This is of some interest to me, and huge interest to one of my friends. It seems D-Link is coming out with a competitor to the Orinoco Ethernet Converter. But D-Link's DWL-810, in true Taiwan fashion, will be 1/3 the price of the Orinoco EC. Pricegrabber has pricing starting at $108, but nobody is stocking it yet.

Another advantage to this over the Orinoco is this has a nicer antenna built in. Unfortunately, I live in a condo with a parking lot. Even if I feel comfortable enough with leaving the Empeg in the sled, I am not guaranteed a spot close enough to my Wi-Fi. But, when I move to a house, I will be all over this.

This thing is probably great for Rio Receivers also.

I would be somewhat apprehensive about purchasing a D-link product. A year and a half ago, I purchased a D-link cable modem router. After installation, the unit worked properly for a period of 2 weeks, then it stopped working for no apparent reason. I was unable to browse to its internal web admin interface. I reset the device, but this did not help. Finally, I contacted their support. The tech said it was a known problem - and he emailed me a firmware upgrade (I had to connect my computer directly to the cable modem). While on the phone with him, I applied the firmware - but this did not fix the problem. Several attempts were made to revive the unit - but I ended up returning it and buying a Linksys router - which has worked flawlessly for over a year.

Maybe they have improved their product reliability and support since the last time I dealt with them.

I have also had very bad luck with D-link products. I actually have about 6 or 7 NIC's sitting in a cabinet, all of which had problems. Some would only send, some only receive, some would just drop the connection. Also, when I started at the company i'm at now (about a year ago), they were running a D-link 16 port switch and 3 24 port hubs for the whole network. The switch and the routers would randomly need to be reset once, maybe twice a day, 3 or 4 times a week. 2 months into working here I shitcanned the D-links and purchased an HP Procurve 80 port switch. Never had a problem since.

I'm kinda ignorant of wireless ethernet products lately, so... Say I bought this thing when it becomes available, and stuck it in my car, hooked up to my Empeg... In my apartment I have a LinkSys broadband router/4-port hub in my bedroom. Would I just get another one of these D-Link things and plug it into my hub? Or is there some other option that's cheaper? Would I be better off selling my hub and getting one of the LinkSys wi-fi hubs to replace it?

I think it's nuts to say that Linksys is superior to D-Link. In my experience, they are both bottom of the barrel. Luckily for me, all my D-Link wireless stuff works. Of course, it's nowhere near the quality of my Orinoco and Cisco stuff.

I have a dead Linksys WAP11 and 100Mbit 24 port hub. From D-Link, I have a flakey 24 port 10/100 switch. Both Linksys and D-Link are not on my "great company" list.

Would I just get another one of these D-Link things and plug it into my hub?

In a proper wireless network, you have access points and clients. This D-Link thingy is a client, so it needs to talk to an access point in a normal set up. There is, however, a "peer-to-peer" method to using 802.11b without an access point. It is usually referred to "demo mode" or "Ad-Hoc mode." I have never attempted this, but it is like using a cross-over ethernet cable between two regular NICs. I would be surprised if this device supported Ad-Hoc.

You can get a D-Link wireless access point from TigerDirect for $69 here.

Like I said in the other post, D-Link is not a company known for their ubelievable quality, but the only other game in town is the Orinoco EC. It costs over $300 all together (card sold seperately) and is a pain to configure. It is way dated (1999 if I recall correctly) and forces you to use channel 2 when in 64-bit WEP mode. I will likely be buying one of these D-Links for my bedroom TiVo instead of running cat-5. I will keep this thread updated (or make a new post in off-topic).

In reply to:

---

D-Link is not a company known for their ubelievable quality, but the only other game in town is the Orinoco EC.

