Hi everybody,


I have to setup a wireless network in a very large office with some walls in the middle separating it in different areas with lots (near 120) user with laptops and despite there is a wired network they can connect to, 70-80% of the people are connected to the wifi most of the time.

I've been looking at devices like d-link DAP-2553 , but there is something that seems very confusing to me.

They say that this device supports WDS, WDS-AP and REPEATER modes among others.

I understant perfectly what is WDS and in fact, I've set up this in the past.... but, what is the technical difference between WDS and REPEATER modes?

I'm planning to buy at least 3 of these, How would you connect them to have the best coverage and bandwidth possible?


Thanks a lot for your help!

May be this can help a little.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r204...ter-and-AP-WDS

I've already read that but it did not help me.

That explanation is about the difference between a BRIDGE and a REPEATER and what I don't fully understand is the difference between two devices configured via WDS and two devices configured one as an AP and the other as a REPEATER.


Thanks!

From wiki:
A Wireless Distribution System (WDS) is a system that enables the wireless interconnection of access points in an IEEE 802.11 network. It allows a wireless network to be expanded using multiple access points without the need for a wired backbone to link them, as is traditionally required.
And

WDS can be used to provide two modes of wireless AP-to-AP connectivity:
Wireless Bridging in which WDS APs communicate only with each other and don't allow wireless clients or Stations (STA) to access them
Wireless Repeating in which APs communicate with each other and with wireless STAs.

But, you can just connect AP to switch by ethernet and place them where it necessary. Each AP will have own channel and will cover all rooms. It easy to install and easy to configure later.

So, after having investigated an read lots of documentation, here is what I understand about operation modes:

AP (aka BRIDGE): Normal access point to which STAtions can connect and have access to a router on a wired network

WDS+AP: Like AP, but also another device in REPEATER mode can connect to it, that other device will just forward packets forth and back.

REPEATER: a second device that connects to a primary WDS device who has access to the wired network


My conclusions are that I can just have, for example, 3 APs (configured each one as if they where the only ones), all three with the same SSID , different channels and using the same authentication methods and then stations would would choose the one with better signal. More else, each AP would be in a different VLAN to isolate even more replies from the router (that is, traffic from one AP won't be seen by other APs)



Please, correct me if I'm wrong in something, and thank you very much for your help!

May I ask, how you are going to connect that 3 AP (from your example) with router?
Why you want to give the same SSID, and why you need wlan, you can give them 3 different IP, connect to the cheapest switch and this switch to router (1 GW and 3 sub networks), and packets will be able to go between the subnetworks (I think that sometimes necessary)

But if you still want to use WDS (which is Cisco idea, if I'm not wrong) I suggest to download manual and carefully read it, before purchase the device.