Using 802.11n bridging for fast wireless speeds

In companies, wireless networking serves multiple purposes: Free wireless for corporate visitors, media streaming for the marketing department to a conference room, and a hot spot in the cafeteria, for example.

[ See further coverage: Is 802.11n ready for the enterprise? ]

In most cases, these Wi-Fi offerings are slim, burdened by slow speeds and poor coverage.

But what if you really need a premium connection at the fastest speeds possible running to the far corners of the building with airtight, industrial-strength encryption?

With the current crop of Cisco, Netgear ProSafe, Juniper Networks, and ImageStream products, you will find part of the answer. You will find 802.11g wireless routers that tend to run too slow, although they do support bridging, which helps extend the signal. And you will find super-fast 802.11n access points running as high as 130Mbps, but they have limited range -- only about 300 feet in some instances -- and do not support bridging, so you can't extend the signal.

The speed vs. range conundrum

For example, many 802.11g routers, such as the Belkin Wireless Pre-N F5D8230-4, do support bridging, but throughput only runs at 40Mbps. Routers like the Linksys Wireless-N WRT300N support fast throughput -- as high as 120Mbps under ideal conditions without other wireless signals present -- but don't support bridging, and the signal only covers about 600 feet. (All 802.11n products are designed for fast speeds but not the longest range.)

It's a conundrum, but it's one that can be solved.

For the best combination of speed, range, and security, the only choice is to look at the emerging "prosumer" line of routers that support the 802.11n Draft 2.0 specification for bridge mode, advanced WPA-TKIP security, and a signal that runs at 100Mbps. The idea is to benefit from the fast throughput of 802.11n -- which runs at 100Mbps or more -- over long distances.

Netgear, D-Link, and Trendnet are the leaders in the prosumer wireless networking field. These devices are meant for the home market but have many advanced features that work well for some corporate installations, such as streaming video or fast intranet downloads.

On the Trendnet TEW-630APB, for example, you can bridge as many as six other routers so the signal can stretch from one end of a building to the other and still run at 100Mbit/sec. speeds with WPA protection. You could put one TEW-630APB in the center of a building and place six additional models around the floor for the widest coverage -- at the highest speeds possible.

The only missing puzzle piece is that these noncorporate routers often don't support hardware VPN or other corporate security functions, so I don't recommend them for corporate LAN access. Instead, they are ideal for wirelessly streaming video from one end of the building to the other or providing extra bandwidth for laptop users to archive their files or just downloading massive amounts of data from a secure departmental intranet site.

Here's a roundup of the best models to consider along with details on how to configure bridging mode. Note: On most of these models, you will need the latest firmware patch for the 802.11n Draft 2.0 specification; just check the company Web site, click support, find the specific router model, and download and install the latest firmware patch.