gareth Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 Has anyone ever tried (and succeeded!) to directly link two Strand 500-series consoles wirelessly - i.e. by hanging a wireless access point off the back of each one on a crossover cable? I'm thinking that as long as both the WAPs had the same SSID setting, they'd just talk to each other - am I right? Or is my minimal wireless networking experience causing me to be extremely naive?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strand600X Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 I've never tried it Gareth but it is something I wanna try in a slightly different fashion.I already use two wirless routers in my set up one in the box and the other in prompt corner. I can get these to talk to each other but not through a safety curtain. It is an ongoing project of mine. The problem I have is we visit that many different venue's that it has to be a setup that will work in all venue's and is quick and easy to setup.BazOpera North Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 A trifle naive, I'm afraid :) Disclaimer: I know absolutely nothing about Strand 500s. Buit I do know rather a lot about wireless networking. As far as I am concerned, a Strand 500 is just another box with an ethernet interface.... I assume that when you join them by ethernet, they can be made to "do stuff". What sort of stuff? Is bandwidth/latency/duplex critical? Some, but by no means all, wireless APs will do what you want. Very few will do it "out of the box". And any that do are badly designed.... What you want are a pair of APs which are working in bridge mode, rather than routed mode. This will be default for standard APs, but will perhaps not be the case for "wireless routers". However the marketing people use the terms rather loosely. In normal operation, the only thing that should associate with an AP is an end system. Other APs should not do so, otherwise it's very easy to end up with loops. With many systems, the ability to work as a point-to-point bridge is an "extra" - either a licensed feature for which you need a software key, or perhaps modified firmware. I've got several of these things in operation, with directional antennae, spanning distances of up to 1 mile. Some more info HERE and HERE and... oh, just do a google for "wireless bridge". A novel alternative - which I have never tried - might be to use something like THIS or (better link - that last one is a couple of years old) THIS, which is designed for the gaming market, and used to bridge an existing ethernet-equipped device (eg Xbox etc) onto an existing wireless network. Stick that onto one of your devices, and a standard AP on the other.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lxdad Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 My experience of wireless and (separately) Strand Desks would make me run a mile from this project. No matter how far apart the desks are, just find a way of running a cable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted April 18, 2006 Author Share Posted April 18, 2006 Hello, Bruce - I was hoping you'd have something to say on this subject. :) Of the two APs concerned, I know for a fact (because it's sitting in front of me on my desk, with a browser window on another PC displaying its configuration pages!) that one of them will work in bridge mode. As for the other one, it's 7 miles away from me in a control room, so I don't know - all I do know is that it's a Linksys unit. It's not a terribly important thing - just something that I wondered about in a moment of idle speculation earlier on today. I've ended up with a spare WAP lying about, and wondered whether it'd be possible to use it that way. Running a Cat5 cable is perfectly feasible, anyway - but why do things the easy way when there's a hard way to distract from the business of getting some proper work done?! :( I might give it a go if an idle moment presents itself when the remote console is out in the stalls next week ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goochr96 Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 Hi Gareth,If I was you I would 1st set this up with 2 computers, might make life that bit easier, for having to change setups etc, also I would have a laptop or a pc with a wireless card in it running netstumbler software free to download. Its is very handy for looking wireless signals, seeing if they are encrypted, will also let you know if you have any other AP's locally that might affect yours, and what band they are operating on.Again, personally I would go for 2 like products, and for me it would be linksys stuff, simply because I know there kit fairly well, probably 2 of THESE is what I would use. As for needing crossover cables, as you mentioned. You would not need to use them, just use 2 standard ether-net cables from each 5xx to the AP. Hope this helps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted April 19, 2006 Author Share Posted April 19, 2006 netstumblerThanks for that link - looks like a useful big of s/ware generally, not just for this particular purpose. probably 2 of THESEI think those are the WAPs that are already attached to the consoles in the theatre. If not exactly the same, then certainly very similar (perhaps a version that just does 11b). As for needing crossover cables, as you mentioned. You would not need to use them, just use 2 standard ether-net cables from each 5xx to the AP.Hmmm, I don't think you're right about that - ordinary cables are fine when we're running a hub between the 520/530 and their WAPs, but if we're linking a WAP straight to the desk we use a crossover (as one would expect to have to do if linking one directly to a PC). Anyway, I'll be having a fiddle around with this little time-wasting project next week at some point - I'll let you know how (if!) I get on. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goochr96 Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 Hmm, I thought you only used a crossover cable when linkind 2 desks, or 2 pc's together, if you didnt you would end up with Send - Send , and Recieve - Recieve. Whereas what you want is Send - Recieve and Send - Recieve. If you compare the 2 ends of a crossover cable you will only see 2 conductors on one end that are crossed over. My PC's that are conected to the AP's here are connected via standard cable. The router is already crossed over, waiting to recieve the data on the correct pins. hope that makes sense? Strand600x I can get these to talk to each other but not through a safety curtain.depending on your AP, you may be able to take the factory standard Ariel off, if you can, then why not mount one some where else, maybe on the bridge above the iron, if you have one that is? Try HERE and for cables to extend it try HERE Hope this helps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strand600X Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 Cheers Id love to mount an external aerial but we do a lot of touring and it's simply not possible to do this in a venue where time is shortI do at present run an ether cable from the desk end to the prompt corner and takes out all the worriesbut thanx anywayBaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goochr96 Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 Mount an arieal on a G clamp, with its own saftey bond, and make it part of the advance bar rig? During the fit up it gets rigged then? ** laughs out loud ** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strand600X Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 I know exactly what your saying but trust me the people I am working with are still in the 19th century I think and I am having a hard time dragging them into the 20th century even though we are in the 21st They wouldn't wait for me to start rigging aerials when they could get the bar out and move on to the next bar... I am experimenting with an external aerial and amplifier at the desk end which I think should work Baz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goochr96 Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 ** laughs out loud **, okay then. Have you come across THESE before? I have 2 of them and find them quite use full. Gareth, after re reading my previous post, I hope I wasn't telling you how to suck eggs? Apologies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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