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Got my hands on the elusive Linksys WET11, which is a box that bridges 802.11b to 10-baseT Ethernet. The XBox folks have been all over this thing since it allows them to hook up the XBox to the network for broadband gaming without having to run Cat5 to the living room. The good old Linksys WAP11 (version 1.1), in Bridging or Access Point Client mode was the previous tool of choice, but it would only bridge to another WAP11, as I found out the expensive way. Wasn't going to throw more money after another WAP11, and the WET11 should be more usable anyway.

The BEFW11S4v2 is upstairs next to the Smurf G3 and the DSL modem by necessity. For now, I've set up the WET11 and the WAP11 in combination as a wireless repeater, with the WAP11 in the wiring closet downstairs to act as a secondary access point. The WET11 is upstairs and connected to the WAP11 through the in-house Cat5 run, and it talks to the BEFW11S4 as an AP client. This puts the WET11 closer to the wireless router, which should improve throughput. A more elegant network configuration would be to put the router and DSL modem in the wiring closet, where I can hook up the house's Cat5 runs to the router's built-in switch to light up the Ethernet jacks. Use one of the jacks with the WAP11 as an AP upstairs, and use the WET11 with the Smurf to access the network wirelessly. On the other hand, I don't really want the trouble of rewiring every gadget in the house. The configuration also forces me to keep both the WAP11 and the router running continuously, and considering the typical reliability of PacBell service, having the reset switch in a convenient place is probably a better idea.

Anyway, the point of the exercise was to increase the wireless coverage so that my Titanium Powerbook could get decent signal levels throughout the house. The computer's practially a freakin' Faraday cage, and the wire antenna inside isn't much good. The old PB1400c has better reception, thanks to the Orinoco Silver card. The side effect of the AP-overkill is that Arlington Park across the street now has free wireless access. I might even keep it up as a public service if I can be sure about security and avoid abuse. What might work is to put another router/firewall in the closet between the WET11 and the WAP11, so that the WAP11 is firewalled from the home network and double-firewalled from the Internet. I'm pretty sure NAT can handle this sort of thing, but not sure about the implementation in the cheap plastic boxes. I can always try to scare up another computer and use it as a Linux/BSD firewall which would have the flexibility, but I'm not that bored. Yet. Actually, I do have the flying saucer with me, so I can try double-NAT by replacing the WAP11 with the ABS. I don't think the ABS's range is as good as the WAP11, though.