linksys wap connected to befw11s4 lose of signal

[AdamBCohen]

I setup a linksys wap11 connected to my befw11s4. The wap is on the second floor and the router is in my basement. When I spoke to linksys the setup was for an access point. However, it seems like I can not keep the signal of the wap and instead it defaults back to the router. Is there anyway to keep the wap as my default connection.

 

[bcastner]

If set up as a roaming client, likely not.
It is attempting to shift to the best signal it receives to benefit your overall connection.

 

[AdamBCohen]

It is setup for a roaming client,however it is picking up the weakest signal. The weakest signal in the group is the router. The router is in the basement and the wap is on the 2nd floor. There has got to be something that I am missing.

 

[bcastner]

You do not have much control over a roaming client. If, for example, you had unique SSIDs for both router and AP, you could specify a preferred connection, but would lose roaming.

The logic of what is the best signal is essentially out of your control.

 

[bcastner]

As a belated thought, if you are using XP and you WEP secured one device and left the other unprotected, you would then have the option to connect to the protected device even in the presence of an unprotected one.

 

[AdamBCohen]

As to your unique ssids, when I spoke to linksys they had me give the wap the ssid of linksys2 and the router linksys. So in fact they should have the same ssid, is that correct.

 

[bcastner]

I do not know why Linksys tech support keeps giving this advice. For "seamless" roaming, the SSID (and any security keys) would be identical, the channels however must be different.

(This is true for all APs I have ever seen). For example, I just finished a hospital site consisting of two joined buildings each of 12 stories. I can walk with my notebook on that 85 acre campus, go between floor 1 through 12 and go into the second wing floor 1 through 12 and never lost a connection. In a walk like that I likely have accessed 14 or more of the 40+ APs on the site.

If you have different SSIDs, synchronize the SSID names and any security settings, and space the channels on the devices. A very usefull guide to channel spacing:

http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,6683522~root=wlan~mode=flat

The only reason to use different SSIDs would be if you need to force an association to a specific AP. In most cases the logic of the network adapter is to find what it views as the "best" signal. The "best" signal may not be the strongest signal, but the one with rate step down produces the least noisy connection. You can have excellent signal strength but due to multipath have a very noisy connection. Net Stumbler can give you an better idea of what is going on, an excellent piece of freeware that if it works with your network adapter card is invaluable:

http://www.netstumbler.com/

 

[AdamBCohen]

I appreciate the help and now understand a little better of what is going on. The first thing I need to do is set the ssids the same on the router and the wap. Also, give them both different channels. Now as far as wep I am quessing that is the wap runs through the router and the routers wep is on then the wap is covered.

 

[bcastner]

The WAP would need to be configured with the identical WEP settings as the router.

You wireless adapter will connect to one or the other device, and you want the WEP settings identical for both.
If you do not do this, the wireless adapter with WEP authentication enabled will connect only to the device with a matching WEP key.

 

[AdamBCohen]

If that is the case could that be a reason for loosing the signal on the wap. Then when going into view wireless connections if picks up the router?

 

[bcastner]

It might well be. If you have WEP enabled on the client, but not on the WAP, but on the router, the preference would be to make the secured connection.

 

[AdamBCohen]

Thank you for your help I will try this and let you know what happened.

 

[AdamBCohen]

I did what you suggested and it seems to be working. Thank you for your help.