I'm trying to fix my parent's Internet at their house so that the entire house is wireless. They already have a Linksys wireless router in the main part of the house that covers most of the downstairs and upstairs portions. However, they have a guest house on the other side of the pool that is just out of reach of getting a good signal from the main router. My Powerbook doesn't see it at all, but my Toshiba laptop gets 2/5 bars, and the Internet is real slow. My PB has a weak signal from the pool, and the Toshiba has fairly good access.

We have an Ethernet line running from the main house to the guest house so that we can put an access point to service the guest house and pool area... I would like to use the same SSID and WEP key for both the router and access point, but was wondering if there would be any conflicts in doing so. Although the Toshiba laptop can see the main house router from the guest house, would it know to go to the guest house access point if the signal were stronger?

I always could use 2 different SSIDs, but I'm trying to simplify things as much as possible for the parents and any of their guests.

1/5/2006 4:22:32 PM

Actually using the same SSID and WEP key is the proper way to enable roaming between access points.

The things you'll need to worry about are a) making sure they use different channels and b) making sure each wireless access point is on the same network.

If they aren't on the same network you're computer is going to get confused when it roams from one point to the other.

If the access point in the guest house is connected to the main house router, make sure that its in access point mode so it just bridges the connection from the main router.

more info here.

[Edited on January 5, 2006 at 4:43 PM. Reason : .]

1/5/2006 4:36:15 PM

Yes they're connected to the same network. The AP in the guest house is actually just another Linksys router, but I have disabled DHCP and am connecting the ethernet cable from the main house in one of the LAN ports (1-4) on it. I'm not using the WAN port at all.

Thanks for the information - I'll try setting this up later this evening. For some reason I remember having tried this before, but unsuccessfully. Maybe it was because they were on the same channel.

- Joe

1/5/2006 5:59:23 PM

Somehow I can't digest why the same ESSIDs have to be on different channels for roaming. Your computer won't roam from one channel to another as far as I know the specs.

1/11/2006 1:01:04 AM

I was actually about to reply to this, for I cannot get computers to roam from AP to AP... I set both access points on different channels with the same SSID and WEP key. When I walk from one area to another, neither of my computers will switch.

My Toshiba laptop, when walking from the main house to the guest house, the signal will become very weak and almost nonresponsive. I have to disconnect and reconnect the wireless to get it to pick up the guest house AP.

Strange enough, on my Powerbook, it will lose the signal all together as I walk into the guest house, and won't automatically reconnect to the guest house AP.

Are there any special settings that I have to enable for roaming, or is that part of the wireless protocol? Either way, it's no big deal, for it's just nice to not have to use two different SSIDs and keys.

1/11/2006 1:18:43 AM

different channels shouldn't work as far as I know.

Also, make sure the ESSID is in your preferred networks in Windows.

1/11/2006 1:21:28 AM

You need to turn on the feature to auto connect and to auto reconnect. Some laptops can't do this. That's the only way I've had it working at our store.

1/11/2006 6:53:02 AM