Setting up WAP4410N as Wireless Repeater

[bluem9000]

Hello,

Currently I have a WAP4410N setup and would like to add a second WAP4410N but as wireless repeater. I want my users to have wireless access without the need to keep changing the wireless connection based on their location within the factory.

The AP Mode on teh WAP4410N gives me the options below, but I am not sure which one is the correct one:

Option 1 - Wireless WDS Repeater

Option 2 - Wireless Client/Repeater

Below is the link from cisco with explanation.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10047/products_qanda_item09186a0080a3916b.shtml

Also, if have WAP54G, can I setup this unit to be a wireless repeater with the WAP4410N devices? or all repeaters must be of the same model? Existing WAP4410 is setup to operate at Wireless B/G Mixed mode.

Thanks,

B

[mpyhala]

Hi John,

Thank you for posting. Set up the first WAP4410N in Access Point mode and check the box that says: Allow wireless signal to be repeated by a repeater. Enter the WIRELESS MAC Address of the second WAP4410N. Make sure you get the wireless MAC from the status pages, not the wired MAC. Set up the second AP in WDS Repeater mode and do a site survey. When it locates the first AP, enter the security, etc. and it should establish a permanent wireless connection. I don not know if the WAP54G will work. I looked at the interface for that device and it shows the following:

"Wireless Repeater" mode, this device will only communicate with another Linksys Access Point (WAP54G) and Linksys Wireless-G Router "(WRT54G).

Please keep us updated.

[bluem9000]

Thanks. I performed the following steps and was not sure if both access points should exact same configuration in all settings...for example should the Wireless Network Mode and Wireless Channel be same on both devices? Should the SSID 1 name be the same?

On another question...some of my users had problems connecting to access point when I was using B/G/N Mixed mode. When I changed it to B/G Mixed mode they were able to connect.  The laptops we have are all new and have Wireless N cards.  Is this an issue on the laptop or on the access point? I noticed that under Wireless>Advanced Settings> there is the Channel Bandwidth option for 20MHZ or 40MHZ. I think when I had the mode at B/G/N the bandwidth channel was set to 20MHZ, should I change to 40MHZ and try if that helps with B/G/N operations?  Not sure why there was a problem.

Thanks....B

[bluem9000]

I am not sure what I did but the changes I made to both WAP4410N Access Point to setup as repeaters took our entire network down.  Even caused my AD (ADMIN) account to get locked out.  Once I disabled the wireless repeaters setup my network came back with no problems.

Can someone offer any assistance? I must have done something that caused the network to go down.

[mpyhala]

Hi John,

Did you have an ethernet cable plugged into the AP that is in repeater mode? If so and if it is plugged into your network this could cause a loop. Regarding your previous question, the settings should be the same on the Access Point and Repeater.

[bluem9000]

Both access points are plugged into a switch via the only ethernet port on each AP. I think I might be not cleared on this point. Are you saying that one access point should be plugged into the network while the other one should not be?

Thanks...B

[mpyhala]

Hi John,

When using WDS Repeater the 2nd AP (Repeater) should not be plugged into the network.

[bluem9000]

So if I understood it correctly, my setup should be as follow:

1. Setup First WAP4410N AP and connect to our network. Make sure the AP Mode is set to " Allow wireless signal to be repeated by a repeater" and enter the MAC address of the second Wireless Repeater.

2.  Setup the Second WAP4410N AP and make sure AP Mode is set to WDS Repeater Mode. While I am doing the setup for second AP, should I connect it my network to complete the setup then unplug from network or when I am doing the setup I don't need to plug it to our network.

Thanks....B

[mpyhala]

John,

When setting up the repeater I would set a static IP on a PC and plug the AP directly into it. Configure the repeater settings and unplug when it is connected to the remote AP. You could probably get away with having it plugged into the network but remove it as soon as repeater is enabled.

[John Frankish]

What worked for me was plugging the wap4410n that will act as a repeater into a router, changing the settings to allow wireless (http) browser access and then completing the rest of the setup wirelessly. Since a wap4410n has both a wired and wireless mac address, make sure you use the correct one when configuring the ap and repeater.

All this being said, with the current firmware, a wap4410n acting as a repeater for a wap4410n ap will only work (semi) reliably for me with wep encryption. If you need to use wpa2, you will need the beta firmware.