---

This is not true. My entire Wireless network consists of all Netgear. 2 AP's, a Wireless USB adapter (running at a friends house, 2 houses down) and 2 PCMCIA wireless nics running in laptops. The Netgear equipment is slightly more expensive than Linksys, yet the link has a slightly larger distance and a much greater link quality. I also did a little hack to the AP's to boost their db output giving it an even greater distance capability and link quality. The only downfall to the Netgear compared to Linksys and Cisco is the non-detatchable antenna. But with an OOB greater distance and quality, unless your trying to go a block or more away, I would say Netgear is the better choice IMHO.

What's not true? I'm not saying that Orinoco is the only other wireless company. I am saying the Orinoco EC (Ethernet Converter) is the only other product comparable to this new D-Link one.

Netgear makes access points that can bridge wired networks, but you have to have a Netgear AP at both ends. Same with Linksys WAP11s.

woops, sorry bout that. Yeah, I thought you were saying Linksys/D-link/Orinoco were the only wireless products available or at least worth it.

Now that I got that straight, would be nice if Netgear DID come out with an EC.

I never said that Linksys was superior to D-link - they are both indeed "bottom of the barrel" "value priced" etc etc names. Several of my friends, and a lot of people I know at work use the same Linksys router I have and none have had any problems with it... but this does not put it in the same class as Cisco, etc, nor does it mean that all of their other products are good, or superior. I guess it can be real hit-or-miss.

It could be worse. We could all be dialing into the Internet with a 2400 baud Boca modem, and waiting for the discussion list on this site to populate.

Ive had a D-link router for almost a year now with not too many issues. One problem I do seem to have occaisionlly is the connection to my computer and mine only seems to be dropped which means I cant access the web or even the routers Admin page to remedy this I need to reboot the router. One thing I like about the router is its plain jane metal shell which mounts nicely on the wall so it can be hidden in a closet.

What's wrong with the DWL-900 in AP client mode?

I was under the impression the WAP11, like the DWL-900, also had a "be an AP client" mode in addition to the WAP11 to WAP11 bridge.

IIRC, It can only be an AP client to another WAP11 in AP mode short of flashing it with another brand's firmware. My WAP11 died of natural causes, but it never worked as an client to my SMC AP.

Same with DWL-900. You need two of the same model for one to act as a client.

Well, then, something changed. My DWL-900 has been an AP client to my not-a-DWL-900 AP.

Next idea?

I was under the impression the WAP11, like the DWL-900, also had a "be an AP client" mode in addition to the WAP11 to WAP11 bridge.

The Linksys web site only mentions AP and bridging, not AP client.

It looks from D-Link's site as if there's a DWL-900AP which can't be put into client mode, and a DWL-900AP+ which can.

Peter (who will shortly need a good UK-based answer to this question)

I had to update the WAP11 firmware to get the AP client checkbox in the setup utility. But, it will defintely only be a client to another WAP11.

I can's speak for the D-Link personally, but I am pretty sure it's the same thing with all inexpensive, AP client-capable access points.

As for Netgear, you can use an AP to be a client to a pc via the USB or crossover cable. In which case both the computer and the AP need an ip address(AP 1st of course if your using dhcp).

As for bridging, the AP bridges to another AP via MAC address.. it can be any other 802.11b AP, doesn't need to be Netgear.

I had to update the WAP11 firmware to get the AP client checkbox in the setup utility.

Gosh, you're right, according to the user guide. Someone should tell the author of that other page.

But, it will defintely only be a client to another WAP11.

I can's speak for the D-Link personally, but I am pretty sure it's the same thing with all inexpensive, AP client-capable access points.

That sucks. Has anyone here tried the Netgear ME-102? That, apparently, supports AP client if you update the firmware. (http://www.netgear.com/customer_support2.asp and look for "Firmware Upgrade")

Peter

yup, speaking from experience. Haven't tested exactly how much further distance to get from using the AP as a client, but if you bridge 2 of them, you get about 4 times the distance.

