Trying to set up wireless AP...should have bought a handgun instead

D

dazzazzad

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Because I'm about ready to kill myself.

Few weeks back I setup up my router to become a WLAN for an ipad. Had never even touched wireless networks before so I was surprised at how easy and painless the process was. Only issue was the range which meant there was little to no connectivity in the cottage next door.

The router is a Tenda and today I got a trendnet (TEW638APB) to sit in the cottage and boost the signal (or whatever the term would be).

So I see in the manual it has to be directly connected via cable to the router for the initial setup. Okay, no prob. Setup finds the AP. It finds the Tenda. I configure all the settings (encryption, SSID, password, signal) as they have been setup on my Tenda router.

There's the final connection with all those settings and voila, it says congratulations everything connected perfectly.

Wow, this is all so easy.

Then, following the manual, I try and input 192.168.10.100 into my browser so I can go to the admin section. Only the page doesn't load.

I check the Tenda browser admin and go to DHCP client list and only the ipad is there, not the AP.

So I hard reset and start the setup again, thinking the one setting I wasn't sure about was the SSID. Maybe I was supposed to change the name so it has it's own unique name. Once again everything goes fine and it tells me the configuration has been a success. But my ipad still doesn't see the AP. I still can't get to the browser admin for it. And it's not on the DHCP client list.

I thought maybe the fact that it's still connected to the router via cable could be a problem but nope. I even tried connecting the AP directly to the PC in hopes I can get into the admin that way, but no again.

So I'm up **** creek. Anyone got a paddle?
 
Only the router should have DHCP enabled. Disable it on the new AP. I think that's what you are saying at least.
I have my billion router connected to a trendnet AP via cable and i just named the wireless the same on both used different channels and it just worked. The AP obviously has a static IP different to the router.
 
See my post here about solution I found! Works well for me. Setup was easy, all I did was to insert a CD and the rest was done automatically by the software. No technical stuff like SSID or whatever was asked. Setup was done by itself....
 
E1b0 - But I've already bought an AP. Would like to be 100% sure it won't work (and why) before I consider a different one. Also the FB link has expired.

Unnamed - I checked DHCP cos I thought it would see the AP there if it was working. But I could be wrong. The big problem is I cannot tweak any settings because the browser admin won't load. So all I can tweak is what they give me in the setup, and I've done everything by the book except for the SSID (which I tried both with the same one as my router as well as a new name).
 
dazzazzad: try a different web browser. I've seen it quite a few times where the poor quality ADSL modems' web interfaces only works with Internet Explorer
 
Pada - Tried. No dice :-(

Nerfherder - I've had my router and the wireless on it set up for awhile now. The AP is the only new device.
 
@ dazzazzad

I see a problem even if you manage to get access to the AP eventually. One of the basic rules of wireless networks are that an AP can't speak to another AP wirelessly. You need to have an AP that support either WDS mode (Wireless Distribution Mode) or Repeater mode. You have two options to get a singal at the cottage.

You need to run a cable to the point where you want to install the AP/Router and hardwire the unit to your network, or you need to install an extender (Like the Linksys RE1000 I mentioned). Another problem with APs supporting WDS or Repeating is often that they use proprietary standards, meaning only a Tenda will speak to a Tenda product. I suspect the Tenda wont speak to the Trend, even if it supports Repeater mode!

I did some research on the RE1000, it doesn't use proprietary standards and will speak to any other vendor product! This makes it a very nice option for me since I can install more than one in my home to make sure all dead spots are covered.

Search for Cisco Home Networking South Africa on Facebook, they have some info there on the RE1000 with links to diagrams and tools to help you choose the right product.
 
dazzazzad said:
Pada - Tried. No dice :-(

Nerfherder - I've had my router and the wireless on it set up for awhile now. The AP is the only new device.
Click to expand...

Ye, so then take your pc off the network and plug it directly in to the AP, nothing else on the network. Set your pc to either get an IP automatically or RTFM as to the default IP on the AP and set your PC to an ip in that range. Then set your gateway to the IP of the AP.You should be able to connect to the AP interface then.

I'd advise having a static IP on the AP and disabling DHCP, I have the following setup: ADSL router set to 192.168.1, AP set to 192.168.1.11 and a second AP set to 192.168.1.111.
All devices are static, there is a setting to do DHCP forwarding and I set it to the router (192.168.1.1). Otherwise there might be an option to set the default gateway on the router.
 
Well if what e1b0 says is true then I better contact Kalahari right away because even figuring out how to get into the admin panel, clearly I've bought the wrong device for what I need. I see the range extender is around R1000 which is way to expensive. Maybe a better option would be to get a router with a stronger wireless signal. Because the cottage is right next to the main house. It's just that the Tenda only has a 50m range - the cottage is within that but the brick wall must be screwing things up.

So can you guys recommend a fairly cheap router with a good strong signal? And I guess it must be from Kalahari.
 
