Make modem/router wireless repeater.

[w1r3d]

Hi, I remember seeing somewhere that there was this linux firmware or interface or something that you could put in some modems and routers to have more options in them, I currently have a Motorola sbg900 and it doesn't have the option to be a wireless repeater and i was wondering if there was something i could do to make it a wireless repeater...

[+BudMan MVC]

Um highly unlikey you will find 3rd party firmware for a MODEM.. the sbg900 is a gateway device, ie modem/router combo.. I know of no 3rd party firmware for it..

If your unhappy with the features of your gateway device -- just use it a modem only, ie bridge mode, disable NAT, and get whatever wireless routers support the features your after.. I would suggest anything that will run dd-wrt

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/What_...pported_Devices

Page 41 of the manual talks about NAT for that sbg900 http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/pr..._User_Guide.pdf

[w1r3d]

actually dude look at this www.openwrt.org , if im reading right that site has a linux firmware for a bunch of routers, i was hoping i could find something like that for mine to make it a wireless repeater but I havent found anything...

[RaisinCain]

If anyone can help it's Bud. Not too sure here. Let me do some checking.

[w1r3d]

hehe yea I have noticed budmann knows alot about this things, I think I am asking for something that needs hardware moding or something more complex than just a firmware but who knows.... maybe it will be easier just to buy one instead of trying to do magic... well I'm gonna keep searching a little more, thanks for your help guys, if you find anything let me know.

[+BudMan MVC]

Dude - the odds of finding any 3rd party firmware for that modem are very slim!!, and it would be rare to find it for any modem.. Router YES!! Modems NO!

Your device is a combo of a cable modem and a router -- ie unlikely that there will ever be any 3rd party firmware!

I am well aware of all the major 3rd party firmwares out there - openwrt is one of the better ones, but would not be for the every day user.. dd-wrt which will run openwrt packages, etc.. would be better suited for most users.

None that I know of would run on cable modems..

See any cable modems here?

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/What_...pported_Devices

Openwrt - do you see any cable modems listed here?

http://wiki.openwrt.org/TableOfHardware

How about here?

http://www.sveasoft.com/modules/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16132

Part of the reason I would never suggest anyone ever get a gateway device.. It limits you to what you can do.. Your device can be used as just a modem though.. Then you are free to use whatever wireless or wired router your little heart desires.

Yes there is some limited support for ADSL gateway devices.. But that is not what you have, I have NEVER seen any 3rd party firmware for any cable modems.. Yes there is some support for some motorola devices --> wireless bridges, routers and accesspoints, none of which are cable modems.

As I said in my first post.. You can buy any wireless router you want, multiple ones to setup a WDS network -- anything that supports dd-wrt will support WDS, and still use your sbg900 as your modem. I would recommend the Buffalo WHR-G54S currently, they can be had for less than $40 delivered to your door.. And are nice, will run dd-wrt just fine.. No issue with exactly what version your getting, like in the linksys wrt54g line.. Unless you pay more for the GL, etc..

[w1r3d]

thanks man... i really appreciate your help

[w1r3d]

well i just decided to buy one of this routers to install ddwrt in it but before i go i wanted to make sure that i can make it a wireless repeater? can i?

what i want to do is be able to connect to my friends wireless internet conecction, i can see his essid from my house but not everywhere so i want to add a repeater to be able to connect everywhere in my house and i was wondering if i can do it with ddwrt.

thanks

[h3xis]

  w1r3d said:

well i just decided to buy one of this routers to install ddwrt in it but before i go i wanted to make sure that i can make it a wireless repeater? can i?

what i want to do is be able to connect to my friends wireless internet conecction, i can see his essid from my house but not everywhere so i want to add a repeater to be able to connect everywhere in my house and i was wondering if i can do it with ddwrt.

thanks

You can but IIRC it cuts the bandwidth in half.

[+BudMan MVC]

Yes you can do that with DD-wrt, you could either setup a true WDS with him. Or just your router as client mode if his router does not support WDS.

But yes as h3xis has mentioned -- any type you have to relay or repeat a wireless connection, it will lower your overall bandwidth..

But most of the time wireless is not the bottleneck, the inet connection is - so the lower bandwidth of a WDS or repeated wireless hops should not really matter.. Unless what your after is node to node transfer on the wireless network?

edit:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Client_Mode_Wireless

Client mode wireless is generally used to "retrieve" an Internet connection (using the Wireless portion of the router) from another router, and then share it out to the LAN (wired switch ports).If you have a wireless router connected to the Internet in one location and would like to connect wired clients in a remote location to allow shared Internet, one solution is to use Client Mode Wireless. This will not require the host router to be running DD-WRT firmware. The WRT running DD-WRT firmware and configured to run in Client Mode will connect to the host router as though it were any other wireless client, and will share the wireless connection out the the LAN (wired switch ports) as though the host router were connected directly to its WAN port.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Wireless_Bridge

Wireless Bridging is used to connect two LAN segments via a wireless link. The two segments will be in the same subnet and look like two Ethernet switches connected by a cable, to all computers on the subnet. Since the computers are on the same subnet, broadcasts will reach all machines, allowing DHCP clients in one segment to get their addresses from a DHCP server in a different segment. You could use a Wireless Bridge to transparently connect computer(s) in one room to computer(s) in a different room when you could not, or did not want to run an Ethernet cable between the rooms. Contrast this with Client Mode Wireless, where the local wireless device running DD-WRT connects to the remote router as a client, creating two separate subnets.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php?title..._router_network

WDS (Wireless Distribution Service) creates a wireless backbone link between multiple access points that are part of the same wireless network. This allows a wireless network to be expanded using multiple access points without the need for a wired backbone to link them, as is traditionally required. The WDS-enabled access points can accept wireless clients (e.g. wireless laptop users) just as traditional APs would. There is no free lunch, however: WDS consumes wireless bandwidth normally available to wireless clients.

Edited January 3, 2007 by BudMan