewhere ?
Regards,
Kev.
hatster
05-27-2007, 03:37 AM
Wwalcher, What radio cards did you use in your AP ?
Could this be a compatibility issue between the buffalo and the Wistron CM9 i use in my Starosv2 AP ?
I have also tried this in client mode, with exactly the same results.
If I lock the buffalo to either B or G mode, it seems to stay connected for an extra 5 seconds or so, then the same problem occurs, so its not that.
Regards,
David L. Vrablic
05-27-2007, 05:22 AM
Hi Kev,
FWIW:
My personal experience is that anything with a Broadcom radio is a complete waste of time. Buffalo is in the process of "Doing something with their product line".
You just might want to go in some other direction than to spin your wheels.
DrLove73
05-28-2007, 10:44 AM
The post, while relevant to the thread, has been modified by the administrator.
Please keep advertising for competing products to a minimum in the support forums. ;)