Does anyone know if the Linksys WAP54A has a client mode? If I had 2 of these, (one for the car as a client, and one as an AP) I could get much better range from my Siemens 2.4 GHz phones which don't play nicely with my current Linksys WAP11.

Stu

That sucks. Has anyone here tried the Netgear ME-102? That, apparently, supports AP client if you update the firmware. (http://www.netgear.com/customer_support2.asp and look for "Firmware Upgrade")

The ME102 is the same hardware as the WAP11 anyway, in fact you can upgrade it with the WAP11 firmware to gain the extra features that the WAP11 has.

The ME102 is the same hardware as the WAP11 anyway, in fact you can upgrade it with the WAP11 firmware to gain the extra features that the WAP11 has.

So does that mean an ME102 will talk to a WAP11 anyway? or does it need to be flashed with WAP11 firmware? can I use a ME102 as an AP client to other Linksys gear, specifically BEFW11S4? Whose the hell screwups have made this so complicated?

Peter

The ME102 is the same hardware as the WAP11 anyway, in fact you can upgrade it with the WAP11 firmware to gain the extra features that the WAP11 has.

As in what features?

So does that mean an ME102 will talk to a WAP11 anyway? or does it need to be flashed with WAP11 firmware? can I use a ME102 as an AP client to other Linksys gear

Yes, the ME102 can act as a Wireless client and connect to any 802.11b AP including Linksys. It doesn't need to be flashed with the Linksys firmware to achive this, and i'm not even sure that would be a good idea.

In the red corner, leftyfb:

Yes, the ME102 can act as a Wireless client and connect to any 802.11b AP including Linksys.

In the blue corner, robricc:

...the WAP11... will defintely only be a client to another WAP11.

I can's speak for the D-Link personally, but I am pretty sure it's the same thing with all inexpensive, AP client-capable access points.

Has anyone actually tried it? I mean, it's pretty clear it's supposed to work cross-manufacturer. But robricc seems to be saying that it doesn't work in practice (and a DejaNews^W Google Groups search seems to concur).

Peter

If it's possible, install the Linksys configuration program for the WAP11. If you are able to pull up the help file, it will specifically say AP client mode will only talk to another WAP11 (in broken english). So, at least with the WAP11, it seems it is meant to only talk to another WAP11.

I only have experience with SMC and Linksys stand-alone access points. My experience is that the WAP11 will only be a client to another WAP11. I am also aware that the guts of the WAP11 are used in many other brands. So, it is probable that other brands firmware could open up this ability for the WAP11? I don't know. I am far from a wireless expert. I'm just offering my experience.

As in what features?

- 128bit WEP (you can do this with a Netgear firmware upgrade now, but Linksys had their 128bit firmware available for months before Netgear)
- wireless bridging (again you can do this with the Netgear firmware now, but the Linksys was there first)
- I think I'm right in saying that you can't password protect the SNMP management using the Netgear firmware/software
- I'm pretty sure you can't restrict MAC addresses using just the Netgear software

I don't have the Netgear manual handy and haven't used the ME102 on the Netgear software for a while, so appologies if I have misremembered andything...

Your right about the 128bit encryption and wireless bridging not being available till the new firmware (which does come on new purchases now). As for password protecting SNMP management, you can do that and I think were able to on the earliest of versions.
Not too sure about MAC address restrictions, something i'll have to look into. I THINK I might have seen this in the config, but not something i'm too interested in anyway.

My WAP11 died last weekend - wrong voltage, erm - so I can't try it now,
but:

When I first got my WAP11 it was delivered to my office and I wanted to try it,
so I hooked it up to my notebook and connected to the wavelan at the lab.
I just talked to the net-admins and they told me we only use Cisco equipment and they think the lab access point is a Cisco Aironet 1200.

So I'm pretty sure the WAP11 works as a client for the Cisco AP.
My replacement just got delivered to Bergen County, NJ and should
be here (Germany) in 2-3 weeks....

I'll try again as soon as I get it.