D-Link DWL-700AP - repeater and printer on LAN?

plakata1

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First of all - I am sorry if I posted in the wrong forum.

Hi. I have two D-Link DWL-700AP access points - or rather, the second one is in the mail as I write this. I live in an appartment with a first floor, and on that first floor I have a desktop computer with a wireless netcard installed. I also have a brother printer with wired LAN possibilities on the first floor, usb connected to my desktop.

Downstairs I use a laptop with wireless LAN. This is close to my D-Link DWL-700AP and the connection is fine. However, on the first floor the connection is very weak. When I transfer files between the two computers I have a max of 1 mbit transfer rate. Moving data is painfully slow. This is the main reason why I want to insert another d-link access point as a repeater just besides my desktop computer.

Now, when I do this, the LAN port on D-Link DWL-700AP will not be connected to anything, and I was wondering: Would it be possible to wire the brother printer to the LAN-port on D-Link DWL-700AP in repeater mode, thus making the printer connect to my DHCP-server in my router and making the printer available on the network?

As it is now I have the printer shared on the desktop and the desktop needs to be on when I want to print. I could be very nice to be able to avoid this and print direct.

Does anybody know about this?
 
I've never tried it before, the theory sounds ok but in practice there may be limitations that stop this from working. I think it'll depend on whether the access point will provide an IP address to something connected through the ethernet port or not (even if it's in repeater mode it might not necessarily work as expected.) Could you not just patch the printer straight into the router?

That said, if you've got all the equipment there already it's worth a try, let us know how it goes!
 
I've never tried it before, the theory sounds ok but in practice there may be limitations that stop this from working. I think it'll depend on whether the access point will provide an IP address to something connected through the ethernet port or not (even if it's in repeater mode it might not necessarily work as expected.) Could you not just patch the printer straight into the router?

That said, if you've got all the equipment there already it's worth a try, let us know how it goes!

First of all, the router is a ZyXEL P-660R-D1 with only one ethernet connection. To wire the printer to the router would require a switch in between, with the router connected to one port and the AP for my wireless to another and the printer to a third.

This again would mean that I had to take my printer from the upstairs office and place it in the living room - and I find it hard to believe that the lady of the house would approve of this.

Since there is only a single phone jack in the house - and that is in the living room - the router has to be in the living room. To re-wire and setup more outlets is not an option because of the way the whole place is made. There is a lot of doors to pass which is hard with a piece of phone wire. Drilling a hole directly through the ceiling was also vetoed. Women do not appreciate the beauty of wire!

This leaves me with these facts:
1) I HAVE to somehow enhance the wireless signal upstairs to get better LAN transfer speed
2) Either there is some way to plug the printer into the network using the extra upstairs access point, or it just have to remain hooked up to the desktop via USB the way it is now.

I shall let you know how it turns out but it will be 14 days or so before I get a chance to mingle with it.
 
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