David M Williams
Monday, 02 March 2009 17:37
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
All these components – the Linksys WAG325N, WET54G and DMA2200 – do talk to each other over 802.11g WiFi, so that’s a positive start. Mind you, the WET54G – the WiFI to Ethernet bridge – does go to sleep and the only rectification appears to be to power it off and on again.
I can even use WEP security. However, WEP isn’t recommended. Ok, WEP is better than having a totally open network because it at least stops leeching from every random person in the area who stumbles across your network. However WEP is breakable by those with volition and the right tools.
So, I opted for WPA security which provides a higher degree of security and protection. All three devices from Linksys purport to support WPA so this should have been a no-brainer.
Setting the WAG325N to WPA security was straightforward. Yet, neither the WET54G nor DMA2200 will use it properly.
Firstly, the WET54G absolutely disappeared off the face of the network. WPA is one of the security options listed on its config page. When I scanned for wireless networks it found my SSID, it asked me for the WPA key and allowed me to enter it. Yet, saving and applying and rebooting the unit caused it to just totally vanish.
I couldn’t ping it, my networks weren’t bridged, the unit just did nothing and was completely inaccessible.
The only resolution I could find was to perform a factory reset and try to set it up again. Repeating the process over and over proved there was no typo or problem on my part. Reading the Linksys forums reveals many others saying the same thing.
Some forum posters say their testing suggests the WET54G actually crashes at the point where it authenticates against a WPA network. Some say they have had mixed success by reverting back to an older firmware, yet Linksys only provide firmware downloads for the v1.0 and v3.0 models and mine was a v3.1.
The DMA2200 was marginally better. Once again, it would find my wireless SSID and allow me to specify security details. If I used WEP or didn’t use any security then the DMA2200 is fairly reliable and connects to the media centre and operates.
If I used WPA the device is a right royal pain in the rear. Unlike the WET54G the DMA2200 actually authenticated against the network and got an IP address. Yet, it wouldn’t connect to the media centre on subsequent power ups. It failed, and insisted on being set up again, totally losing its previous association.
I couldn’t ping the DMA2200, and the media centre reported no extenders available. The only solution I could find was to flush DHCP on the WAG325N, reboot both the media centre and the DMA2200, hold my tongue in the right position, ensure all the planets were aligned, and then the DMA2200 finally deigned to make itself visible.
I needed to reconnect the extender to the media centre, running downstairs, entering the eight-digit code, waiting for media folders to be added, and so on. This happened each and every time I turned the extender off and back on again.