If you're considering getting another WiFi device, have a look at the TP-Link range of products at Uniterm Direct (www.dbg.co.za). You can often buy them off bidorbuy.co.za from Uniterm Direct for slightly cheaper than what they're going for on their own website (which excludes VAT).

Wireless N devices should have a better range, but then you'll need two 802.11n devices (1 on each side).

The device that you bought does not have the WiFi repeater function - see the Quick Installation Guide for the 2 typical configurations that you can use it for. As you'll see in that guide, it can either be used as a WiFi client or in a WDS (bridge) mode, where its clients will be LAN connections.
 
Pada said:
If you're considering getting another WiFi device, have a look at the TP-Link range of products at Uniterm Direct (www.dbg.co.za). You can often buy them off bidorbuy.co.za from Uniterm Direct for slightly cheaper than what they're going for on their own website (which excludes VAT).

Wireless N devices should have a better range, but then you'll need two 802.11n devices (1 on each side).

The device that you bought does not have the WiFi repeater function - see the Quick Installation Guide for the 2 typical configurations that you can use it for. As you'll see in that guide, it can either be used as a WiFi client or in a WDS (bridge) mode, where its clients will be LAN connections.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I just got it completely wrong. I'd need to get the router from kalahari though because I'm returning this Trendnet AP and I paid with ebucks so it'll probably have to be a bit of a credit situation.

So I would need two of these?

http://www.kalahari.com/electronics/TRENDnet-300Mbps-Wireless-N-Home-Router/4585/41633069.aspx

And can you explain why the need for 2? Really trying to wrap my head around this wireless stuff.

If it's possible, I'd just like to replace my tenda router which does a fine job bringing ADSL to my PC via LAN but just falls a bit short in the wireless signal range. I just need another 15-20m really, as the signal in the cottage's kitchen is fine but the rest of the place is close to dead.
 
That wireless router doesn't even have WDS or WiFi repeater support, so I have no idea why you'd even consider getting it...

WDS (wireless distribution system) requires that each repeater/WiFi AP uses WDS. Essentially WDS is where the repeater runs both as a client and AP simultaneously, by switching between the 2 modes rapidly.
Because the repeater is going to be an AP half of the time, and client for the other half, you'll be halving your bandwidth for each WDS hop.

WDS is not guaranteed to work accross different brands, because it is not a certified standard.

You can read more on WDS here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_distribution_system
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/WDS_Linked_router_network

The only use that I see for that TrendNet WiFi AP would be to set it up as just another regular (bridged) WiFi AP, by connecting it to your ADSL modem with a LAN cable.
 
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Well I have one goal. Extend the range of my router's signal. And really, we're only talking 15m or so.

Now I thought I could use an AP in the cottage next door to get that boost. Apparently not. So I can get the right device, but that's quite expensive. So instead, it seems simpler (and I don't know why I didn't consider this at first) to simply get an adsl router with a stronger wifi range. The Tenda router I have now is only "up to 50m".

So I can return the AP to Kalahari and get a brand new router instead (and then sell or keep the Tenda as a backup).

Or hell, maybe something like this would give me enough of a boost?

http://www.kalahari.com/electronics/Sitecom-Wireless-Network-Omni-Antenna-5Dbi/4585/34399889.aspx
 
5dBi is still fairly low gain. Like here's a 9dBi one for R60 ex VAT: http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/product_info.php?cPath=99_38&products_id=1032

The 5dBi one would probably already make a difference, but please keep in mind that you'd require a WiFi router with detachable antennas to be able to attach a different one.
The Trendnet TEW-638APB does have detachable antennas.

Please note that the antenna alignment also makes a big difference in terms of the range that you'll get. Typically you'd get the best range when they point upwards (vertical), because then they'll transmit the signal in a horizontal plane. You can then try to tilt the antennas slightly away from each other too, up till like 40% or so.

Usually the problem with the long distance WiFi connections are that the client devices (eg. laptop / mobile phone / tablets) don't have good enough antennas or strong enough signal to reach the AP, in which your only option would be to get a WiFi repeater.

You can give the 5dBi antenna a go, but I really can't guarantee that it will work. The only option that I can guarantee that will work would be a WiFi repeater - and if you want to make 100% sure, ensure that both WiFi AP's support 802.11n.
 
@OP - have you considered simply setting up a separate SSID in the cottage? It's not a pretty solution, but it might be cheaper than anything else.
 
Pada said:
5dBi is still fairly low gain. Like here's a 9dBi one for R60 ex VAT: http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/product_info.php?cPath=99_38&products_id=1032

The 5dBi one would probably already make a difference, but please keep in mind that you'd require a WiFi router with detachable antennas to be able to attach a different one.
The Trendnet TEW-638APB does have detachable antennas.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks. I think I'll give that antenna a try. My Tenda 458D router seems to have a removable one and I assume they would be compatible if that's the case?
 
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