Hi everyone,

I'm setting up a new MT box for a tower site that has 3 sectors.
I asked these questions on bridging in the general networking forum and then I discovered WDS.

Let me explain my setup.

Currently, we're running two Proxim AP-2000 boxes at the tower site. One of these has one wireless PCMCIA card and the other has two cards. Each of the three cards (802.11b) are running on different channels and different SSIDs, all using the same subnet. We're trying to use the non-overlapping channels, ie channel 1, 6, and 11.

I've read however, that despite their channel settings, if they're in close proximity of one another, they will interfere with each other a little bit.

And so after reading about WDS, I'm thinking it would be better to configure this new MT box to use WDS, rather than configure it with different channels and SSIDs, especially since the wireless cards are so close together (more so in this MT box).

Also, and I'm not sure if this is related to that, or its to do with the cards themselves, but for this MT box, we purchased some of the Prism 200mW miniPCI cards (from Wisp-router.com) and using my boss's laptop, I had to place his laptop right next the cards to get 4 bars or so in Windows XP. (2 feet away, I'd get 1 bar) (The 65mW CM9's from MikroTik seemed to perform better than this, atleast while having just one, in an RB532.)

If it helps, the MT box we're testing this on is an old P2-266MHz system.

I'm setting up a new MT box for a tower site that has 3 sectors.
(...)
And so after reading about WDS, I'm thinking it would be better to configure this new MT box to use WDS, rather than configure it with different channels and SSIDs, especially since the wireless cards are so close together (more so in this MT box).

WDS is not useful between wireless interfaces that are within one router. It is supposed to be deployed on wireless links between two (or more) wireless routers. Within the same box just configure a bridge if that's what you need.

Also, and I'm not sure if this is related to that, or its to do with the cards themselves, but for this MT box, we purchased some of the Prism 200mW miniPCI cards (from Wisp-router.com) and using my boss's laptop, I had to place his laptop right next the cards to get 4 bars or so in Windows XP.

I don't know these cards in particular, but are you sure that you've wired the laptop's builtin antenna pigtail to the correct connector on the miniPCI, i.e. the one that is used by default?

--Tom

Thanks for the reply!

I can't remember exactly why I wanted the bridge.. unless for things like the DHCP server. One "interface", one IP Pool, etc. (actually, I could use the same pool, if I'm thinking right)

Would it be wise to do away with the bridge and put a DHCP server on each wireless interface ?

About the wireless cards - I noticed earlier, I had one of them configured for the same channel and SSID as one of the other cards.. I could've sworn I didn't do that. Anyhow, that may have been the issue with the poor signal. We didn't hook up any pigtails to this box. One of our production RB532's with a CM9, that one just had the coax pigtail, but other than that we just tested it openly.