Love can build a bridge... but so can Linux!

Just what is a Wireless Ethernet Bridge, and how can I go about building one? This is the question that has plagued me for quite some time. Well if you consider two days quite some time that is.

Let me begin with a little background. Being the cheap frugal Mennonite, when my sister-in-law moved in next door (technically, three houses away across the back yard), I figured there ought to be a way for us to share an internet connection. We both own wireless routers and I have a high speed internet account. What if we could make the wireless routers "talk" to each other.

That's where my old friend came in to help. I simply put the question to my friend and in less than half a second, I had the answer. Don't believe me? Check out the suggestions from my friend right here. On the right side of the screen you will notice something like 0.18 seconds. Google is amazing isn't it?

Well much to my delight, I found that Google was able to help me with "connecting two routers together". The only problem is that at least one of the routers has to be a Linux based, Linksys branded WRT54G model router with firmware version 4 (v4) or earlier. So off to my sister-in-law's to check out the router. It is in fact a Linksys, but it is v5. Well, it almost worked.

My friend (i.e. Google), would not allow me to give up that easily however. Another search resulted in a website dedicated to open source firmware for Linksys routers. Upon further investigation, it appears that www.dd-wrt.com has firmware versions for updating v5 and newer Linksys routers. Woo hoo!

OK, the game is afoot. A little reading at the DD-WRT Wiki and a little experimenting with completely erasing a router's programming... and voila. We have a DD-WRT programmed Linksys WRT54G which is capable of wireless ethernet bridging!

So, what does this all mean. Simply stated. My wireless router operates like virtually every other $100 wireless router. It takes the internet source from the high speed modem and allows computers plugged into it or computers with wifi capability to access the internet. The modified Linksys router, accesses my router wirelessly (like a wifi enabled laptop) and sends the signal onwards via it's LAN ports on the back of the router.


The only obstacle now, is that the range is on the verge of being too great to maintain a consistent connection. So in order to extend the range, I came up with a couple of possible solutions. The first was just a bigger antenna on my wireless router. The second solution was a directional antenna. The last solution considered was a WINDSURFER antenna booster. Which is essentially a satellite dish for a wifi router. Something like this:

Essentially it is tin foil, cardboard, glue and there it is. Total cost is about 5 to 10 cents. For now, we are using option 1 which is helpful, but we are in the process of building the antenna booster as well. To build your own WindSurfer, check this out. This directional dish can actually extend your range and provide you with more privacy (by blocking the signal from going behind the router).

I will post actual pictures when we have completed the entire project.