WDS Remote VS WDS Relay

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Level 1

30 points

WDS Remote VS WDS Relay

I need some clarification between WDS Remote and WDS Relay. I have an Airport Extreme and an Airport Express. I am using the Express to extend the range of the Extreme. I have the Express in a homemade directional "waveguide" to focus the signal. Any advice as to which would be better for my use, the WDS Remote or the WDS Relay?!

iBook (Dual USB), Power

Posted on Jul 24, 2008 5:47 AM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

158,268 points

Jul 24, 2008 10:25 AM in response to Scott Koenig

A WDS Remote will wirelessly extend the WDS Main base station. The WDS Relay is sort of like a repeater and is typically used between the WDS Main and the WDS Remote. You can have up to four relays connected to a main, and up to four remotes connected to each relay, for a total of twenty-one base stations in a WDS.

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Answer 2

Scott Koenig Author

Level 1

30 points

Jul 24, 2008 4:06 PM in response to Tesserax

Thank you for your help. It answered my question. As my Express is the final 'link' in my network, the WDS Remote is the correct setting in my case.

Again, thanks for the help.

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Answer 3

Tesserax

Level 10

158,268 points

Jul 24, 2008 4:50 PM in response to Scott Koenig

Just for reference, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words ...

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Answer 4

Aug 1, 2008 1:38 AM in response to Tesserax

A few questions:
1. Can you daisy-chain four relay stations between the main and a single remote to get a super long distance?
2. Under what circumstances would it be useful to set up a network such as the one you showed in your picture?
3. Could the original poster explain a bit more about the waveguide he is using to focus the signal? What kind of setup are you using for this?

Thanks!

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Answer 5

Duane

Level 10

124,293 points

Aug 4, 2008 9:42 AM in response to Ranger Ric

1. Can you daisy-chain four relay stations between the main and a single remote to get a super long distance?

Sure but your bandwidth would suffer greatly. Every WDS link cuts the bandwidth in half. With your proposed configuration, you would have 5 WDS links which would mean that you bandwidth would be

1/(2**5) = 54/32 of your current bandwidth. In a perfect (laboratory) environment, the resulting bandwidth would be:

54/(2**5) = 54/32 = 1.6875 Mbps

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