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From: Mike Easter on 16 May 2010 20:59
I have an AirLink 101 AP431W multifunction AP whose docs are here

http://www.airlink101.com/download/ap431w.php

.... which docs consists of a User Manual and a Quick Installation guide
2 .pdf links at the above link. Naturally the device itself also comes
with a CD. All of that - those docs - says that the multifunction
device can be used as any: an access point, an access point client, an
AP repeater or a WDS bridge.

I've read the docs and looked at the pictures, but I don't understand
the configurations for some of the things I want to try to do with it.

Exercise 1: I want to attach the device via the ethernet port of a
computer and access a wireless network. I don't understand how to
configure the computer or exactly how to setup the device for it/ with
it. One concept would be to use one mode of the AP to stand in the
place of a wireless card for a computer with ethernet only, but that's
not all, see below.

Exercise 2: I want to attach the device via the ethernet port (WAN or
LAN) of a router2. I want the router2 to be the heart of a sub-network.
The AP (or Bridge) will be communicating wirelessly to the AP (or
router1 integrated AP) of the other network, and the computers connected
to the router2 wired or wirelessly will be getting their NAT IPs from
router2.

The general purpose of both of these exercises would be to allow me to
locate the Airlink AP431W physically somewhere different than where the
computer in Exercise 1 is located or all of the computers in Exercise 2.

I think I should configure the device's mode by ethernetting it to a
router or a switch so that I can establish its mode via the device's
webpage configuration. Then after that, I'm confused.

Say I configure it to be an AP client by connecting it to a switch or
router and then disconnect that and connect it to the ethernet of a
computer. How do I configure the computer, say a Windows OS Vista or
XP, to be able to use the AP client to connect to a wireless network and
get an IP and connectivity from that wireless network?


--
Mike Easter
From: Bob on 17 May 2010 03:38
On 17/05/2010 01:59, Mike Easter wrote:
> I have an AirLink 101 AP431W multifunction AP whose docs are here
>
> http://www.airlink101.com/download/ap431w.php
>
> ... which docs consists of a User Manual and a Quick Installation guide
> 2 .pdf links at the above link. Naturally the device itself also comes
> with a CD. All of that - those docs - says that the multifunction device
> can be used as any: an access point, an access point client, an AP
> repeater or a WDS bridge.
>
> I've read the docs and looked at the pictures, but I don't understand
> the configurations for some of the things I want to try to do with it.
>
> Exercise 1: I want to attach the device via the ethernet port of a
> computer and access a wireless network. I don't understand how to
> configure the computer or exactly how to setup the device for it/ with
> it. One concept would be to use one mode of the AP to stand in the place
> of a wireless card for a computer with ethernet only, but that's not
> all, see below.
The manual seems straightforward on how to do the usual TCP/IP setup of
the computer in order to do the initial access of the AP in order to
configure it. Once the AP has been set to client mode you should be able
to revert your TCP/IP setting to "obtain an IP address automatically"
and it should get an IP address from the network you are connecting to.
> Exercise 2: I want to attach the device via the ethernet port (WAN or
> LAN) of a router2. I want the router2 to be the heart of a sub-network.
> The AP (or Bridge) will be communicating wirelessly to the AP (or
> router1 integrated AP) of the other network, and the computers connected
> to the router2 wired or wirelessly will be getting their NAT IPs from
> router2.
From Manual:-
WDS (Bridge)
The WDS mode converts the Access Point to a wireless bridge. It bridges
the network clients from physically separate LANs into one virtual LAN.
You will need to use ap431w access points throughout your network. This
mode will not work if you try to use them with any other brand of access
point.



>
> The general purpose of both of these exercises would be to allow me to
> locate the Airlink AP431W physically somewhere different than where the
> computer in Exercise 1 is located or all of the computers in Exercise 2.
>
> I think I should configure the device's mode by ethernetting it to a
> router or a switch so that I can establish its mode via the device's
> webpage configuration. Then after that, I'm confused.
>
> Say I configure it to be an AP client by connecting it to a switch or
> router and then disconnect that and connect it to the ethernet of a
> computer. How do I configure the computer, say a Windows OS Vista or XP,
> to be able to use the AP client to connect to a wireless network and get
> an IP and connectivity from that wireless network?
Once the AP has been set to client mode then as long as the computer
network cards are set to "obtain an IP address automatically" then it
should get an IP address from the DHCP server in the network.



From: Mike Easter on 17 May 2010 12:18
Bob wrote:
> Mike Easter wrote:
>
>> Exercise 1: I want to attach the device via the ethernet port of a
>> computer and access a wireless network. I

> The manual seems straightforward on how to do the usual TCP/IP setup of
> the computer in order to do the initial access of the AP in order to
> configure it. Once the AP has been set to client mode you should be able
> to revert your TCP/IP setting to "obtain an IP address automatically"
> and it should get an IP address from the network you are connecting to.

Thanks for looking at the docs.

This wireless adapter part isn't working. I can configure the 431w as
an AP client and configure it to connect to a wireless network by SSID
and MAC with configuration for the security.

<for my next experimental stage I'm going to turn off the security for
the wireless network's AP and 431>

When I then ethernet the 431 to the computer, I do not get assigned an IP.

