Need a bridge (I think).

[kricker]

I have a Dlink DIR-655 router in my office which is at the far end of my 2000 sq. foot 1 level house from my media room. I have 1 cat 5 cable running to the media room from the router. In the media room I have my HTPC hardwired to that one cable. The main problem is my wife's laptop and our iPods have terrible wireless connection in the media room. I'd like to get a product that has multiple Gigabit ports and extend my wireless network into this room and the adjacent garage. The DAP-1522 Xtreme N Duo seems to be the best fit for me needs. Are there any similar products that offer the same features but better performance?

On a side note;
I'd love to have a POE device so as not to have to plug in yet another wall wart. Is there a wireless router with gigabit ports that also features POE and a matching POE bridge/AP with gigabit ports? I do plan on adding a rackmountable Gigabit switch soon for my workstations, so if there is one of those that supports POE devices I could add that now.

Any words on either of these topics is much appreciated. Current router specs are below if needed.

DIR-655
FW 1.34NA
mode: n and g
channel: 1 (closest neighbors routers on 8 and 11)
Transmission Rate: auto
channel width: 20 MHz

 

[thiggins]

You can do this with any router that is converted to an Access Point.

How To Convert a Wireless Router into an Access Point

PoE isn't a feature on consumer routers. The NETGEAR WNDAP350 does support PoE.

You can jury-rig "PoE" on any device by using a PoE injector. Here's one
http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=332

Google for plenty more.

 

[kricker]

You can do this with any router that is converted to an Access Point.

How To Convert a Wireless Router into an Access Point

PoE isn't a feature on consumer routers. The NETGEAR WNDAP350 does support PoE.

You can jury-rig "PoE" on any device by using a PoE injector. Here's one
http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=332

Google for plenty more.

Thanks for the reply. I've seen the POE injectors, but that just means something plugged in somewhere else. I was hoping there was a router that already does that, so one less thing has to be plugged into the wall.

I saw the review for the DAP-2553, which has POE. But it has only the one port for connecting to the router. The WNDAP350 also only has one wired port, which is a no go for me. I'll most likely be hooking more things up, and I'd not want to have to then get a switch as well. I was hoping there was something out there that had POE and features like the DAP-1522, but I guess not. I like to have as few devices sucking down power as possible as well as less failure points to have to trace down.

I guess I'll just not worry about POE for now and hope it works its way into more consumer level devices. It sounds like it'd be a great feature to have.

I've also already read that article on converting routers into APs, and I have also done it in the past with descent results. I was hoping something like the DAP-1522 would just make it "easier", not that converting a router into an AP is that difficult. I had thought of getting a new N router and converting the DIR-655 to an AP. Maybe I'll look into that a bit more.

 

[kricker]

Doing a bit of digging I found these 2 affordable rack mountable switches with POE:

SMCGS8P-Smart EZ Switch Newegg $249.99
TPE-80WS Newegg $259.99

I need a rack mountable switch for my workstation/NAS rack in the office anyhow. So one of these might be the way to go. Now I need to look around a bit more for a POE router with multiple Gigabit ports (if one exists) to use as a switch/AP in the media room.

 

[stevech]

rack mount your wired-only router. Don't spend huge bucks on a PoE router or switch, use PoE 802.11af 48V inserters. These can be had for $50 or less.
Then use PoE access points. These are commonplace. Not so PoE routers.

Or buy Poe "passive splitters" such as from TitanWireless ($5 ea). Feed the consumer routers' wall transformer, e,g., 5V or 9V or 12V voltage using an inserter and extractor pair of the passive devices. A Hack. Not for professional situations as compared to PoE access points. This is NOT 802.11af PoE.
http://www.titanwirelessonline.com/Black-PoE-Injector-p/pe-inj.htm