[StoneRyno]

Yea I used that speed test when I 1st got here and it ran at about 0.7Mbits down which is why I don't understand why it doesn't maintain that speed even when it is highly unlikely there are more than a few if any others here using it. I don't know if they have an information packet or anything about it. I'm not even sure if they staff here in the office knows anything about it. The service was just added last year. My dad says whatever they had built is out of warranty so if it is something wrong with the network and not some configuration issue then I don't know if they will bother with it. They spent over $30,000 setting up the WiFi I'd expect to get good service other than web browsing and email.

[trucky]

It would be very interesting to learn some of the details of their wireless infrastructure... What brand of AP, What bandwidth, How many APs, etc. If they are tossing out numbers like 100 concurrent users then there almost has to be multiple APs to support that many users, and if there are multiple APs then the installers had to calculate their hop counts to reach further out from the gateway device. In most wifi installs you effectively cut your bandwidth in half with each hop away from the actual connection. See if you can see one of the devices and find a brand name.

It could be that you're far enough away from the actual internet connection that your bandwidth is reduced to a fraction by the number of devices you have to connect back through.

[detman101]

We have a summer home in a sort of condo association kind of thing. The community has free WiFi network we can use. I have a linksys WRT54G wireless router on my home network. Is it possible to configure it to connect to the WiFi network rather than getting the internet from a wire connected to a DSL/cable modem like we do here at home? I'd like to try out accessing the internet while I'm at the summer home but the only WiFi device I have is the router everything else is wired to it. I'd like to avoid buying a WiFi card for my old laptop since this is only a testing senario to see if it is high enough quality to use things like netflix instant watch or whatever. I'm clueless when it comes to wireless networking. And I have limited knowledge on wired networking. i know enough to troubleshoot basic problems and configure basic things but i definitely would not call myself an advanced user in reference to networking. I know many people here are quite knowledgeable on many topics so I figure this is as good a place as any to explain what I will need to do.

Yes, all you have to do is grab the network information for the free wireless.
(IE: IP address, SSID broadcast name, DNS IP address, Subnet address)

Then connect your laptop to your WRT54G and configure it to act as a WAP Bridge. For the originating signal information simply put in the IP information for the free wireless. Provided you entered the information in the proper place in your wireless router, your router should now act as a "repeater" and broadcast the original free wireless signal within your summer home. You will also be able to connect "wired" to the router and obtain the same service.

Edit: Oh yeah...you will need DD-WRT
(Install DD-WRT (or tomato) firmware on the WRT54G.)



Dm

[trucky]

Yes, all you have to do is grab the network information for the free wireless.
(IE: IP address, SSID broadcast name, DNS IP address, Subnet address)

Then connect your laptop to your WRT54G and configure it to act as a WAP Bridge. For the originating signal information simply put in the IP information for the free wireless. Provided you entered the information in the proper place in your wireless router, your router should now act as a "repeater" and broadcast the original free wireless signal within your summer home. You will also be able to connect "wired" to the router and obtain the same service.

Edit: Oh yeah...you will need DD-WRT
(Install DD-WRT (or tomato) firmware on the WRT54G.)



Dm

Glad you came back and added the part about dd-wrt and tomato... I was gonna ding ya for passing out bad info... and all this was stated in post #7 but is probably more than the average person might want to tackle. With the right firmware the WRT54G can be a real workhorse.

[StoneRyno]

It would be very interesting to learn some of the details of their wireless infrastructure... What brand of AP, What bandwidth, How many APs, etc. If they are tossing out numbers like 100 concurrent users then there almost has to be multiple APs to support that many users, and if there are multiple APs then the installers had to calculate their hop counts to reach further out from the gateway device. In most wifi installs you effectively cut your bandwidth in half with each hop away from the actual connection. See if you can see one of the devices and find a brand name.

It could be that you're far enough away from the actual internet connection that your bandwidth is reduced to a fraction by the number of devices you have to connect back through.

I don't know what an AP is but I can try and see if I can see any hardware before we leave tomorrow after lunch. As far as distance from actual connection, I'm very close to the actual connection. So my connection is to the hotspot or whatever it is call that is at the building the internet connection is at. My uncle also has a home here too and he gets the same results and he is about 600 ft farther away and he has some sort of tower related to the WiFi right outside of his place. My dad thinks they hired some backyard guy like a brother of a friend who's mom knows this guy who can do WiFi stuff.

[detman101]

Glad you came back and added the part about dd-wrt and tomato... I was gonna ding ya for passing out bad info... and all this was stated in post #7 but is probably more than the average person might want to tackle. With the right firmware the WRT54G can be a real workhorse.

Hehe, A lot of times I forget that the WRT54G doesn't come the way that I always see it within my circle of peers.

Getting it to work with DD-WRT is quite a daunting task but ooooooohhh soooooo worth it. I've never seen any piece of hardware woken up by better firmware than with these two working together.



Dm