Internet help.

[don27dog]

Our family is in the process of building a new modular home. After touring the factory to inspect our build last week I realized I overlooked an important design feature. I failed to wire ethernet cable to the room I want to hold my amiga's. The dsl connection connects my wife's new office on the first floor. My wife has made perfectly clear she wants my computer stuff upstairs in its own room. WiFi will cover most of my needs but I need to connect two of my amiga's to a wired connection. Is there such a thing that will receive the wifi signal and allow me to connect my amiga's with ethernet cables?

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Yes!  You can do this with DD-WRT firmware.  Grab yourself a cheap old Linksys WRT54G router (probably cost you next-to-nothing on your local craigslist), flash it with the firmware update, program it to "receive" through the antennas instead of "send", and you should be all set.  I've used this successfully in many locations for years and it should be plenty fast enough for an Amiga.

Here's a brief guide but there's many other sites out there with more complete instructions:

https://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Client_Mode_Wireless

I'm sure other routers can be configured in this manner, I'm just  recommending this particular solution because I've used it successfully in the past and know  it works.  

Now queue someone recommending Powerline Ethernet in 3... 2...  :p

[don27dog]

Mike,
Thank you.
I just checked and I already have that exact model that I am not currently using. I will give it a try this weekend when I have a little time to play around with it.

[Matt_H]

I used the dd-wrt method successfully some years ago. But it was very difficult to configure - hopefully the tools have improved since then!

More recently I've been using Apple routers for this. Set a Time Capsule to "extend a wireless network" and everything plugged into the Ethernet ports is now online. I think you could do the same with a basic single-port Airport Express and hanging a standard wired Ethernet switch/hub off it for the Amigas to plug into. Since I also have Macs this option made sense for me (and paid for itself in number of headaches avoided! )

[darkage]

Wireless Bridge connected to switch/hub if within the same network range or router with wireless client mode (can connect multiple network ranges)

But if you have the time, then as others have mentioned its better to reflash a router with custom firmware for more feature rich experience and maybe cheaper one too if you can get a compatible 2nd hand unit from ebay or have a spare around the house.    

Check a list of custom firmware -  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_router_firmware_projects
 
I think DD-Wrt would be easiest.   I run OpenWrt since its lightweight but I mostly configure everything from the shell prompt, maybe not as user friendly.

You might want to investigate Powerline ethernet adapaters.  I havent had any experience with them but it is another option.

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-powerline-networking-kit/

[esc]

Can you spin off a new thread or PM me about the modular home? Just for the sake of curiosity, mainly. I live in NorCal and buying property/building houses is basically impossible, but still...I dig the idea and am morbidly curious!

[don27dog]

http://www.modular.org/htmlPage.aspx?name=why_modular

We chose modular to save time. Most new construction in our area takes over a year from start to finish. Our house was built in the factory in just over six weeks. While the house was being built we were able to do the site work and pour the foundation. We are scheduled to put the house on the foundation the first week of February. It will take about a month or so to hook up the electric, water, sewer, heating and air conditioning, build the porches, install tile and hardwood floors once the house is set. We hope to be fully in by April.

We worked with
 http://www.westchestermodular.com/gallery_of_homes.html

to design our own custom floor plan. The entire process was exciting and nerve wracking at the same time.

[SACC-guy]

You might consider pulling the e-net cables yourself. runs up to 150 ft max (or less)
if it's from one room to another.

The bridge idea is good too. but I like the cable.

[darkage]

but I like the cable.

me too, I prefer a solid connection.   OP also runs a 24x7 bbs on their Amiga, so it might be a little flakey on wifi.

[Pat the Cat]

I guess if Wifi doesn't pan out (it should, but just in case) then you could go wired through the mains supply... I don't know if that sort of equipment is sold in your part of the world, or is legal to own even, but some networks do connect that way. It might be a possible option.

It does save laying new cable, that is its sole redeeming feature. It can have a lot of other issues, or can work just fine, it depends on a lot of factors how effective it is.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Hummm...  24/7 BBS?  You might want to just run cable for that, depending on how much bandwidth your users consume and how much latency they'll tolerate.

Maybe you can snake a wire up through a heat vent, or drill a small, inconspicuous hole.  If it were me doing it I'd just run all the cables before the drywall goes up, but I'd imagine you'd have to negotiate with your contractor for that - and they probably won't let you, I suspect.  Those guys can be kind of fussy depending on your relationship with them.

I'd still avoid Powerline Ethernet like the plague.  

[Pat the Cat]

I'd still avoid Powerline Ethernet like the plague.  

This is a factor, high density places like a lot of New York, it's a terrible solution. Not a hope in hell of reliable, regular performance.

Modular house, that level of separation, should be OK. But "should be" is not a first choice answer, anywhere really. I guess places with hydro electric to spare, not a problem. USA is much hungrier for electricity than other places generally.

[don27dog]

If it were me doing it I'd just run all the cables before the drywall goes up, but I'd imagine you'd have to negotiate with your contractor for that - and they probably won't let you, I suspect.  Those guys can be kind of fussy depending on your relationship with them.

I'd still avoid Powerline Ethernet like the plague.  

That is my problem.. the dry wall is already up. A hard line may still be a posibility throught the air conditioning chase that runs through a closet in her office. I will explore that option when the house arrives but looking for alternative options incase it doesn't work. I am going to try flashing the router this weekend and see how that works before we start packing everything up for the move. Once the house gets here I am not going to have much time to play for a little while.

[kolla]

The way I do things today... amiga-rpi-wifirouter-internet, each Amiga has its own little raspberry pi mounted inside, connected via serial, ethernet or whatever, and the pi then has USB wifi controller and acts as gateway for the Amiga. This means I can take the Amiga systems anywhere and get them online quite easily.

[don27dog]

I flashed the DD-WRT firmware last night and everything seems to be working fine with the routers about ten feet apart. Will have to wait and see how it works at the new house when they are further apart. Thanks again for the suggestions!