Is there such a thing as a 'WiFi switch' to add WiFi to a LAN - if so what's it called?
I'm not even sure such a thing exists but it feels as if it ought to. I want a 'WiFi switch' that I can plug into an existing LAN such that it allows WiFi access on the *same* subnet. Thus it won't do anything clever like DHCP or DNS or anything as that will be done by existing devices on the LAN. All the 'range extenders' I can find are WiFi both in and out and also tend to create their own subnet. Anyway I need something that hangs on a hard-wired ethernet connection. Is there such a thing? -- Chris Green
On Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 04:43:00PM +0100, Chris Green wrote:
I'm not even sure such a thing exists but it feels as if it ought to.
I want a 'WiFi switch' that I can plug into an existing LAN such that it allows WiFi access on the *same* subnet. Thus it won't do anything clever like DHCP or DNS or anything as that will be done by existing devices on the LAN.
All the 'range extenders' I can find are WiFi both in and out and also tend to create their own subnet. Anyway I need something that hangs on a hard-wired ethernet connection.
Is there such a thing?
Much to my surprise it was simpler to do than I expected. I have a 3G router here and it does what I want if I just configure it with a static IP and *not* as a DHCP server. I've plugged one of its ethernet LAN ports into the local 192.168.13.0 subnet and it does exactly what I want, the other ethernet LAN ports are just more ports on the 192.168.13.0 (as you'd expect) but so is the WiFi from it and when you connect using the WiFi the DHCP server on the 192.168.13.0 provides what's needed. There's not a functional SIM in the 3G router so it *can't* connect that way! -- Chris Green
I know this is a bit late now but for anyone interested in other "out of the box" solutions to this problem, Netgear's WG602 and newer N150 both work by just extending the same IP range as the network they're attached to (or at least being trivially configurable to do so). I found out about this the hard way after going from the WG602 to a Cisco of some description, after a MacBook started refusing to connect to the Netgear. The Cisco was a nice-enough router and had great range, but it also insisted on being its own subnet. This made getting broadcast stuff working across the two networks - like DNLA servers/players and a Squeezebox Duet - nigh-on impossible. Simon On 16/09/14 17:22, Chris Green wrote:
On Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 04:43:00PM +0100, Chris Green wrote:
I'm not even sure such a thing exists but it feels as if it ought to.
I want a 'WiFi switch' that I can plug into an existing LAN such that it allows WiFi access on the *same* subnet. Thus it won't do anything clever like DHCP or DNS or anything as that will be done by existing devices on the LAN.
All the 'range extenders' I can find are WiFi both in and out and also tend to create their own subnet. Anyway I need something that hangs on a hard-wired ethernet connection.
Is there such a thing?
Much to my surprise it was simpler to do than I expected. I have a 3G router here and it does what I want if I just configure it with a static IP and *not* as a DHCP server. I've plugged one of its ethernet LAN ports into the local 192.168.13.0 subnet and it does exactly what I want, the other ethernet LAN ports are just more ports on the 192.168.13.0 (as you'd expect) but so is the WiFi from it and when you connect using the WiFi the DHCP server on the 192.168.13.0 provides what's needed.
There's not a functional SIM in the 3G router so it *can't* connect that way!
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On 16/09/14 16:43, Chris Green wrote:
I'm not even sure such a thing exists but it feels as if it ought to.
I want a 'WiFi switch' that I can plug into an existing LAN such that it allows WiFi access on the *same* subnet. Thus it won't do anything clever like DHCP or DNS or anything as that will be done by existing devices on the LAN.
All the 'range extenders' I can find are WiFi both in and out and also tend to create their own subnet. Anyway I need something that hangs on a hard-wired ethernet connection.
Is there such a thing?
I'm not entirely sure, but is this what you're after? (scroll down to to the diagram for a quick idea). http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Wireless_Access_Point I think (but I'm not sure) that dd-wrt will do what you want. dd-wrt works on a variety of different routers - you have to flash the rom to replace the stock rom with dd-wrt. There are similar products to dd-wrt which may be able to do the same thing. Do a bit of research before getting a router, as different routers support different versions of dd-wrt. Hope that helps. Steve
On Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 09:41:35PM +0100, steve-ALUG@hst.me.uk wrote:
On 16/09/14 16:43, Chris Green wrote:
I'm not even sure such a thing exists but it feels as if it ought to.
I want a 'WiFi switch' that I can plug into an existing LAN such that it allows WiFi access on the *same* subnet. Thus it won't do anything clever like DHCP or DNS or anything as that will be done by existing devices on the LAN.
All the 'range extenders' I can find are WiFi both in and out and also tend to create their own subnet. Anyway I need something that hangs on a hard-wired ethernet connection.
Is there such a thing?
I'm not entirely sure, but is this what you're after? (scroll down to to the diagram for a quick idea).
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Wireless_Access_Point
I think (but I'm not sure) that dd-wrt will do what you want. dd-wrt works on a variety of different routers - you have to flash the rom to replace the stock rom with dd-wrt.
There are similar products to dd-wrt which may be able to do the same thing. Do a bit of research before getting a router, as different routers support different versions of dd-wrt.
That's a good point, thanks. I did know aboout dd-wrt but hadn't really put two and two together re this question. I *might* already have an old router that can run dd-wrt, certainly worth a try, and routers are so cheap now it's almost worth buying a compatible one to play with. -- Chris Green
participants (3)
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Chris Green -
Simon Ransome -
steve-ALUG＠hst.me.uk