Linksys Wireless Repeater

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Introduction
Depending on the size of your house and/or garden. You may find that your wireless device is not giving out a strong enough signal. This is not a fault of your equipment, it is a limitation of the technology. The wireless products from BT are among the best 802.11G performers on the market. However, all 802.11G products suffer from range limitations.

You can improve matters though, with a wireless repeater such as this one from Linksys. Simply put, the wireless repeater picks up the existing wireless signal, and rebroadcasts it at (close to) full strength.

Some repeaters work in a proprietory fashion and will only function with kit designed by the same manufacturer. However the Linksys repeater seems to work with all wireless kit that supports "WDS" (Wireless Distribution System). Fortunately for us, the 2100 and 1500 both support WDS.

In this review, I configure the repeater and test it in a variety of environments. I will say now though, that I was very pleasently surprised with my findings. It proved to be a very nice piece of kit.

Appearance
The repeater is fairly compact in size. It has a hefty aerial, which you would expect, but other than that is fairly unintrusive.


Side view of the repeater.

To configure it you will probably want to use an ethernet connection. This is tucked away under the flap as shown above.


The picture above shows the plug, so you can get an idea of size.


Configuring the Repeater.
The repeater does have an autodetect faciity but to be honest I wouldn't recommend anybody use it. If you have security enabled, you won't be able to use it anyway, so it is better to know how to configure it manually.

Before you do any configuring though, you need to make a note of your existing wireless settings.

You will need the following information:

SSID
Wireless channel

If you are using WEP or WPA you will also need to know the relevent password.

If you are unsure of the information above, you should navigate to http://192.168.1.1 and view the wireless settings in your ADVANCED menu. Remember, if you get asked for an ADVANCED username and password it is admin and admin.

Once you have got that information, you should plug the repeater into one of the ethernet ports on the modem.

Once you have done that, you can navigate to http://192.168.1.240 and you will be on the repeater admin screen.

Input the relevent information you have already noted above, and thats it!

Now you can unplug the repeater and go and plug it in a suitable location.

Using The Repeater
Experiment 1: Inside

The first experiment was indoors. I covered my 2100 with a saucepan to dampen the signal, then went upstairs with a laptop to a point as far away from the modem as possible.

As the screenshot below shows, the signal was very poor.



I then plugged in the repeater, which I had previously configured. If I then viewed ethe available networks I saw two identical ones, one a much stronger signal. I connected to this one, and my signal strength jumped right up!



This is interesting, because according to this I am now getting a full 54mps signal. However, I think the reality isn't quite so rosey. The 54Mbps is because I was quite near to the repeater. The repeater itself will not be getting a 54mbps signal, it is more likely to be in the region of 20mbps. So despite the fact it rebroadcasts at 54mbps, the bottleneck will be the 20mbps.

Does that make sense? The bottom line is, you may be able to achieve a better ACTUAL signal strength by careful siting of the repeater. For instance, had I placed the repeater above the modem on the top floor, but two rooms away from me, then I would have got a weaker signal from the repeater. Lets say I get 36Mbps. However, because the repeater is closer to the modem, it can now pick up data more quickly. If it now picks up data at 36Mbps, then it will be better to site the repeater here. The aim is not to get the strongest signal between the PC and the repeater, it is to get the strongest signal between the PC and the repeater AND the repeater and the MODEM. So think before you site the repeater, and don't be afraid to experiment.


Experiment 2: Outside.

If I go to the bottom of the garden, I get this signal:



Now, I could site the repeater right next to me, and get 54mbps from it. However, the repeater would still only be picking up about 5mpbs itself from the modem, so the signal it broadcast would only actually be that strong, despite the 54mbps reading I would get.

So instead I site the repeater half way down the garden. This gives me a strength of 36mbps at the back of the garden. However, as the repeater is getting a good signal from the modem, the ACTUAL figure will indeed be closer to 36mbps.



So, to summarise, if you are having problems with reception, one of these repeaters will definately help you. They are simple to install and simple to move about, so experiment to find the perfect location. Definately a worthy purchase.