I think I need a bridge...

[yoodle]

I'm trying to connect two offices in an old wood building without running an ethernet cable between them. I'm assuming what I need is a bridge?

The second office is 30 feet from where I could put one wireless device in the first office. We have no other wireless gear (except a microwave oven) and my computer doesn't detect any other wireless networks around either. There will be perhaps as many as 4 people in the second office, and I want them to transparently share the same LAN as in the first office. In order to avoid pulling any wires, we'll have to have VoIP access between offices as well; I've got the phone technology for that, so long as we have a suitable underlying network.

Does anybody have a suggestion on how I should try to do this? I'm thinking either a pair of WNHDE111 from Netgear or a pair of D-Link DAP-1522 devices, although I don't see any of the D-Links at the local Canadian stores so maybe they aren't approved for sale in Canada yet.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[thiggins]

Yes, you could use a wireless bridge. 5GHz would be better than 2.4 due to the microwave oven. But 5GHz range will be less than 2.4GHz.

The DAP-1522 would be better than the WNHDE111 because it's dual band, which would let you try both bands. But on the downside, I found its 2.4GHz operation to be flaky.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30455/96/1/2/

You could also use powerline as an alternative. Use two of the same make and model devices that say "200 Mbps" somewhere on the box.

 

[scotty]

There will be perhaps as many as 4 people in the second office, and I want them to transparently share the same LAN as in the first office. In order to avoid pulling any wires, we'll have to have VoIP access between offices as well; I've got the phone technology for that, so long as we have a suitable underlying network.

Hopefully nobody is going to be using the phone much. I've done almost this exact setup for a past client (albeit in a metal building, no wood) because they were ardently opposed to running wire. Basically, it never worked terribly well, and it really showed in the VOIP calls. It was a fairly internet heavy office, so there weren't too many days that went by where there wasn't complaining of some type. We tried both G and A with various antennas. After further expansion of the office into another part of the building, we just said 'screw it' and ran a pair of Cat5 cables.

You could do this, but definately stick to 5GHz if you can (A or N) like Tim says. From past experiences like these, I'm a big advocate of calling an electrician and having them run some wires, but that's just me. It rarely ends up being terribly expensive (most electricians will charge about $80-$120/drop). Again, I'm biased. Stick to 5GHz and you might have some better results. This was a couple years ago and wireless gear has come a ways (N wasn't around when we were doing this), so hopefully you have better luck.

 

[thiggins]

Scotty, that's definitely good advice, especially due to VoIP.

The auto-QoS on the Netgear bridge might help with outgoing voice. But the D-Link bridge doesn't have QoS at all, if I remember correctly.

 

[yoodle]

Thanks everyone. I'll definitely try to run a cable, but it is good to know I have a backup option if I'm unable to get it through. (This is one strange old building...)

 

[scotty]

One of the smartest things I did in my IT consulting days was getting to know good electricians. It never ceases to amaze me how much fear there is surrounding running a few cat5's.

In your case since there's VOIP involved, I would be very cautious about using wireless. Voice is one of those things that you'll notice any problem almost immediately and consistently. Even a little tiny bit of echo, jitter, or scratching drives people up the wall. One small blip in connectivity and your calls get pooched. Not good.