Earlier last year I upgraded my home network from the Linksys BEF11S4 wireless B router to a Buffalo high power wireless G router. I kept my old router around in the closet, just in case, although it was pretty much useless. Well earlier this week I found a great use for the piece of junk that it is...
My Buffalo router has a repeater mode and the latest firmware for the Linksys BEF11S4 supports Lazy WDS. These two features allow my to "extend" my home wireless network through the BEF11S4 which is connected to my BCS on the brewstand. I have read hundreds of online forums and articles this week stating that this can not be done and and that WDS isn't supported by this particular Linksys router. Truly there just isn't any documentation or support for the feature, but it is there. After a bit of tinkering, I got it to work and wasn't all that bad. The main issue is that you would have no way of knowing it is possible until it actually just works and you see it it for yourself (no validation or acknowledgment of WDS in the web based setup on the BEF11S4).
I figure some of you other guys might have these Linksys boxes laying around after upgrading yourselves (I know they are were pretty popular, my family had 3 alone) and if interested I could post the setup steps, assuming your main home network router has the repeater capabilities or supports WDS. Even if it does not, custom firmware might very well allow it to be capable(do a google search on dd-wrt firmware).
The only downfall is that when brewing, my home network gets downgraded to 802.11b speeds while the Linksys router is acting as a client. This not a big deal to me and I didn't have to buy an extra wireless adapter or bridge for my BCS. After the brewstand is powered off, my home network goes back to normal.
You guys may know all of this or just as easily be able to figure it out on your own but I was excited and just thought I would share the news
