I want to hook up to Directv 'on Demand" .

I have a Netgear DSL wireless / Modem and a MAC computer.

I was told by my Installer to get a Wireless access Point (WAP)

However I went to best buy and i was told I needed a Wireless Ethernet Bridge.

Which would be the correct way to go.

I have two DVR receivers a 21 and 23 model in two different rooms.

Thanks,

Greg

A wireless Ethernet bridge allows ANY device having an ethernet jack to be made wireless... i.e. to "connect" it wirelessly to, say, a wireless router that is in another room and is connected to your DSL modem. This replaces the need to have your house wired with CAT5/6 cable in all rooms, but it does have distance and speed limitations which actual cable would not. Nevertheless...

For example, something like this Linksys WET610N (http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/products/WET610N) is exactly such a device.

This kind of a wireless Ethernet bridge is entirely transparent to the device you connect it to, which thinks it's connected "wired" to the Internet via its ethernet jack. It has no idea that it's actually going through this wireless bridge, wirelessly connecting to a LAN port on your wireless router, and then out through your DSL modem connected to the WAN port on the router.

Just be advised that the claimed N-speeds will likely never be reached, and reduce as the distance between the wireless bridge and the wireless router. And then anything actually going out or coming from the Internet is obviously limited by whatever your maximum DSL speed is. Nevertheless, the speeds available for such an N-protocol device are more than adequate to deliver HD.

I was told by my Installer to get a Wireless access Point (WAP)A wireless access point (like this Netgear WNHDE111 wireless access point (http://www.netgear.com/Products/APsWirelessControllers/AccessPoints/WNHDE111.aspx)) converts something like a wired-only router into the functional equivalent of a wireless router. Then your devices which already have wireless capability (e.g. a laptop that has a built-in wireless network adapter, for WiFi functionality) could connect wirelessly to that router.

But if you already have a wireless router, then you don't need a wireless access point device. You've already got a wireless access point in your wireless Netgear router. You'd only need a wireless access point box if your Netgear router was not already wireless, to convert that wired-only router into a "wireless access point".

What you want is something at the device end, to allow your wired-Ethernet device (computer? DVR?) to connect wirelessly to that wireless Netgear router (i.e. your wireless access point), and for that a wireless Ethernet bridge is the proper device you seek.

You just connect the wireless bridge to your device using an ethernet cable, and the wireless bridge then connects wirelessly to the wireless router elsewhere in your house... as if there was a wired connection between your wired-ethernet device and the router.

The device is happy, using its wired ethernet connector, and the bridge serves as the wireless connector to your wireless router (substituting for a long ethernet cable to the router).

Thanks guys, I appreciate the info as always.
The forum saves time and money.

Thanks again,

Greg

I have a couple of devices that already use wireless in my equipment rack and a couple that have network capabilities but no built in wireless. Unfortunately running a CAT5 line would be a lot more work than I would like to tackle in my house so the idea of a wireless bridge really appeals to me.

I was wondering if it is possible and/or advisable to run a router at the wireless bridge area to connect multiple devices (networked AVR, DirecTV Hd_DVR, AppleTV, PS3) through one bridge? My thinking is A) I already have an older wired router just sitting and collecting dust, B) I wonder is several devices in one area all working wirelessly will compete and degrade the signal, and C) I am a cheap bugger at heart so if I could get one wireless bridge as opposed to at minimum 2 (for the AVR and the DVR), well that would be great.

Thanks for any input or advice.

I was wondering if it is possible and/or advisable to run a router at the wireless bridge area to connect multiple devices (networked AVR, DirecTV Hd_DVR, AppleTV, PS3) through one bridge?

You should actually just use an Ethernet switch instead of a router - adding extra layers of NAT between you and the public Internet can cause diagnosing problems to be really difficult. But yes, you can add an Ethernet switch and plug in several devices without a problem.

You should actually just use an Ethernet switch instead of a router - adding extra layers of NAT between you and the public Internet can cause diagnosing problems to be really difficult. But yes, you can add an Ethernet switch and plug in several devices without a problem.

Thank you.

So it seems I have a few options available to me. I can:

A) Use a wireless bridge, such as the Linksys WET610N and then use a switch to split to the AVR and DirecTV
B) Use the wireless bridge and connect to my HR23 DVR, then use its built in ethernet out port which I never realized was there to go to the AVR and leave the other two devices remain wireless through the built in wifi capabilities they have.
C) Use another router and dd-wrt to create another wireless bridge, but with multiple ports. This requires downloading different firmware onto the router.

Overall, very cool that I have so many options. I see the attraction to using a second router as my existing router would work for 1/2 of the equation but am concerned about accidentally bricking both of them (computers are not a specialty of mine). This would be a touch cheaper and give me more port options though for future growth if needed. I also like the plug and play nature of just using a WET610N and daisy chaining through the DVR. Are any of these preferable over any of the others?

It would be nice if all this stuff wasn't so complicated.

Here is my situation. I am building a new home theater and I already have a home wireless network (Netgear router with wired and wireless capability hooked up to my main PC).

I want to link my DirecTV dvr, Xbox 360, Denon AVR and Playstation to my wireless network. Ethernet is not an option.

Based on what I have read, I should buy the Linksys WET610N, which only has a single port, and also buy a cheap 5-port switch. I would connect the Linksys to the switch and then connect all my devices to the switch.

Finally I would connect the Linksys wireless bridge to my existing wireless network, adding the right network name and SSID, etc.

I'd be curious to know if anyone has done this sucessfully. Wireless networks can be complicated things ...

It would be nice if all this stuff wasn't so complicated.

Here is my situation. I am building a new home theater and I already have a home wireless network (Netgear router with wired and wireless capability hooked up to my main PC).

I want to link my DirecTV dvr, Xbox 360, Denon AVR and Playstation to my wireless network. Ethernet is not an option.

Based on what I have read, I should buy the Linksys WET610N, which only has a single port, and also buy a cheap 5-port switch. I would connect the Linksys to the switch and then connect all my devices to the switch.

Finally I would connect the Linksys wireless bridge to my existing wireless network, adding the right network name and SSID, etc.

I'd be curious to know if anyone has done this sucessfully. Wireless networks can be complicated things ...

I have done what you describe using an Apple AirPort Extreme with AirPort Expresses acting as the wireless bridges. I have cheap Linksys 100Mb hubs hanging off each Express, so I can have multiple devices plugged into each. It works great in that I can push everything across at the maximum wireless-N speeds (5 GHz), yet still limit the number of wireless devices on the network and therefore keep throughput high.

I have 3 devices hooked up to each Express.

Ted