wireless and media extender

[snoopy]

I just upgraded my computer for SageTV and connected it to a standard TV via SVideo. I am opting for yet another round with SageTV as it still looks superior to Windows Media Center or Meedio. I would like to buy an extender for the TV in the other room complete with remote. I do not have a way to connect directly to the router though I understand this to be preferred. Is a wireless connection an option and if so, what should I buy?

need to buy
1) way to extend media without a computer complete with remote
2) way to connect wirelessly

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by snoopy

I just upgraded my computer for SageTV and connected it to a standard TV via SVideo. I am opting for yet another round with SageTV as it still looks superior to Windows Media Center or Meedio. I would like to buy an extender for the TV in the other room complete with remote. I do not have a way to connect directly to the router though I understand this to be preferred. Is a wireless connection an option and if so, what should I buy?

need to buy
1) way to extend media without a computer complete with remote
2) way to connect wirelessly

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

IF you have to go wireless, then the only option really is to go Draft N and buy an HD100 and use a wireless bridge to the HD100. I am not a fan of wireless video, but this is about the only way to be sure that you have the bandwidth needed for HD and the speed to handle the occassional lost packet...

[matt91]

The wireless MVPs, which I think were nice in theory, never really cut it. While I haven't tried wireless since my abysmissal MVP experience, I've heard lots of folks say that a wireless bridge is the way to go.

[Polypro]

N if anything. I had to switch to 54G temporarily while I replaced a Cat5 cable...it was unusable.

P

[snoopy]

Originally Posted by paulbeers

IF you have to go wireless, then the only option really is to go Draft N and buy an HD100 and use a wireless bridge to the HD100. I am not a fan of wireless video, but this is about the only way to be sure that you have the bandwidth needed for HD and the speed to handle the occassional lost packet...

OK... Network is very secure. Would a wireless access point work? If not, what bridge would you recommend?

[reggie14]

I think at least one person has reported good results with the Netgear WNHDEB111 HD/Gaming Wireless-N kit. It's mainly just for a point-to-point wireless connection, so you'd probably continue using a different wireless router for PC connections. Another option would be to pick up a couple Linksys WRT150N routers and use that for bridging after loading DD-WRT on them. I got one a while back for $50, but it looks like the price is back up to $90, so the Netgear route might be better. The Netgear has the advantage of using the 5Ghz range, which probably has a lot less interference. That's what I'm planning on getting in the next week or two.

[snoopy]

Originally Posted by reggie14

I think at least one person has reported good results with the Netgear WNHDEB111 HD/Gaming Wireless-N kit. It's mainly just for a point-to-point wireless connection, so you'd probably continue using a different wireless router for PC connections. Another option would be to pick up a couple Linksys WRT150N routers and use that for bridging after loading DD-WRT on them. I got one a while back for $50, but it looks like the price is back up to $90, so the Netgear route might be better. The Netgear has the advantage of using the 5Ghz range, which probably has a lot less interference. That's what I'm planning on getting in the next week or two.

Currently I have one Linksys WPA200 router capable of VOIP, wireless, and wired routing. It takes care of a VOIP phone, 2 wireless computers, a wireless printer, and SageTV which is hard wired to the router.

If I added a media extender + remote, your suggestion would be to get an additional router (Linksys WRT150N), load DD-WRT? on it and "use it for" bridging?

I guess I'm lost in the terminology. In brief, how are bridging, routing, and wireless access points different?

[reggie14]

OK, so right now you have a wireless-G router. That's going to be too slow to use with the HD100, so you're going to need a way to create a wireless-N link to your HD100.

A wireless access point provides service to wireless clients, like laptops, etc, but can't actually connect to a separate wireless network. Your WAP200 is an example of a wireless access point. In general, wireless access points are what we typically refer to as wireless routers.

A wireless bridge essentially bridges two portions of a wired network using a wireless link. So, there's typically two devices which look sort of like wireless access points (they might just have one ethernet jack each). The general idea behind a bridge is that you have a wired network, and a separate device with a ethernet port, like an HD100, that you want to attach to the network, only you can't run networking cable. So, you connect one bridge device to your existing switch, and the other bridge device to your HD100. Then you set up the two bridge devices to communicate with each other. The end result is the HD100 is on the same network as the rest of your components.

The two bridge devices might be specialized network devices for precisely this purpose. That's essentially what the Netgear kit is that I mentioned. Alternatively, sometimes you can take your existing wireless router, and use a special bridging device just on the side with the HD100. That bridging device would act as a client to your wireless router. That's what I was doing for a while. I had a wireless access point set up in my apartment, and I had a second wireless router with DD-WRT installed on it. I set up the second router to connect to my wireless access point and then I just plugged in my desktop into that router.

Does that make any sense? I think I just went off on a long, unintelligible rant. But, based on what you already have, I think it would make the most sense to get the Netgear kit. That will do what you want, and it would probably work quite well. People seem to be reporting that it you can get 90mbits/sec of bandwidth out of it- just a little slower than 100mbit ethernet, and plenty fast for HD.

[snoopy]

It makes much more sense now. So you are saying to get the WNHDEB111 wireless gaming kit which consists of the two(2) bridge devices.

It looks like well over $100. Any thoughts on where to purchase?

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by snoopy

It looks like well over $100. Any thoughts on where to purchase?

Yeah, it's pretty pricey. Newegg has it for $180.

The other option would be to purchase 2 Linksys WRT150N routers. I see Geeks.com is selling refurbished WRT150Ns for $50 apiece (but I've never personally bought from them) , while Newegg has new ones for $90 each. I think one person on these forums went that route and is having a pretty good experience with it. The setup for that would be a bit more difficult, since it would involve installing third-party firmware on the routers and manually setting up the bridge between the two routers.

If you live in an area with a lot of wireless traffic, like an apartment building, I think you'd have much better luck with the WNHDEB111. If you have your own house and you don't see more than one or two wireless networks the WRT150N would probably work OK too, but there's more risk involved.

[snoopy]

What do you think about a couple of these ?

Since my network is 802.11G, how could a bridge allow it to run faster than that?

Is the one I am pointing out too slow?

[Slipshod]

If you have coax you could try getting a couple of MOCA boxes from Ebay. There are fairly plug-and-play (no config, just need two cable-TV jacks on the same in-house cable network.

Search for "NIM100" on Ebay. You can probably get them for $30-40 each, and you'd just need two.

If you'd rather not try it, then the 11n bridge is the way to go. If possible get one that supports 5GHz operation. 2.4GHz is crowded - Bluetooth, Wii, Xbox360, Microwave ovens, Cordless Phones, wireless speakers, baby monitors, etc... (Don't ya just love the unlicensed spectrum?)

Cheers,
Slipshod

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by snoopy

Since my network is 802.11G, how could a bridge allow it to run faster than that?

The eBay link was for a wireless-G device, which is too slow. You basically need to set up a separate wireless-N network that would would be wired to your existing network. So, it wouldn't be using your wireless-G network at all.

And, after a second look, it turns out those really aren't the kind of wireless bridges I'm talking about. That seems to just be device that you could hook up to your stereo and have it play music off your PC. The sort of thing you need is often called a gaming adapter. I haven't seen any wireless-n adapters, but they might be out there.