RJ-45 wireless

[rickAnthony]

My computer (antique?)in the shop has an RJ-45 port and no USB port, but I need it to see my wireless router in the home office. Is there anything that inexpensively will plug into that RJ-45 port and do this?

 

[Guest]

Wireless Bridge.

 

[rickAnthony]

"Wireless Bridge" is much too expensive and does much much more than I need done. Like buying a Mercedes so your teenager can drive to school.

 

[Guest]

Actually, you can make a "Wireless Bridge" with an old Linksys WRT54G and free DD-WRT firmware. You can also look for a PCI wireless network card.

 

[rickAnthony]

May be good news, Grumpy9117. I happen to have a Linksys WRTU54G. Am I correct when I expect it will do? And please point me toward that free firmware to do it with. Don't recall using firmware before -- what, I have to flash the routes CMOS or something?

 

[Guest]

Just Google dd-wrt and follow the instructions.

 

[eibgrad]

I don't see any support for the WRTU54G @ dd-wrt.

A wireless ethernet bridge doesn't HAVE to be expensive if you know what to look for and have some patience for a deal. Right now you can get the ASUS WL-330gE travel router for $15 (after rebate). Makes a great client bridge. You can even plug it into a USB port for power, no AC adapter necessary (although it does come w/ AC adapter if you need it). It can also be configured for repeater bridge or AP. And it supports dd-wrt! (something I strongly recommend over the stock firmware). It's almost impossible to brick since it uses a special recovery mode for firmware upgrades.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/SKUSear [...] ia=BA24255

I personally own three of these devices, each using dd-wrt, two configured for client bridge, another as a repeater bridge. They all work great. In fact, one of them I received on a Newegg deal for ~$7 (after rebate) back around the beginning of the year.

Other similar deals come around from time to time. As I said, you just need to know what and when to buy.

 

[rickAnthony]

Best answer selected by rickAnthony.

 

[rickAnthony]

Thanks eibgrad!

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

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