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Wireless Ethernet Extender — Parallax Forums

Wireless Ethernet Extender

JonnyMacJonnyMac Posts: 9,107
edited 2014-05-07 09:57 in General Discussion
A friend lives in a small housing association that wants to have a video feed at the entrance of their community. They have power, but that's it. The system they want to use is intended to be connected to a wired router for remote monitoring. He's hoping to find a wireless Ethernet extender -- think using a XBee module in pass-through mode.

Any suggestions?

Comments

  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2014-05-07 08:09
    How far from where they want the camera to where they have wired Ethernet (or could hit a WiFi bubble)?

    (I'm sure someone will ask that so it may as well be me! :smile:)
  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2014-05-07 08:27
    Distance is really going to be a factor, but what you need is a Wireless Ethernet Extender. Though they are more commonly known as a wireless bridge or wireless repeater.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=wifi+bridge
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2014-05-07 08:41
    If you take a wifi router and install Linux on it, there are all sorts of custom configurations that can be created. It is hard to beat the low cost of a wifi router.

    My own is hacked with custom Linux firmware. You might try OpenWRT to get an idea of how well supported this is.

    I do know that groups have set up temporary networks for gathering of mobile homes that completely eliminate the need for ADSL. I just can't think of how to search for a link right now.

    I am sure that OpenWRT can modify any supported wifi router into becoming a wifi bridge. But there are the advantages of having more LAN ports to plug into, maybe a few USB slots as well. If you want a printer server at a remote end, that can be done too.

    Here is the Wikipedia entry.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wireless_router_firmware_projects
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2014-05-07 09:00
    OpenWRT is definitely the place to start with. I was thinking of mesh networking [not mess networking]. But the document linked to in my previous posting has a long laundry list of choices that may be useful beyond a simple wifi bridge.

    Just be sure to buy a wifi router that has a lot of the features you desire AND can reload its firmware.
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2014-05-07 09:35
    Use a simple WIFI adaptor?

    This shows connecting an HDTV, but it should work with other devices.
  • xanaduxanadu Posts: 3,347
    edited 2014-05-07 09:57
    JonnyMac wrote: »
    A friend lives in a small housing association that wants to have a video feed at the entrance of their community. They have power, but that's it. The system they want to use is intended to be connected to a wired router for remote monitoring. He's hoping to find a wireless Ethernet extender -- think using a XBee module in pass-through mode.

    Any suggestions?

    Another alternative is power line adapters, if the power that runs out to the entrance comes from the building with the network gear something like this is better than wifi -

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?gclid=CIXV_6ujmr4CFU5afgodgjIAUA&Item=N82E16833704164&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Powerline+Networking-_-N82E16833704164&ef_id=UumYZAAAAPtt3QfB:20140507165352:s

    Goes up to 900'. There may be other better power line adapters for your situation, the above is just an example.
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