[CALUG] asus wifi

[Bryan J Smith]

Ahhh, now I understand.  Okay, now you're in for a world of pain.  ;)
  
A "Wireless Endpoint" or sometimes called a "Client Bridge" is, essentially, 
bridging across two APs (where one side is 802.11, and the other is another 
framing, typically 802.3 Ethernet -- for both devices) typically doesn't work 
"out-of-the-box."  It's tricky.  Frames must be modified.  Long story.  Many of 
these cheap SOHO Routers either do not support bridging to an  AP, or they have 
their own, proprietary frame headers that only works  between their devices.

Short story is, unlike 802.3 Ethernet which bridges transparently because there 
is only the sender and receiver in the frame, 802.11 Wireless does _not_ bridge 
transparently.  This is because 802.11 has sender, receiver and bridge -- 
there's always a bridge, the AP ("infrastructure") or another peer (of which 
there are limits, variants like 802.11f ad-hoc or 802.11s mesh -- total tangent, 
I've been professional involved with both developments).  There is a cost 
associated with doing this in software, if its not in the WLAN ASIC and 
leveraging its NPEs.

According to reviews on NewEgg:  
  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320026

The Asus firmware does _not_ support "Wireless Endpoint."  However, if you load 
the DD-WRT firmware on it, it does.  The DD-WRT firmware has a software-based 
solution for "Wireless Endpoint."  Don't know how well it works on this device.  
Most are just variations.  I first saw it done, in-person, by Mark Mathews back 
in 2001.  It wouldn't surprise me if the code in DD-WRT is his, modified by Jean 
Tourrilhes, or some other derivative.

It worked well for Mark because his reference design was a 400MHz (or so) PPC400 
series, in addition to the ASIC in the WLAN radio itself (and that was almost a 
decade ago).  Most of these Routers typically don't have a separate ASIC, and 
just leverage the ARM for everything.  If the device is very cheap, it can be a 
very, very low-end device.  I've seen the performance buckle as a result of 
doing things in software, when the WLAN ASIC/NPEs don't support such.

As such, YMMV.


----- Original Message ----
From: Walt Smith <waltechmail at yahoo.com>

hi all,

minor correction:
after a reply Q, I re-read my post and see I
was clear as mud as to the Asus firmware:  The Asus
has the original manufacturers firmware which presents
web pages to set it up.  That firmware, I discovered, is GPL'd and is
not dd-wrt.  I merely note it.  dd-wrt is something that I kept 
seeing in my several hours of googling.

Also, 
example:

Suppose my desktop is portable, kinda like a laptop.
But this supposed laptop doesn't have built-in wifi nor
does it have a pcmcia wifi card.  It has an ethernet port.

I carry this "laptop" and an Asus Wireless Thingy into a Starbucks.
And connect an ethernet cable from the laptop to the Asus.
It is plugged into one Asus LAN connector.  The other
3 LAN Asus connectors are empty, as is the ASUS WAN conector.
I then attempt to use the laptop to get into Internet using the
Asus Thingy wireless and Starbucks wireless system..

Hope this clarifies things.. !!