HD Extender wireless solutions thread

[autoboy]

Now that the HD extender is nearly here, and wireless N is here, I thought I would start a thread that is dedicated to getting wireless working with the HD extender.

Right now I use a client with a dedicated network using a Netgear RangeMax 240 and a Linksys SRX PCI card. Both use the same high speed chipset and can connect at 240mbps rate. I can get a constant 35mbps over this connection with dropouts very rare. As I switch to the HD extender, the PCI card will no longer work so I am searching for solutions.

Post your wireless extender solutions here and lets get a good informative thread going.

[bcjenkins]

Apple Airport Extreme can do wireless N WDS OOB including bridging. Otherwise, find a router on the approved list for DD-WRT.

B

[MeInMaui]

I think a pair of these will do the trick.

These are made by our sister company. They actually used one of these links (or a similar one) to wirelessly send HD video from a remote location for the Superbowl broadcast a few years ago. The only down side is they are a bit large and somewhat pricey.

Aloha,
Mike

[tmiranda]

I can just see one of these in my office next to the Sage server, one in the family room, and one in the bedroom. I bet if I hung the wet laundry on them it would dry quicker. The kids could also use them to cook their own hotdogs.

Lots of things I could do with these. Thanks Mike.

[sainswor99]

The Dlink DAP-1555 MediaBridge is supposed to bridge with any wireless-N router; if you've already got a wireless-N solution, you may only need to buy this one.

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=570

[mightyt]

Anyone ever try the Netgear Powerline HD Ethernet Adapter (HDX101) with Sage?

Supports 200mbps speed ... and QoS for Video ...

http://www.netgear.com/Products/Powe...rs/HDX101.aspx

http://www.netgear.com/upload/second...ison_chart.pdf

Thoughts?

[autoboy]

The powerline adapters never worked for me. It didn't even come close even when put in the same room.

Actually, my brother uses those 60 and 80 Ghz Gigabit wireless links in his company too. They work really well but are ~$15K

[autoboy]

Do any of these N products actually work reliably? Are we out of the teething problems that we had with Draft N and on to ones that actually work? Does anyone use any of these N products for the clients?

[bcjenkins]

I am reliably using the Apple products in clients' homes.

B

[geogecko]

I plan on getting the D-Link DIR-855 when it's available, problem is, it doesn't look like they are working on a compatible (dual-band) Ethernet extender.

I currently have a WRT54G and a Buffalo Ethernet Extender. Currently, this is just giving the HTPC an internet connection, and there are currently no clients (was using the Ethernet extender for our bedroom MVP, but since this new house isn't wired, had to swap duties around).

Anyway, I was hoping to use something like this, because wiring a 2-story house is not going to happen.

My plan is to relocate the HTPC to the study, get it on the DIR-855 gigabit switch with the study computer, then have the HD extender in the living room, and eventually add one to the bedroom, then at some point, put the MVP up in the game room.

There is a possibility that I could run Ethernet in just a few places, such as the study, and maybe the game room, if I can get around a few things. The master bedroom would also be an option, since nothing is above it. The hard part would be getting one to the living room, since it would be on an outside wall, although I plan on running surround speaker wiring that way, so why not throw in another Cat 5e cable while I'm at it...

Hmm...if I do all that, guess I won't need wireless...but it would be a lot less work on my end.

[geogecko]

Originally Posted by sainswor99

The Dlink DAP-1555 MediaBridge is supposed to bridge with any wireless-N router; if you've already got a wireless-N solution, you may only need to buy this one.

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=570

Ah, that looks interesting, similar to an Ethernet Extender like I was talking about. This says it's dual band, but there appears to be two types of dual band devices, one that can use one or the other, and then another that uses both bands at the same time...

[sainswor99]

Take a look at the manual; I believe if you have two of them, you'll get complete dual-band usage. If you only have one, I think it acts as a bridge over one or the other.

I could be wrong.

[fyodor]

Does anybody else have any experience with the powerline solutions? The official reviews were positive, but I don't know how representative they are.

Edit: It looks like the Linksys powerline adapter got good but not consistently good reviews at amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/review/product...DateDescending

[HawgGuy]

Bite the bullet guys, get up in the attic and string some CAT6 cable.

[fyodor]

My fiance would beat me like a drum if she found ethernet cables all over the house.

Has anybody heard anything about the coaxial bridge technologies? This advertises 128mbits/s

http://www.newtechindustries.com/new...ge_to_coax.htm

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by fyodor

My fiance would beat me like a drum if she found ethernet cables all over the house.

I just dropped Cat 5e cables from down the wall from my attic right along side the existing cable drops. Then it was just a matter of replacing the cable connector wall plate with a modular wall plate with ethernet and cable connectors installed. It was easy and the result is very clean. Best of all, I now have gigabit ethernet wired throughout the house.

Aloha,
Mike

[sainswor99]

Originally Posted by HawgGuy

Bite the bullet guys, get up in the attic and string some CAT6 cable.

Tough in a two story house with no basement. I could drill a couple of holes in the hardy plank and string it outside, or I could stay wireless. Hmmm, tough call.

[sainswor99]

Originally Posted by fyodor

Does anybody else have any experience with the powerline solutions? The official reviews were positive, but I don't know how representative they are.

Edit: It looks like the Linksys powerline adapter got good but not consistently good reviews at amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/review/product...DateDescending

I tried the Netgear solution and got no joy. It worked fine in the same room, but two rooms over, I got like 2MB. I've heard that newer houses (for some reason) are less likely to have consistent connections than older houses.

Stu

[autoboy]

Like I said before, I had no luck with either the 85mbit powerline, and the 240mbit powerline. My house is 2200 sqft built in 2000. The 85mbit version worked better for me by far. The 240 would not even establish a connection in the same place. The connection would peak at 20mbit, but was all over the place and could not maintain a good link, especially not one as reliable as a HD stream needs. Wait, I still have that damn 85mbit version...

[BBCritical]

Has anyone had any luck with the Auragrid Home Network Extension Kit? http://www.smarthome.com/6404k.html