I was using a DWL-122 USB adapter for a while in my garage, but it was too
sensitive to interference. I put a DWL-810+ ethernet-to-wireless bridge in
it's place, but now I have no way to monitor the signal strength from the
DWL-800AP+ in the house. It seems to work great, but how do I know if it's
working at 1, 2.5, 5, 11 or 22 mbps? Netstumbler doesn't recognize it, and
the built-in site survey screen doesn't give any display or power
indication. There must be something to show signal strength/quality? Since
it's a bridge, "wireless zero" service isn't used.
Thanks- Rob

MrSmiley wrote:
Have you considered using something that works very well but is about $20
instead of free?

If so, check out Winc at www.cirond.com IMO a much better program and well
worth the 20 bucks (After a free 30 day evaluation)

Hmmm... I'm testing Winc at the moment as I'm looking for a utility
which is vendor independent.

It doesn't work at all well in an Extended Service Set (multiple APs
with the same SSID) and only correctly reports the signal strength of
the 'first' AP with presumably the slightly stronger signal.

For example, roughly equidistant from 3 APs the first shows 80%, the
other two show 4 - 6%. NetStumbler and the native card utility report
them all at 80%.

Anyone else seen this? Yes, I have reported it to Cirond and had a
reply about it 'not being optimised' or somesuch...

Kind regards

The DWL-810+ is a wireless client device which acts as a transparent
bridge. NetStumbler won't detect it since it isn't an access point. Nor
of course will NetStumbler indicate the signal strength from other
client devices...

What I did when installing a DWL-810+ on my home network was to use
NetStumbler to perform a site survey so as to identify a location where
the signal level was acceptable. I strengthened the reception by
fitting a 5dBi gain antenna in place of the stock 2dBi antenna.

I then used Qcheck
<http://www.ixiacom.com/products/performance_applications/pa_display.ph
p?skey=pa_q_check>
to check throughput accross the network. The real life transfer rate is
what you're interested in, rather than the nominal speed. On a nominal
22 Mbit/s network, expect to see transfer rates of  6 - 7 Mbit/s.

You don't say in which mode you are using the DWL-800AP+. If you are
using it as a repeater, expect to see a 50% drop in throughput across
it since it must first listen, then re-transmit.

Aside: one of the things that the documentation doesn't tell you is
that the DWL-810+ supports multiple MAC addresses. This means that you
can connect it to a switch and provide wireless connectivity to several
devices behind the switch. I can confirm it works just fine for one of
my teenage sons, providing wireless connectivity to a PC, PS2 games
console, and an Ethernet-attached print server from a single DWL-810+.

Hope this helps

MrSmiley <n***@noyb.com> wrote:
Did you try shielding the DWL-122?  Some people like coffee cans, others
like woks.  I think I read about a corner reflector but I didn't save the
comment.

http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q105513C8
http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/usb-can/im000742-800x600.jpg

A person that I built the two-coffee-can setup for uses a single "3 lb" can
instead.  I think the two can was too directional.  One day really soon
now, I'm going to check a 3lb can with the dongle in the bottom instead of
the side. ;-)

Thanks all for the suggestions. I'll try Winc, I didn't know it existed, I'm
not too cheap to spend $20! The DWL800AP+ is being used as an access point,
not repeater, so I'm hoping for 22mbps, as advertised by D-Link with their
"Air-Plus" hardware. I did try the "coffee can" approach with the 122 USB
adapter, but it was cumbersome and I didn't really see an improvement. If I
switched on the overhead fluorescent lights, I'd lose the wireless
connection. This 800AP+ in the house and 810+ in the garage work very well,
I'd just like a signal indicator to optimize placement before I start
drilling holes.
Thanks again, I'll try Winc.
Rob


<d***@XReXXCheck.usenet.us.com> wrote in message
Show quoteHide quote

Well, I tried Winc, but it won't detect the DWL-810+, as I guess it is not a
wireless adapter, it's an ethernet-to-wireless bridge. The error message is
"wireless adapyer not available".
Any ideas?
Thanks, Rob

Show quoteHide quote

If you don't have wireless on your system, how are you gonna receive
wireless stuf?
You talk about losing the wireless connection when you turn on the
flourescent lights, but then you say you don't have one anyway!
I'm using the dlink USB thing right now, and I just switched programs, and
it works just fine with Winc.... What happened to your 122 USB adapter?


MrSmiley wrote:
Show quoteHide quote

I'm saying that the DWL-810+ is not recognized by software or device manager
as a wireless device. It is recognized as a wired network adapter, because
it connects to the ethernet adapter in the computer. It is indeed wireless,
802.11b. It's quite a unique device, tonight I plugged it into a hub in the
garage and it will connect to as many computers as you have jacks on the
hub. And, it is much more stable than the 122 I replaced. I guess I'll never
know the connect speed, but as long as it works, I suppose it will suffice.
You must not be familiar with ethernet-to-wireless bridges. I have
reservations about these usb wireless devices, I have an AdHoc install at a
business next Monday using a pair of DWL-G120's, hope it goes OK.
Rob



Show quoteHide quote

And because it isn't an access point and therefore doesn't broadcast
Beacons management frames, it will not be seen by NetStumbler or
Winc.

Well, most so-called 'gaming adapters' will do this, as will most
multi-mode access points when configured in wireless client mode.

