D-Link Repeater ... repeating without encryption

[blessani]

Hi guys,

I'm currently using a Netgear DG834GT as my ADSL Modem/Router, but because we're in a pretty big house, the signal is quite weak at certain points. I have a spare D-Link DWL-9000AP+ lying around, so I thought I would configure it as a repeater.

There isn't much config to be done, just simply enter the Mac Address of the signal to be repeated, and thats it. So, I popped in the mac, and the access point dropped off the radar and no longer broadcasts its own SSID. So after only seeing my main Netgear network available, with roughly the same signal, I'm wondering whether the D-Link is actually repeating the signal.

So I cracked open NetStumbler to see that there is two networks, both Netgear, but one being encrypted and one not being encrypted....as far as Windows is concerned, you can only see one network, the encrypted one.

I've never used a repeater before, but is it normal for a repeater to repeat the signal unencrypted, then auth through the main router? If so, surely it poses a problem for information being repeated, as it is sent unencrypted...

Ps. I'm using WPA-PSK for encryption.

[PoyBoy]

probably not what you want to hear, but here is what you can do:

Setup the router and modem in one part of the house, and run a wire to your accespoint, wherever you want it. Not exactly a repeater, as you have to select the strongest signal to work with, but its easy. P.S. You might have to adjust the channel and ssid on the routers, or you might be able to keep them the same, depending on the quality of your router.

hope that helped

[blessani]

I used to have an ethernet cabling city at my last house, so now I'm trying to be a bit neater by using wireless - so running a patch lead between the router and AP is a non-option. I already considered this, but I really don't want to have to lay cable.

I think I *may* have found some kind of fix, I reset both pieces of equipment, and set them both to pretty much the same settings, and the D-Link was now able to detect the Netgear network using its 'Site Survey' feature. I clicked the network, then hit connect, and now, as far as Netstumbler is concerned, there is only one Netgear network, and it is encrypted - wooo. Last time I couldn't detect the network through site survey, so I entered the mac manually - which is where the problem might have stemmed from.

I don't really know how much of a job the repeater is doing, atm, I am sat between both of them (around 1m from each) and have a signal of about -40db, which isn't fantastic. I'm going to move around the house and record figures, then move the repeater nearer to see if it is actually doing anything.

Thanks anyway mate.