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Resolve a file sharing / wireless networking problem
Authored by: wsdr on Aug 25, '03 10:36:22AM

This reminds me of a problem that I have yet to find an answer to, regarding Airport networking in general. My home is laid out in such a way as to prevent full end-to-end coverage for Airport access using only one base station. So I have two base stations, one at each end of the house. They are both connected to a central switch, and my internet router is connected to the same switch (as are some other computers/servers). Each Airport is configured with the same network name (our family name) and is set up in Airport to Ethernet bridge mode. This works seemlessly as I move through the house with my or my wife's laptops-- I never loose an internet connection (ssh session, Timbuktu, etc.) while moving from base station to base station.

The problem that I frequently run into is when trying to connect from one Airported computer to another. If the two computers are using the same base station, they connect fine; if they are on different base stations, they can "see" each other (either using Connect to server... or via Timbuktu) but they can't connect.

In my observations of Aiport to Airport file transfers, I've noticed that the base station does not appear to have any activity appearing while the two Macs are moving data. I infer from this that the Macs connect directly to each other in order to move data more efficiently-- makes sense to me. But I think that is the root of the problem-- that they try to connect directly to each other. So when they are actually on different base stations, they attempt to connect directly, and never fall back to connecting via the base station.

Anyone else experience this? Is there a cure?

One thought I had was to create two different network names for my network-- but then I am afraid that moving between stations won't be so seemless. I'd hate to lose an ftp, Timbuktu or ssh session when moving.



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Resolve a file sharing / wireless networking problem
Authored by: Deut3221 on Aug 28, '03 10:05:10PM

I too have been unable to connect by iBook and TIBook when they are accessing separate Airports. However, if I connect them through the same Airpot, no problems. They instantly connect. Weird and anoying.



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