But the documentation never explicitly states that such devices
support multiple MAC addresses, and the configuration diagrmas always
seem to show one DWL-G810+ (or whatever) per attached device...

A good clue for multi-mode devices is that they implement repeater
mode. This is an implementation of WDS (Wireless Distribution System)
which by definition must support transmission between multiple MAC
addreeses. If it uses WDS for one mode, it's likely to use it for
wirless client mode as well. But I've never yet seen it referred to
in the documentation, certainly for D-Link kit with which I'm most
familiar.

As I said in another post, I would use NetStumbler for the site
survey to identify good placement, then run speed tests using Ixia's
Qcheck product.

Don't expect to see 22 Mbit/s - that's just theoretical. In practice,
you will be lucky to get much more than 6 Mbit/s.

Hope this helps

Thanks for the info. On a large file transfer, I get about 740kbps using a
TCP/IP traffic utility. What would that be in "wireless" terms?
Thanks,
Rob

Show quoteHide quote

740 Kbytes per second is not bad at all for 802.11b

Taking overhead into consideration, which I'm too lazy at the moment to look
up what it actually accounts for with 802.11, I'd put that just slightly
over 6 Mbits per second.

Cheers,
-Eric

Thanks, I get confused with bits, bytes, throughput, etc. 6Mbps sounds good,
Richard mentioned that was the practical limit of these devices. I must say
that these things (DWL-800AP+ and DWL-810+) are very stable, unlike the
DWL-122 I was using. I have no sudden disconnects, works good 24 hrs a day!
I must confess that I had 2 DWL-800AP+'s and reflashed one of them with 810
firmware from this discussion:
http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/dwl800ap_2bhack
So, I got a good strong connection from two cheap ($26) D-Link units. One is
used as an AP, the other an ethernet-to-wireless bridge. I ordered another
one just to have around.
One other thing- I also did the "power output" hack as described here:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,9778322~mode=flat
so that may have helped a bit. Interesting stuff, this wireless. I have an
install job next week, will be 2 computers in an Ad-Hoc setup using 2
DWL-G120's I picked up for $25 ea. at pcbay.com - hope it goes well.
Rob


Show quoteHide quote

Show quote Hide quote I'm with you, the DWL-810AP+'s are very cool!  Likewise, I've also found
them to be very stable.  They are very versatile and just great little
animals.  Going to pick up a couple more "just to have around" also, as it
seems that every time there is a great product on the market it gets pulled
for some reason.  Don't have any DWL-800AP's, but read many good things
about them as well.  One poster is this NG stated he was using like four
DWL-800AP+'s, in series, to extend an 802.11b SSID down his street to a
relative's house.  Guess he had very nice neighbors that allowed him to put
a DWL-800AP+ in their homes.

Needed to extend a range not too long ago to get a "Media Center" into the
loop.  As the "Media Center" uses 802.11g and my DI-764 Router/AP
(802.11a/b) wouldn't be able to give the best pipe for it (media files would
be coming of a tower in the WLAN), picked up two DWL-7100AP's (802.11a,
802.11g/b). Used one as a second AP plugged directly into the DI-764 router
and the other in repeater mode.  (They support WDS, which the DI-764 does
not.)  It works, but the firmwares for the DWL-7100AP's seem to have some
issues, especially with FCS (error control).  Been all the way up to DLink's
"level four" (or whatever) tech control before they finally stated it was
firmware issues and they will work to correct it with a future firmware
release.   Wireless isn't a "perfect science", but fun noneless.  :^)

Just started using a free and open source "WIFI Gateway" program called
"ZoneCD" recently that is also pretty cool.  Got one 802.11b SSID that I
keep wide open for anyone (can get to internet, but not to WLAN).  Neighbors
use it often from their back porch, along with friends and family.  Everyone
that I expect to be using it are trustworthy, but still was a little leary
about keeping an open pipe with absolute no control.  "ZoneCD" proved to be
an excellent solution, giving gateway control and logging.  Filtering is
also possible, but not doing any of that.  Don't expect anyone using it to
be downloading child porn or spamming -- which would be "worst case
scenerios" with such an open SSID.

An eldery woman that lives across the street and few houses down asked if
she could also use my wireless after seeing my neighbors using it from their
back porch.  Told her if she purchases an AP for her side, I'd be happy to
get the hardware necessary for my side -- along with hardware needed to
build and mount two cantennas to do a shot across the street.  Thats my next
project.  Fun stuff.  :^)

Cheers,
-Eric

"MrSmiley" in message
Hi,

I also have a couple DWL-810AP+'s in the house.  I mainly just use them for
game consoles, but they also are great for whenever someone comes over and
wants to use their laptop on the network but doesn't have any wireless
hardware.  Great little animals.

Likewise, I also had the same throughput concerns with them and also
would've liked to have seen signal strength included in the DWL-810AP+'s
firmware's "site survey".  The AP feeding the DWL-810AP+'s, however, do
include signal strength for connected clients (including the DWL-810AP's),
so can at least see what how well the AP is receiving them.

Not the answer you are looking for, I know, but as for throughput with the
DWL-810AP+'s, from time to time I hook up my laptop to them and do a large
file transfer across the WLAN.   Been very happy with their pipes.

Not surprised about the interference with the DWL-810AP+'s though.  I'm only
using the antenna it shipped with, yet often my DWL-810AP+'s are the only
wireless hardware I have that will pick up a faint signal from the
neighbor's SSID.

Cheers,
-Eric

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