What is the best way to connect to two wireless networks simultaneously?

September 1, 2008 11:57 AM

What is the best way to connect to two wireless networks simultaneously? Best done with two seperate wireless cards with differently polarised aerials? Or can it be done with one card and clever software?

I will be buying at least one Linksys WMP54G PCI and plan to connect to two seperate wireless networks from the same computer.

It's also worth concidering that these two networks may be on neighbouring wireless channels (9 and 10 for example) and may or may not use WEP/WPA.

It would also be good to load balance between the two networks as each will have its own seperate connection to the internet.

Many thanks,

ilumos

posted by ilumos to Technology (7 answers total)

Most consumer 802.11 radios with standard software will only connect to a single SSID (which may roam between waps -- but thats another story). You need two radios unless you buy some fancy dancy dual radio card.
posted by SirStan at 12:18 PM on September 1, 2008

And while you are at it--back in the day some drivers had issues with two cases of the same card being installed -- well, specifically the client software. I would suggest you also run two different manufacturers cards just to be safe. It would also help you know what card is doing what (which one is NETGEAR 1? 2? GRARWR)
posted by SirStan at 12:23 PM on September 1, 2008

Good points, hadn't thought of that.

Cheers Stan
posted by ilumos at 12:25 PM on September 1, 2008

I think you can maybe do this with virtualization. I think, for example, that Parallels has a config that lets your XP guest grab a different address than your Mac OS host. You're running on one piece of hardware, though you need distinct OS's.
posted by mkultra at 1:16 PM on September 1, 2008

mkultra, the virtualized networking I've seen just looks like a wired ethernet card in the VM that is bridged to whatever wireless network the host is on.
posted by Good Brain at 4:41 PM on September 1, 2008

Interesting question! I'm wondering whether this is doable with two separate wireless network adapaters. As the OP says, what if the two connections are on adjacent channels — what about channel overlap? What about two wifi adapter antennas inches from each other — can one adapter receive while the other one is transmitting? I'm doubtful. If any MeFite out there has done this, please tell us what it took to get it to work.
posted by exphysicist345 at 5:30 PM on September 1, 2008

Well I'll try and blog about it if/when it works.

I'll use two different brands of card, polarise the aerials 90 degrees from eachother and put them in top and bottom PCI slots.


Cheers for the input :)
posted by ilumos at 2:45 AM on September 2, 2008