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This
one started a heated argument between two spotty PC World employees today
which
was quite fun to watch, however their level of knowledge was frightening
and I
had to leave before I throttled them both!
I
have
10 years of experience in standard cabled Ethernet LAN's and a bunch of IT
certifications gathering dust on the wall so I feel a little
foolish
asking what is probably a simple question.
However having absolutely no experience of wireless networking I
come cap
in hand to the experts...
Basically I want to connect a 802.11b Wireless Access Point
to a
switch on my home network in my 'office / node 0'.
I
then
want to connect another in the living room and hang the SLiMP3 off it via a
cross over cable and in effect bridge between the two.
If I
have two basic Wireless Access Points from two different manufacturers can
I do
this?
(Reason I ask is you can pick up basic ones on eBay with a good
discount on high street prices.)
My simple understanding
of it
is the Access Point acts like a hub with two ports, one cabled via RJ45 and
one
wireless, hence anything that arrives at one port will / should be
broadcast to the other port so this should be possible - yes / no /
maybe??
First
off it took me 10 minutes to explain why I wanted RJ45 ports on the boxes
and
not USB which according to them was the standard.
I
gave
up trying to explain what a SLiMP3 was and why I wanted to play MP3's
through my
stereo from my computer - 'why don't you just put a CD in your
stereo?'.
Tried using an analogy and putting it in simple terms they
would
understand:
Side A
: Office network, plug Wireless Access Point into switch in the server room
- no
USB ports available :o).
Side B
: Portacabin 50 feet away, plug Wireless Access Point directly into one
device
such as HP Laser Printer with JetDirect card.
Print
to printer...
One
PCWorld 'Expert' said this was impossible and there would need to be a
server
connected to the segment on each side of the bridge, apparently 'to control
the
access point' but he couldn't elaborate on this...
The
other (even younger expert!) disagreed and claimed it might be possible
with
special and very expensive kit which PCWorld certainly wouldn't
stock. A
heated debate between them followed.
I
lifted a Netgear box off the shelf two feet away which showed a picture of
two
access points and the word 'Bridging' between them in bright letters and
left
them reading the blurb on the back.
(If I
get bored next week I may go back and ask them to explain the differences
between a hub, switch and router just for sheer entertainment
value.)
So to
sum up - which of these alternatives are possible and what kit is
recommended?
1.
Can I take two bog standard Wireless Access Points from different
vendors
and bridge between them?
2. Can
I use any old access point at the server end but need a special
bridging
access point at the SLiMP3 end?
3. Do
I need a matched pair with this specific capability?
TIA
!!
Anto.
PS
Apologies to any past / current / prospective PCWorld employees - no
offence
intended!
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