Netgear wn2000rpt setup with pre-configured ip cameras with uverse 2wire router

[orangedoors]

Hello,
I installed 6 ip wireless cameras with static ip at a friend place. He use Uverse latest 2wire router. 2 of the cameras send low signal. I got a netgear wn2000rpt Wireless repeater. IS there a way to setup the repeater to work seamlessly without having to change anything on the cameras setup.Can I use the same ssid on the extender.?

 

[john-b691]

Yes you can but it is not recommended. A repeater will slow the traffic down because it must receive it and then retransmit it. The cheaper repeaters use the same exact radio and channel to do this. Since wireless is half duplex the repeater itself is competing for bandwidth with the ends device.

The reason you want different SSID is so you have more control over which end device is using which radio units. Worst case all your end devices decide to choose the repeater over the main router, now you have all your traffic going in and out of the device 2 times.

When you use the same SSID the end device will choose the radio with the strongest signal at that instant. It will not change until it drops below some level. It is designed to prevent it from jumping back and forth.....but there are cases where it does do a lot of jumping around.

 

[orangedoors]

Best answer selected by orangedoors.

 

[orangedoors]

Yes you can but it is not recommended. A repeater will slow the traffic down because it must receive it and then retransmit it. The cheaper repeaters use the same exact radio and channel to do this. Since wireless is half duplex the repeater itself is competing for bandwidth with the ends device.

The reason you want different SSID is so you have more control over which end device is using which radio units. Worst case all your end devices decide to choose the repeater over the main router, now you have all your traffic going in and out of the device 2 times.

When you use the same SSID the end device will choose the radio with the strongest signal at that instant. It will not change until it drops below some level. It is designed to prevent it from jumping back and forth.....but there are cases where it does do a lot of jumping around.

Like I expeceted.. Had no problem connecting the Extender to the router and have internet access using the extender. Problem started when trying to connect 2 of the foscam cameras to the extender.. Was able to do that, yet no matter what I did I could not watch the cameras remotely through the nntp(no-ip). All my tries to do port forwarding on the 2wire 3600 u-verse, did not help. Any ideas. Please..

 

[orangedoors]

This is the camera status when working smoothly with the U-verse router
Device ID 000DC5DBC4D0
Device Firmware Version 11.35.2.46
Device Embeded Web UI Version 2.4.9.16
Alias Entrance
Alarm Status None
DDNS Status No-Ip Succeed http://goweher.no-ip.info:****
UPnP Status No Action
MSN Status No Action

 

[john-b691]

Cameras like any streaming media are very tricky to run over wireless. Only a single device may transmit at any one time and the cameras are more or less constantly transmitting. With a repeater in the path you now have 2 devices in effect sending data constantly..or if I read right 4 if you have attached 2 cameras to the same repeater.

No simple way to fix this, the goal is to give each end device as close to its own path as you can get.

If you stay with the repeater idea what will help is to use a repeater that can talk to the end device on one channel and the router on another. There are repeaters that can do this but they tend to be expensive. It is simpler to build your own by using one device as a bridge to talk to the router and a second as a AP to talk to the end devices. You would set them to different channels so they do no interfere.

Another way to do this is to try to improve the signal to the camera. If you can place direction antenna on either the router or the camera or better both it should improve the signal. If you cannot replace the antenna you could look at a bridge plugged into the ethernet and then a direction antenna on the bridge.

Since the cameras must have power you may be able to use powerline adapters or extend the ethernet cable since most are PoE powered.

 

[orangedoors]

Thanks for your quick reply john, although technically speaking, part of your reply (as bridges and so) went way over my head. There are relatively cheap signal booster antena (http://www.ebay.com/itm/9DB-2-4G-WiFi-Booster-Antenna-For-IP-Camera-Foscam-FI8918W-FI8910W-White-Color-/221138887330?pt=US_Directional_Network_Antennas&hash=item337ce7a2a2).
Do you think I should use that solution instead of a repeater.?

 

[john-b691]

Those are a cheap easy thing to try first. Those are not directional but they could help, direction antenna are kinda big compared to that little camera. You should be able to use any brand of antenna if they are easier to get than ebay sales. There are 2 types of connector just be careful to get the correct one. The more DB the more they increase the signal...too a point.

A repeater is a bridge and a AP in a single device. The bridge talks to the router and output the signal on the ethernet. The AP talks to the user and put the signal on the ethernet. You cable them together an you make a repeater. The key difference between a cheap repeater and the bridge/ap repeater is you have 2 physical radios if you use 2 boxes

 

[orangedoors]

Thank you once again John.
I will get the antena