Need help with wireless

Hey guys. Im trying to get a wireless network setup. As of right now i have 3 pc's in my room and a 360. I need a wireless bridge (preferably N) that has a ethernet output to go into a 5 port swtich and from the switch to each of the computers. Right now im trying out a over the power line solution and its slow for upload speeds and download speeds. Even my old laptop with a wireless B is doing faster. Any suggestions?

So you're saying that you are shopping for a wireless bridge? And you have a 5 port router at present?

What machine do you have that runs 802.11n? Or do you have any Atheros cards, which can do 108bps?

Sounds almost like the configuration I have, to a certain degree.
Correct me if i'm wrong, but there is a wireless router SOMEWHERE ELSE in the house. You have 3 computers and a 360 attached to a 5 port hub/switch. You want a bridge to pull the internet from that remote wireless to your connected computers? And you want one that will support the "N" speed that your router supports...

I personally went with an old laptop with xp-pro, and used the built in "bridge" function. Although I did have issues when my modem died and was sent a wireless modem/router box instead. Dosen't seem to support what I did 100% (dhcp dosen't pass, but that's a different thread).

it sounds like all you want is a wireless access point. maybe i'm missing something though. all you want is to plug in a device into your current router that can broadcast wirelss?

b/c a wireless bridge is something else. you setup a wireless bridge when you need to join together two separate networks; but, instead using a cable, you use wireless.

well here is the situation. downstairs I have a wireless router. Upstairs I have my pc, a backup and a laptop. Also a 360. what I wants is some sort of wireless setup (preferably on N) that can connect all of them to the router but without spending a lot of money on networking cards and that expensive card that MS wants you to use. All of them are within reach of eachother so I was thinking there was some sort of thing that connects to the wireless that could hook up to a wired switch that would in turn connect ot each of the computers and the xbox through cat 5.

Hopefully that helps

Okay, you either need a wireless router capable of doing bridge mode, or set up one of your computers to act as the wireless bridge to host the rest of them.

Most newer wireless routers have bridging capabilities, though it might be cheaper to just get a 802.11n card for one of the desktop machines.

What I would recommend is shop for a similar model router to the one you are going to connect to downstairs-- maximise your compatibility, have a few extra ethernet ports for future expansion. Be sure that it can bridge before you throw your money down. If you have a model in mind, then search the internet for that model and see what kinds of problems people have... you might even find a tutorial on how to use it to bridge.

i don't know about the newer linksys products; but, i know with the wap54g, you could bridge those two together, then plug into the ethernet port on the wap to have wired connection. i don't know about their newest family of n products though. i can't remember if the wap54g would bridge w/ the router (wrt54g) either--it might have been only other wap54gs.

you may need to do some research on this. whatever it is you do, i can assure you you will need to use the same manufacturer of wireless router/wap. and, sadly, you'll probably need to shell out a little bit of money--more then you're expecting to.

well i do understand im going to have to shell out money for it. Its still going to be cheaper than 4 $80 cards and a $120 360 adapter. Also Im going to have to replace the wireless router ive got (its an built into router ewire) so thats no big deal.

Actually, the expensive piece from microsoft is actually a wireless bridge... (assuming it plugs into your ethernet port on the 360). With that said, adding a wireless card to just one of your computers, and bridging the network connections in windows will turn that pc into a wireless bridge too.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/crawford_02april22.mspx

In a nutshell.........

If the bridge appears to be made but doesn't actually pass network traffic, it could be that your wireless NIC doesn't support promiscuous mode, even though, when Windows XP queries the card, it reports that it does. (A description of how the bridging technology works and a description of promiscuous mode can be found in Windows XP Bridging and Media Support for Home Networking.)

Unfortunately, this appears to be a problem with many wireless cards on the market right now. There is a solution to this problem, which is to manually force the NIC into Compatibility mode. The Knowledge Base article, Bridge May Not Work with a Non-Promiscuous Mode Network Adapter, that discusses this problem lists three cards that have to be forced into Compatibility mode. Even if your card is not listed, the fix is the same for all of them. You need to set the wireless adapter to ForceCompatibilityMode. First, open a command window:

1.
Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.

2.
In the command window, type netsh bridge show

3.
Note the number assigned to the wireless adapter and type netsh bridge set a 1 e where you substitute the number displayed in the previous step for the number 1 in this step.

4.
To double check the wireless card is correctly set with Force Compatibility Mode enabled, type the netsh bridge show a command again.

You can also contact the NIC manufacturer or check their Web site for more information about possible updates for your card.