Hi all,

Since I've got myself an iPad, good WiFi coverage in the house has become more important to me. When I built this house, I installed more than 50 ethernet connectors into the walls, throughout the house. (even though to this day not all are connected the the switch, but I could easily do this if needed because I'm using a patch panel in a server cabinet).

Now, the server cabinet is downstairs, and my router, a D-Link DIR-655 is also located there. This gives me good WLAN coverage on the ground level, but on the first floor, there are some dead spots. On the second level, the attic, it's obviously even worse.

Now, since I've got so many wall connections, even in the attic's walls, I'm guessing the easiest way to solve my dead spots problem is to put an access point in the attic. I've got a few questions though, since I've never installed an access point before.

The way I believe it works, is I need an ethernet cable from my main router to this access point. (easily done with all this ethernet cable in the walls). Then I need to make sure its own IP address is outside the DHCP range on my main router, but within the correct subnet of course.

Eg. My main routers IP: 192.168.0.1, DHCP: 192.168.0.100 to 192.168.0.199. (all subnet 255.255.255.0) So I need to put the access point's IP to something like 192.168.0.200, correct? Or does it really need to be inside the scope of the main router's DHCP, but provide it with a more or less fixed IP then (I can have the main router's DHCP always hand out the same IP to devices, based on their MAC address).

Will the DHCP of the main router then hand out the IP addresses on the LAN, even if devices connect via the Access Point?
Can the WiFi security settings in the Access Point be exactly the same as the ones in the main router? Or will this interfere with one another? Same with WiFi channels?

Now, with regards to the Access Point, I like this D-Link DAP-1522 wireless access point/bridge. It should do nicely. As a bonus, this Access Point includes two radios, the classic 2.4 Ghz and the newer 5 Ghz. I wasn't considering using the 5 Ghz radio, but yesterday I've read that a lot of notebooks now already support the 5 Ghz radios, it seems most recent MacBook Pro's support it. Anybody know if the iPad also supports 5 Ghz WiFi?

Another question: this D-Link DAP-1522 is both a Access Point and Bridge combined. You can set the desired function with a switch on its back. (there also an 'auto' function, but that doesn't seem to work well according to a review I've read). Now, I was wondering, what exactly is a bridge, and how does it differ from an access point? In which situation could a bridge be interesting to me, knowing I'm using this in a relatively small home LAN network?

Now, lastly, it seems most routers can be put in 'Access Point mode'. Why wouldn't I just buy another router then, configure it as an access point and use it like that? For one, incredibly enough, routers are cheaper. I can buy a second d-link DIR-655, the same models as I've already got, for about 60 euro. The forementioned DAP-1522 Access Point/bride costs 95 euro! Ok, you say, but that access point has got 2 radios and the router does not. This is true, but the D-Link 825 router had this too, IS a router and costs only 85 euro, so that's still 10 euro less than the access point. If I were to go the 'two router' route (haha) I would also have the benefit of having a second router in the house. Should one go belly-up, at least it wouldn't take down my entire network. So many benefits, it makes me wonder: where's the catch here? Why would anyone still use a normal access point, since they are more expensive and have less functions?

I'm looking forward to you comments!