AirPort Relays

nebagakidnebagakid
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Is it possible at all to build some sort of AirPort Relay device? You could set them up in place to pick up a certain base station or software base station and then broadcast it out to a larger radius. This would increase the 150 feet (barely half a football feild) restriction by adding more space to roam. it would be great for schools, offices,and those really big homes that streatch more than 150 feet in any radii



well, what does y'all think of this done here idea-rum <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    msleemslee Posts: 143member
    Airport base stations are, to the best of my knowledge, capable of doing this.



    They can repeat a given network and in fact, this is what schools that use the Airport do to provide adequate coverage to large structures.
  • Reply 2 of 15
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    They have 'roaming' capabilities, but not a real relay capability. You can have multiple basestations far apart with the ability for a client to roam between them, but the bases have to be on the same subnet.



    You can't have a wireless relay between two basestations, which would be a very nice feature.
  • Reply 3 of 15
    logan calelogan cale Posts: 1,281member
    I thought of that idea last year when I wanted to get broadband at home, but it's not available. Would be rather expensive to relay it for 60 miles though...



    I got about 300 feet with AirPort recently.
  • Reply 4 of 15
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    I seem to recall Apple mentioning this has a future feature of airport.



    I remember them mentioning it at one of the ducation seminars I went to.
  • Reply 5 of 15
    the swanthe swan Posts: 82member
    No, Airport base stations can't do this. I thought this would have been a good idea a while ago (my e-mail to O'Grady was even published, woohoo!). Since you can have software base stations I thought that it might even have been neat to sort of have a dynamic network where software base station could extend the network on the fly. Granted the software might be a bit complicated, but could be done.



    There ARE 802.11-based base stations that act as repeaters. These are called bridges and I believe the major wireless network players all have them. I know what were once Lucent, then Orinoco, and I think now Avaya base stations can do this. This is a great idea because you can have one point connected to a physical network and then a theoretically infinite wireless network. The [formerly] Lucent base-stations use two 802.11 cards (in this case PCMCIA, great idea because it makes for easy upgrading to new technology), one acting as a transmitter and the other as a receiver. If you don't need wireless bridging you can use the two cards to support clients on two different 802.11 channels, effictively doubling your client capactiy. I don't know if it would be possible, perhaps performance would be bad, to have one card act as an access point and wirelss bridge.
  • Reply 6 of 15
    bkuchtabkuchta Posts: 18member
    I know the Linksys wireless access point can act as a bridge between two phisical networks. I suppose that could also mean it would act as a repeater. I know the linksys wireless access points are the cheapest way to make a wireless bridge. I think they are &lt;$200 each.
  • Reply 7 of 15
    msleemslee Posts: 143member
    I thought you were just asking about saturating a school or business with 802.11b.



    Are you asking if its possible to make like a chain of 802.11b, using only a single WAN connection and providing a coverage cloud?



    There are hacks out there for this. Try and do a google search (include Usenet stuff too).



    [ 12-25-2001: Message edited by: mslee ]</p>
  • Reply 8 of 15
    discstickersdiscstickers Posts: 314member
    [quote]Originally posted by Eugene:

    <strong>They have 'roaming' capabilities, but not a real relay capability. You can have multiple basestations far apart with the ability for a client to roam between them, but the bases have to be on the same subnet.

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    ...and physically connected to the network. Large-scale wireless networks are oh-so sweet.
  • Reply 9 of 15
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Bastard from Carnegie Mellon.
  • Reply 10 of 15
    tcotco Posts: 87member
    Relays are nice, and as others have mentioned, wireless bridges are available from other vendors. Of course, you could just plug a half-decent antenna into it, and get greatly increased range without a second airport, if thats all you are really interested in
  • Reply 11 of 15
    discstickersdiscstickers Posts: 314member
    [quote]Originally posted by Eugene:

    <strong>Bastard from Carnegie Mellon. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    There are rumors of the network expanding to a 2 mile radius around campus. :eek: :eek:



    I wish there was an Airport-enabled MP3 player.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    tcotco Posts: 87member
    [quote]I wish there was an Airport-enabled MP3 player<hr></blockquote>



    Errr... you mean an iPaq with a wireless card?? Sure, it's kinda bulky, but the technology exists
  • Reply 12 of 15
    nebagakidnebagakid Posts: 2,692member
    well, i mean, let us say that you had a group of four people (persons A-D)who had AirPort cards, but bummer, no high speed internet access.....

    each person lives in a 150 foot radius of another, but person A does not neccesarily live 150 feet from person D.....



    is it possible for them to some how make it so person A, who lives 400 feet or so from person D, to connect to D and everyone else so they can share files?



    this would be great! Making relays and making them cheap could allow people to invest in one, set it one a buidling and then anyone can use it for themselves...as long as that is actually possible....public relays
  • Reply 14 of 15
    tcotco Posts: 87member
    [quote]is it possible for them to some how make it so person A, who lives 400 feet or so from person D, to connect to D and everyone else so they can share files?<hr></blockquote>

    Yup



    [quote]this would be great! Making relays and making them cheap could allow people to invest in one, set it one a buidling and then anyone can use it for themselves...as long as that is actually possible....public relays <hr></blockquote>



    These exist as well, and are typically referred to as wireless freenets. I know you'll think I'm smoking crack when I say this, but if you have line of sight between two access points (airports), and a directional antenna on each one, you can bridge 10 miles or so. I'll find some links so you know I'm not on drugs . I believe most of the wireless bridges have two wireless cards in them, while the airport only has one. I'm sure at some point in the future you'll see this type of capability, but only when it makes financial sense for them. To me it seems like it would be theoretically possible with just one, but what do I know.
  • Reply 15 of 15
    tcotco Posts: 87member
    Here ya go... long distance wireless networking with a pringles can



    <a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/weblog/view/wlg/448"; target="_blank">http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/weblog/view/wlg/448</a>;
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