Resharing a wireless internet connection

[sj33]

I have just moved into a new apartment which has free internet, which I though was a nice deal. Except, were only allowed to have 2 devices connected, and have to give the MAC addresses to the apartment owner before we can connect. This is no good for connecting all of my consoles!

I'm thinking I can get around this by setting up my netbook as an access point, sharing the connection. I guess I need to buy another network adaptor for this?

Alternatively, is there a dedicatee hardware solution for this?

[kryss]

Can you not just pay for another connection? 2 devices is...difficult.

[Asura]

Alternatively, is there a dedicatee hardware solution for this?

Yes - it would be a router - not a cable modem/router combi, just a regular router (though you could do it with a combi too).

You would connect the router to your landlord's network, and then connect all your devices to the router.

[EvilBoris]

That would be dependent on the router though, many switch off DHCP and become simply an access point when you connect them to another wireless network, to act as a repeater.

[sj33]

Can a router connect to a wireless network as WAN?

[Digfox]

I sense you need to look at getting your own broadband installed, unless for some reason you can't due to the apartment setup. I run a Netgear Wi-Fi Range Extender in our house because the Wi Fi signal is so bad and therefore extends into our garden. But even with this every single device connected is individually assigned an IP address and I don't know how you can bypass that.

I appreciate the LL has enabled some form of access controls to limit access and control is better (how many people are you sharing the connection with?) but 2 devices is pretty pathetic.

[sj33]

That's definitely the plan eventually. In the meantime though, I wanna see what I can do with the setup that's already here.

[Digfox]

If there is a router acting as server on the connection then I don't personally know of a way to have a second server (router) sharing a connection. Part of me wonders if it's even possible.

Hence why I wouldn't bother and simply get a dedicated connection. Given that broadband is relatively cheap for what you use it for and will likely be tied to a contract which I'd want to get that under-way straight away.

But anyway fair enough and good luck.

[sj33]

As a stop gap, I've bought a USB wireless adaptor to use as an access point on my laptop.

I'm all for a new net connection, but it would be a hard sell to my wife right now seeing as we have a billion things to pay first.

[sj33]

Right at the moment I'm using Connectify on my laptop to share the connection and it seems to be working flawlessly so far.

Does anybody know of any regular hardware routers that can route wifi?

[sj33]

In case anybody ever has the same problem, I've managed to find a solution.

Basically, the DD-WRT router firmware actually does have such a functionality. Using a feature called Client Mode, it's possible to set up the router to connect to a wireless network as WAN. The trade-off of this method is that you are limited to wired connections - which is fine for me (and I'm sure you can further workaround from there). The alternative is Client Bridge mode, which is basically the same thing and does allow wireless connections, but results in halved bandwidth due to wireless connections operating over the same wireless device. I am told that this can be worked around by using a router with 2 radios - one for 2.4GHz, one for 5GHz. Wired is fine for me though.

I'm using a Buffalo WHR-300HP2.

[EvilBoris]

Was just about to post I just discovered by ?35 Fonera box lets me do this too.

[charlesr]

I stuck DD WRT on my Buffalo, it never connected to the internet. Must be somthing I'm missing. The interface loaded fine, and all the details for the connection were correct. I might give it a go as a bridge though.

[Digfox]

Fair enough you learn something new everyday, shows my gut instinct was wrong. Glad you managed to sort it.