Backwards wireless networking...

I'm looking for a way to connect a network of LAN wired components to a wireless access point... I do not want to broadcast a wireless signal from a wired internet source, if I wanted to, I'd buy a router, and that'd be that...no, I want the exact opposite... I'd like to connect wired components TO a wireless signal... and I'd rather not use a computer... is this possible?... the end result needs to allow for my Xbox 360 and a Tivo to be able to connect to this network... and although you can buy the WiFi adapter for the Xbox, they're not going to have one for a Tivo... how can I make this work?

Tags: network, wifi, wireless

Add a Comment

You need to be a member of Geeks! to add comments!

Join this Ning Network

Comment by Shawn M. O'Doherty on April 29, 2009 at 10:37pm: um they have wireless adapters for some tivos i thought

Comment by Tyler on April 29, 2009 at 2:07pm: You need a wireless client. A wireless client is a device that attaches to an existing wireless network, and then allows a wired LAN to plug into it. You would then plug your switch into the client, and then have the XBox and Tivo plugged into the switch. They are cheap too. The Dlink DWL-2100AP works great for this. You are basically making a bridge, but your access point doesn't have to be a dedicated bridge.

Comment by Boboon on April 28, 2009 at 10:25pm: Dlink Provides some LAN to Wi-Fi "Bridges"

Check this out: http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=0&pid=333

Good Luck!

-Boboon

Comment by YonK on April 28, 2009 at 9:28pm: Hrrrmmmm. . .
Matt's solution would certainly work. What you are trying to do is called "bridging" a nanostation can do this, but so can a PAIR of wireless routers, which in the end may become more useful later on down the road than the nanostation.

If you went with a pair of wireless routers all you would need to do is configure them in "bridge mode" I'm not sure if they (one) will act as a DHCP server or not, if not you will have to statically assign the IP addresses of the two bridges as well as your Xbox and TiVo. This means that you will also have to take those addresses out of your wired LAN's DHCP address pool so that you do not get any conflicts.

Good Luck!
-YonK

Comment by John T on April 28, 2009 at 8:50pm: It would seem that you just need to connect a wired router to your Wireless Internet signal. Your Tivo and Xbox plug into the LAN ports on the router. Your wireless Internet connection connects to the WAN port of the router. I suspect I may be missing something, but that seems like what you're asking for.

As long as your wireless Internet connection has an Ethernet output, as most do, you should be good to go with any off-the shelf router. If it's a USB wireless dongle of some sort, your choice of routers is much more limited. There's this sort of thing:
http://www.dovado.com/UMR.html
which I've not used personally, but could be what you're after.

Comment by Matt Westervelt on April 28, 2009 at 8:40pm: If you've got this stuff plugged into a switch, you could use a nanostation. use GEEKS for $5 off a NS2.

There's actually a ton of stuff available to do this, but it's not really fry's/buy.com kind of thing. check out metrix.net or ping me and I can hook you up.

-mattw