Legacy Bridging products for 802.11* to 10BaseT/100BaseT with WEP (and WPA?)

[TheCotMan]

Hello,

I am considering going with a specialized device to allow non-wireless workstations with available 10BaseT/100BaseT UTP NICs to gain network access through a bridge to existing 802.11* networks.

Ideally, it should have support for 802.11b/g and any others would be a bonus (like a).
Also, should support WEP, and if possible, support WPA locally (without workstation OS support if that has been done.)
Acting as a true bridge at layer 2 is not necessary, but desired. (If it acts as a Router/NAT in order to provide WPA that is fine, but more acceptable if it supports a config for full range port forwarding. (Some support WPA through bridging with additions to the host OS, but this limits compatability.)

D-Link: D-Link DWL 810+ 802.11b, D-Link DWL G810 802.11g(b), D-Link DWL G820802.11g(b), D-Link DGL-3420 802.11g(b)+a, NetGear WGE101802.11g(b)
Belkin: Belkin F5D7330 802.11g(b)
Motorola: Motorola WE800G802.11g(b)
Asus: ASUS WL330G 802.11g(b)
LinkSys: WGA11B802.11b, WGA54G 802.11g(b), WGA54AG 802.11g(b)+a
USR: U.S. Robotics USR5430 802.11g(b)

Opinions about any of these good or bad?

[Thorn]

Cotman, you don't want the Game Adapters in the Linksys products. The Game Adapters have additional circuitry and controls for use with a game console, rather than a PC. Look at the bridges: WET11, WET54G, or WET54GS5.
WET11
WET54GS5
WET54G

I've used a WET11 v1.0 and it worked well.

[AlxRogan]

I haven't had any experience with that specifc NetGear bridge, but I have had with the "full-featured" router that is based on the WGE101. I set up one at the mother-in-laws and had nothing but trouble for several months. Ended up junking it and replacing it with a Linksys. The configuration would not take, wireless would randomly die, and not just the WinXP "Zero Config Service" bug, but physically stop xmitting. By the time I had exhausted all possibilities ( I hate giving up on hardware ) just said fuck it.

My 2 bits on NetGear wireless products. I am a big fan of their wired stuff though, both home and soho.

I'd go with the Linksys product myself.

[ck3k]

I have the older asus model, it is rather nice, can be usb powered. I use it to hook up my xbox, but I have used it to bring a big switch with the rest of my network out in the living room. (and yes it uses wep)

[TheCotMan]

Cotman, you don't want the Game Adapters in the Linksys products. The Game Adapters have additional circuitry and controls for use with a game console, rather than a PC.

After more review it seems many of the "gaming bridges" also seem to favor, "ease of use," and that means fewer features, and lack of configuration/interface. (Some do not appear to allow for WEP key entry, or specification of channel/Desired association (E)SSID.)
Thanks for your point too. Coupling it with, "lack of features and configurations," really makes these less useful. (Some are reported to only connect to whatever networks they can find, and too bad if they are not yours.)

Look at the bridges: WET11, WET54G, or WET54GS5.
WET54GS5

Since money is not as important as features to me in this case, the WET54GS4 looked like it had a nice bullet list of features.
this page stated WPA is supported with their latest firmware too.
Tom's Hardware had a review that was useful too.

I'd go with the Linksys product myself.

Yeah, I have owned a few LinkSys PCMCIA cards, and I bought the BEFW11S4 when it first came out. (That had problems working with cards on Linux until later firware updates to it.)

I have the older asus model, it is rather nice, can be usb powered. ... but I have used it to bring a big switch with the rest of my network out in the living room....

Yep, this helped me to consider buying a unit that had a built-in switch, and that seems to be built into the LinkSys mentioned by Thorn. (Also, I think one page stated the switch supported VPN (pass-through), VLAN, Spanning Tree, and up to 32 hosts through the 5 ports.)

I am still open to alternatives, and opinions, but I'll probably buy something by the end of this week.

Thanks Thorn, AlxRogan and ck3k! :-)

[Added Content:]
Though I am still favoring the Linksys with built-in 5 port switch mentioned above, this sounds interesting:
DWL-G730AP

DWL-G730AP supports multiple operation modes including: Access Point (AP)...Router mode (connection sharing) and Wireless Client mode to connect an existing wireless network. ... power over USB or power plug

I also found work with the Linksys wrt54g and support for modified firmware (fun hacking here) linked to Configuring OpenWrt on a WRT54GS as a Wireless Client and a guide to turning the Linksys WRT54G / WRT54GS into an AP-client and routing node

If this was just for me, I'd go the WRT54G and firmware hacking route, and I may do that in addition just to learn, and be able to build my own firmware mods.

Thanks again people!

[Thorn]

Thanks Thorn, AlxRogan and ck3k! :-)

You're welcome.

[Added Content:]
Though I am still favoring the Linksys with built-in 5 port switch mentioned above, this sounds interesting:
DWL-G730AP

I own a DWL-G730AP and love it. However, I only use it while traveling, and not anything remotely 'mission critical.' It stays in my laptop case, and when packed in its own carrying case with it's wall wart and cables, it is smaller than a Linksys WAP or WRT.

However, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that D-Link equipment is generally looked at with a jaundiced eye in the Wireless Networking/WarDriving communities. D-Link products have reputations of very low reliability. Hopefully, the DWL-G730AP is the start of good things with D-Link, but you might want to exercise some caution.

[TheCotMan]

I own a DWL-G730AP and love it.

Ok. I found one online for less than $50 (and since there seems to be a $15 rebate from dlink to make it ~$35) and shipping costs nothing when I included it with the WET54GS5 order as a stationary solution, I bought both.

In a few months, i think I will go with the BEFW11S4 for the simple pleasure of firmware building.