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Firmware routers computer systems.

Linksys's firmware upgrade 1.4f5, which supports bridging, was released, pulled and then re-released; the version number stayed the same. The two WAP11's I purchased for our multi-office installation came with release 1.3i installed; reports indicate that most units are still being shipped with the older firmware. Initially, the 1.4f5 upgrade utility failed on 1.3i installations, according to BAWUG list contributors, so apparently that's been fixed.

The WAP11 comes with a USB connection for configuration using a Windows-only application. It's critical to be able to use this, as once you've configured the unit, unless you give it a real IP number, you're not going to be able to reach it for reconfiguration without disconnecting it from the wired network.

Linksys provides an SNMP-based package as well, so an enterprising wireless advocate could release a pure SNMP configurator, too, for Linux or other platforms. I'm insane enough that, although I own a PC for testing, I ran Connectix Virtual PC with Windows 98 on a Mac Cube and had no problems accessing the unit over USB.

The firmware updater first installed 1.3k, not separately available, and then 1.4f5. It reported a failure on the latter, but on rebooting the units and reconnecting -- requiring a few USB plugs and unplugs -- the firmware version was reported correctly by the software and the units configured fine. (Oddly, the SNMP software shows the full firmware versioning information, while the USB shows just a fragment.)

You can link two WAP11's together by using each device's unique Ethernet or MAC (Media Access Layer) address. (It has nothing to do with Macintoshes; it's an acronym.) The USB and SNMP software displays the MAC address, a set of six two-character hexadecimal digits. You can also set up the WAP11 to talk to one or more identical devices using multipoint transmission; this also works if you don't want to enter the MAC numbers.

The two or more WAP11's need to be on the same 802.11b channel. The 802.11b protocol divides the available spectrum -- which can vary by country -- into overlapping channels of 22 MHz each. In the U.S., we have 83.5 MHz overall to play with, and 11 channels, numbered 1 through 11. Of those 11 channels, 1, 6 and 11 don't overlap at all, allowing as many as three access points to operate in the vicinity of one another.

Because the two WAP11s share the same channel, this contributes -- along with Ethernet overhead -- to reducing net bandwidth to about 4Mbps, according to Sam Habash, a BAWUG list contributor. The speed is close to the same with or without using 802.11b's built-in WEP (Wireless Equivalent Privacy) encryption system.

The bridging configuration allows WEP encryption keys at either 40/56/64 (technically all the same) or 128 bits. Even though WEP is weak and generically compromised, I'd recommend turning it on - especially since you're purposely broadcasting between multiple locations. This can reduce throughput, too.

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