Technical_13
join:2009-07-12
Monroe, ME
|  Connect to multiple APs via 1 WiFi card???
I had an interesting idea and was curious to know if it had ever been implemented before.
Unless I am mistaken, theoretically it should be possible for one physical wireless adapter to be connected and communicating with multiple access points simultaneously.
Suppose there are 3 neighbors who each have DSL and a wireless router. Each of them works a different 8 hour shift. They are all unsatisfied with the bandwidth of their DSL and decide that it would make sense to pool their resources, so that 2 users could have the bandwidth of 3 at any given time during the day.
They are good friends, they trust each other, and they don't care about terms of service.
They sit down and decide that the first thing they will do is switch to non overlapping channels. The first friend uses channel 1, the second uses channel 6, and the third uses channel 11. They realize they will never be able to truly aggregate their bandwidth, but they are willing to settle for load balancing and connection teaming software solutions. None of them really has any desire to purchase two additional wireless adapters though, and they realize that they could do it with just one if they had drivers for their network adapters that were smart enough to manage multiple IP addresses and wireless sets.
They realize that their local bandwidth will still be limited to 54 mbps (the physical layer would be unaffected), but since this is much larger than the 3 DSL connections combined, they don't see this as an issue.
Has anyone heard of this being done before? Or any comments on plausibility? |
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jimbopalmer
Tsar of all the Rushers
join:2008-06-02
Greenwood, MS | Have you ever successfully listened to 3 radio stations at one time with one AM/FM radio?
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I tried to remain child-like, all I achieved was childish. |
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Technical_13
join:2009-07-12
Monroe, ME
| said by jimbopalmer  :Have you ever successfully listened to 3 radio stations at one time with one AM/FM radio? So than you are saying that Microsoft Research's "Virtual WiFi" is a fraud?
»research.microsoft.com/en-us/dow···ult.aspx
If so than what if they connected their NIC to their router and their WNI to whichever neighbors WiFi AP that would be available and bridge the connections? Would they gain any speed overall? Even better, If neighbor 1 did above and connected to Neighbor 2's WiFi and Neighbor 2 did the same and connected to Neighbor 3's WiFi, and Neighbor 3 did the same and connected to neighbor 1's WiFi, and they all bridged both of their connections and shared their connections with all users on the network.... Would that make it not complete the connection between all three routers??? |
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jimbopalmer
Tsar of all the Rushers
join:2008-06-02
Greenwood, MS
 ·Windjammer Cable
| reply to Technical_13
Virtual does not quite mean Fraud, but I never said fraud.
»en.wiktionary.org/wiki/virtual
»en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fraud
I will be amazed if the speed of the virtual wireless approaches 1/3 of the speed of the real wireless.
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I tried to remain child-like, all I achieved was childish. |
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Greg_Z
Premium
join:2001-08-08
Springfield, IL | reply to Technical_13
That is because it is what is called "Mesh" networking. |
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No_Strings
Premium,Mod
join:2001-11-22
The OC
Host:
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| reply to Technical_13
Virtual adapters are cool beans, to be sure. I've used them on Atheros cards under Linux. You can create them at will, use one to seek out networks in passive mode and use the other to connect to the network in normal client mode - all from a single card.
However ...
From your linked summary:
Virtual WiFi uses a network hopping scheme to switch the wireless card across the desired wireless networks. Switching between networks is transparent to the applications, such that the user feels she is connected to multiple wireless networks simultaneously. To me, that says the goal of the project is to allow a device to operate seamlessly within a mesh environment, similarly to a cell phone network. Because the virtual adapters establish a connection before used, the software can flip from one to the other without the delay of association.
Nothing in the summary implies real simultaneous streams of data. Even with virtual adapters and some sort of multiplexing (which is to say a single stream chopped up so fast as to make it look like a single one), I don't see how they could be used to the benefit you described. |
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Technical_13
join:2009-07-12
Monroe, ME
| reply to Technical_13
So what about part 2 of my reply??
said by Technical_13 :If so than what if they connected their NIC to their router and their WNI to whichever neighbors WiFi AP that would be available and bridge the connections? Would they gain any speed overall? Even better, If neighbor 1 did above and connected to Neighbor 2's WiFi and Neighbor 2 did the same and connected to Neighbor 3's WiFi, and Neighbor 3 did the same and connected to neighbor 1's WiFi, and they all bridged both of their connections and shared their connections with all users on the network.... Would that make it not complete the connection between all three routers??? |
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mrkevin
Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.
Premium
join:2007-08-07
Aurora, ME
clubs:
 ·US Cellular
 ·Dish Network
 ·magicjack.com
 ·Rivah.net
| You would have to have create static routes from each routers subnet back to the NIC in the following computer but I'm not sure you would see an increase in speed most likely the opposite. lets just say all the routers have a DSL connection. The DSL connections are not meshed so your traffic would follow the default route
Quote from wiki
"A default route, also known as the gateway of last resort, is the network route used by a router when no other known route exists for a given IP packet's destination address. All the packets for destinations not known by the router's routing table are sent to the default route. This route generally leads to another router, which treats the packet the same way: If the route is known, the packet will get forwarded to the known route. If not, the packet is forwarded to the default-route of that router which generally leads to another router. And so on. Each router traversal adds a one-hop distance to the route."
So adding hops = less speed.
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An army of sheep led by a lion, will always defeat an army of lions led by a sheep. |
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