PCMEDICS   45 pts.  |   Jul 21 2009  5:22PM GMT

Thank you for responding. Ok let me see if I can simplify this any… At this point there are 16 access points and the new Dlink wireless router with a high gain exterior antenna. I shutdown the APs down @ the POE switch. How would I get the new router to recognize the APS so that they are not solely relying on the antenna. No pay per use just basicly a hotspot with wap and a shared key.

The AP closest to the router has a POE going to it. I tried to plug that into 1 of the 4 ports but that was unsuccessful. Not sure Im understanding this setup.

I dont think I need to connect the POE to the AP other then for power with the new router then use the router as an access point also? The router is a DIR655..

or your simplest suggestion I think out of frustration I have over thought this small project. Hate when that happens

The original Equipment was a Colubris MSC3200 that kept dropping the internet connection…

This Hotel is not very large about 70 rooms on one level.. 800′ from the router to the end of the property..

Thanks in advance
Darren

Mshen   23535 pts.  |   Jul 21 2009  10:05PM GMT

This is easier than you are trying to make it. The router does not need to recognize the APs at all. Just make sure all APs are using the same SSID and security settings then connect them to the router’s network. The router should be configured to be the DHCP server unless you have a separate DHCP server on the network.

Don’t worry about the POE injector; you are correct, it just powers the unit. You may need to tell your APs that they are running on POE. The Cisco command is: power inline negotiation injector installed

PCMEDICS   45 pts.  |   Jul 21 2009  10:53PM GMT

thank you for your response I have tried this also but the routers SSID and the APs SSID show up as seperate networks… Are they acting as repeaters or APs. Based on what your saying they are getting info from the wireless end of the router. None are hard wired to the router…

Thank u

PCMEDICS   45 pts.  |   Jul 21 2009  11:26PM GMT

Ok heres what I found out after reviewing my notes for the tenth time….. Based on the setup that was in place there were 16 APs all of which had static IPs except the 2 marked TX RX of which I believe were acting as a bridge From the POE AP that was wired to the old colubris router they went down with the router which left me in the dark along with miles of interior wire layed on the hot flat roof I had to TS.

There are 12 port power injectors and 2 switches…..

Now all I want to do is get the old APs to extend the wiereless network .

Seems I could figure that out but I have over thought this thing because of so many other issues..

Sorry guys…

Thanks

BlankReg   11280 pts.  |   Jul 22 2009  6:43AM GMT

It sounds like the main lot of access points were linked back to the router by two more access points that were configured as a wireless bridge ? I suspect that this bridge link was the cause of the problems with the Internet dropping.

You can either replace this with a wired connection from the POE switch that powers and connects together the main lot of APs, or you can configure the Dlink to work as a bridge, and see if you can get it to connect to the other bridge AP. The higher gain antenna may help to make it more reliable. Make sure there is clear line-of-sight between the access point antennas at both ends, and that they are as far away from metal objects as possible. It is also probably worht trying different channels for these, as someone else may have put in a wireless network, that is causing interference. Remember, only use channels 1, 6 and 11, these are the only non-overlapping channels, and ALWAYS fix the channel, never use the automatic features, as this can be a cause of disconnects.

As Mshen said, the d-link does not have to recognise all of them, it just needs to communicate with the one providing the bridge link. If you can not get this to work together, then maybe you can use the old pair of APs that worked as a bridge, and connect a Cat5 cable from the one near it to the D-Link. Then the D-Link just acts as the Internet router, and you can forget about trying to get it working on the wireless side.

Providing you give the D-Link the same IP information as the old Colubris, it should all work. Most of this is layer 2, so you just need to connect them together and it all works. The only layer 3 is the router between the wireless network and the Internet.

Mshen   23535 pts.  |   Jul 22 2009  9:59PM GMT

It may have been that the other APs were originally connected using Wireless Distribution System (WDS). This technology is not a standard, so only certain manufacturers would have this feature, and it only works if you use the same manufacturer for all APs.

WDS lets you extend your current wireless network by using the APs as wireless bridges. I assume the original setup was that all 14 unconnected access points used WDS to bridge to the 2 POE switches connected to the router. If this is the case, you just need to re-establish that Peer-to-Peer WDS connection between your APs and the 2 bridge APs. A better solution may be to wire the POE switch directly to the router so you don’t need to worry about bridging your wireless network.

PCMEDICS   45 pts.  |   Jul 22 2009  10:34PM GMT

Thanks for your response. Cant I just use the APs as access points and use the same ssid as the router without a wired connection…..

The APs are all Egenius

Thanks Darren

Mshen   23535 pts.  |   Jul 23 2009  5:10PM GMT

The AP’s need a connection to the router in some way. If they are just broadcasting an SSID, but they are not connected to the network, the clients connected to those APs will not get any network connectivity.

Wireless bridging isn’t the most reliable solution. If I were in your shoes, I would try to connect the POE switch directly to the router. Even if you needed a repeater in between them, that would solve all your problems and improve throughput.