I bought a D-Link DWL-2100AP wireless access point for the lab, with a strong intention to get all the laptop computers in the lab finally connected online. However, after a few hours' struggle, I am ready to admit defeat! First of all, the device, as everything you can buy here, has only a German menu system. I tried refreshing the system firmware with a US firmware I obtained from the D-Link website (which would void the warranty!), but the effort failed because somehow the original German firmware has a later release date. Nevertheless, I was able to understand most of the words (I think!) and tried a few different configurations. However, no matter what I do, I just could not get the DHCP server to work with our institute network. Ugggh....
I think I understand the real problem by now, but just want to throw it out for discussion. Apparently, I bought a wrong device. This access point is NOT a router, and does not have a NAT built in. It can only transparently pass packets between the wireless LAN and the ethernet, but does not translate network addresses as I want it to. The built-in DHCP server assigns available IPs in the ethernet network, not in a separate private wireless subnet. Therefore, in my institute, where all IPs are static and assigned by an IT officer, I would not be able to get all the computers connected, unless I could get a large enough IP pool from the IT officer (I hate begging from that guy!), and assign them to the computers individually in a manual way. DHCP simply wouldn't help because our institute ethernet does not have dynamic IPs. Is that all? Can I somehow find a clever use of the device and get my computers connected? I'd love to hear suggestions. Buying another wireless router is fine, but I really don't like the mandatory process of asking for multiple quotations, placing a purchase order, and waiting for the processing by the Einkauf department. This is what I truly don't understand: On one hand, we have so much money to spend in this institute, and I can basically buy almost anything I can think of however the cost; on the other hand, the purchasing process is so stiff and complicated, with no available credit cards (like the P-cards in many US institutions), and all formal purchasing orders through Einkauf, that no matter how small or how urgent the need is, you'll have to wait and wait. Simply unbelievable in my view...
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I am facing a very similar situation here in Holland too. I've been wating for my office desktop to arrive since over 3 weeks ago. There is only one channel to buy a computer in the university, so that the money can only flow through a single hole. And that "single hole" works in really low efficiency.
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