Re: What this kind of device called?

On Thu, 24 Nov 2005 23:59:22 GMT, "Rob Nicholson"
<rob.nicholson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>We're thinking of going wireless in a new building but don't want to have to
>install wireless cards in all existing PCs. Is there a device that works
>like a little hub/switch but instead of it's uplink being a physical wire,
>uses a wireless connection to an access point?

Yes. It's called a "workgroup bridge". 3Scum and Cisco both make
them under that name. They limit the number of simultaneous client
connections to 4, 8, or 16 depending on the number of ethernet ports
or whatever. Essentially, it's a "multiple MAC address ethernet
client bridging wireless adapter". Whew!

16 devices
| http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/detail.jsp?tab=features&pathtype=purchase&sku=3CRWE675075

4 devices
| http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/detail.jsp?tab=features&pathtype=purchase&sku=3CRWE83096A

8 devices:
| http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/wireless/ps458/ps461/

There are others...

>The idea would be to simply
>plug the existing PCs in clusters (four per desk) into this "wireless hub".
>And I realise "wireless hub/switch" isn't probably the right name.

Other than the workgroup bridge boxes, you can also use a WRT54G or GS
with alternative firmware, to act as a client adapter. I think the
limit to the number of clients is about 253 with one of these. DD-WRT
firmware recommended. Look for "client mode".
| http://wrt-wiki.bsr-clan.de/index.php?title=Client_Mode_Wireless
--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
.

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