One of the problems with this attempt is that when the 431 is
ethernetted to the computer, I cannot access it with its webpage address
(which I changed to http://192.168.1.251 because I have another
device/AP in the LAN with the 431's default page http://192.168.1.250)

For a little background; this network is Airlink AR325W router, D-Link
DES-1105 5-port switch, Airlink AP421W access point (as an access
point), with the router and the a/p using WPA security.

The only way I can see the 431 to tinker with changing anything is to
take down the ethernet to the computer and put the 431 (back) on the
switch. Then tinker and then take it back down again to 're-ethernet'
to the computer.

That router requirement is going to be a problem in a few days when I
travel to the place where I want to try this 'for real' -- because I
wasn't planning on taking a router with me if I could make this
experiment 1 work.


<OT> Speaking of routers; Fry's has that cute dd-wrt configurable
wireless G router on sale now for $12. If it was a good deal at $20, it
must really be a good deal at $12.


--
Mike Easter
From: Bob on 17 May 2010 12:39
On 17/05/2010 17:18, Mike Easter wrote:
> Bob wrote:
>> Mike Easter wrote:
>>
>>> Exercise 1: I want to attach the device via the ethernet port of a
>>> computer and access a wireless network. I
>
>> The manual seems straightforward on how to do the usual TCP/IP setup
>> of the computer in order to do the initial access of the AP in order
>> to configure it. Once the AP has been set to client mode you should be
>> able to revert your TCP/IP setting to "obtain an IP address
>> automatically" and it should get an IP address from the network you
>> are connecting to.
>
> Thanks for looking at the docs.
>
> This wireless adapter part isn't working. I can configure the 431w as an
> AP client and configure it to connect to a wireless network by SSID and
> MAC with configuration for the security.
>
> <for my next experimental stage I'm going to turn off the security for
> the wireless network's AP and 431>
>
> When I then ethernet the 431 to the computer, I do not get assigned an IP.

It's possible that only the AP in client mode is assigned an IP address,
as your normal ethernet card would be.

Did you reboot the AP?
Step 4
Once the Access Point has restarted, you may disconnect it from the
wireless router and connect it to the Ethernet port of your computer or
game console, and reboot the Access Point.

>
> One of the problems with this attempt is that when the 431 is
> ethernetted to the computer, I cannot access it with its webpage address
> (which I changed to http://192.168.1.251 because I have another
> device/AP in the LAN with the 431's default page http://192.168.1.250)
>
> For a little background; this network is Airlink AR325W router, D-Link
> DES-1105 5-port switch, Airlink AP421W access point (as an access
> point), with the router and the a/p using WPA security.
>
> The only way I can see the 431 to tinker with changing anything is to
> take down the ethernet to the computer and put the 431 (back) on the
> switch. Then tinker and then take it back down again to 're-ethernet' to
> the computer.
>
> That router requirement is going to be a problem in a few days when I
> travel to the place where I want to try this 'for real' -- because I
> wasn't planning on taking a router with me if I could make this
> experiment 1 work.
>
>
> <OT> Speaking of routers; Fry's has that cute dd-wrt configurable
> wireless G router on sale now for $12. If it was a good deal at $20, it
> must really be a good deal at $12.
>
>

From: Mike Easter on 17 May 2010 13:32
Bob wrote:
> Mike Easter wrote:

>>>> Exercise 1: I want to attach the device via the ethernet port of a
>>>> computer and access a wireless network. I

>> <for my next experimental stage I'm going to turn off the security for
>> the wireless network's AP and 431>

OK I got it working as an open insecure system. Unfortunately, I
believe that is the condition of the system that I'm going to be trying
it on in a few days.

Now I'm going to work on getting WEP working.

> Did you reboot the AP?

Yes. Because of the (somewhat awkward) way I am doing this, whenever I
change something such as putting the 431 from the computer to the switch
and then back to the computer again, I powerdown the switch and the 431
and the computer, ethernet the 431 to the switch instead of the
computer, powerup the switch then the 431, open the 431 configuration
page with another computer on the network, make the changes, powerdown
the switch and the 431, move the 431's ethernet to the computer instead
of the switch, powerup the switch then the 431 then the computer.

Just to make things a little more complicated, the computer I'm using
with the 431 has wireless which I haven't reconfigred to be disabled on
startup, so whenever it gets powered up again, its integrated wireless
is connected with an IP - so then I disable that to prevent confusion on
my part and on such as a browser's part about which connectivity to use
- local connection (to the 431) instead of the integrated wireless.

> Step 4
> Once the Access Point has restarted, you may disconnect it from the
> wireless router and connect it to the Ethernet port of your computer or
> game console, and reboot the Access Point.

From my perspective, those Airlink instructions are very skimpy for
anything besides a default access point.

Once when I was doing some 431 'configuring' by trying to take a
shortcut and not use the switch, I accidentally accessed the other
airlink a/p (part AP421W) and when I tried to configure it as a access
point client with security, I got the message that WPA security wasn't
available on the AP client mode of that a/p.

I haven't gotten that message from the 431, but maybe it has the same
problem/condition just without the alert.

--
Mike Easter
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