I have a laptop that sometimes connects to the distant router (low signal) rather than the Airlink Range Booster. To prevent this I tried to set the SSID inside the booster to a different value. When I do that I can connect properly, but cannnot get to the internet. The laptop is using Vista Home Basic, the Router is DI-524, and the Range Booster is Airlink AP311W. Some folks have told me to set the wireless card in the laptop to only connect to a specific MAC (range booster), but that is not possible according to Dell. Why will the router not allow access to the internet when the range booster has a different SSID than the router?

Any other suggestions on how I can FORCE the laptop to only connect to the range booster and ignore the router signal?

I figured it out - set the MAC filter on the router to deny access to the WIFI MAC in the laptop. Therefore the laptop is forced to gain access only through the Range Booster.

I have tried to make my network more secure by only allowing the known MACs connect and by limiting the number of static IPs the DI-524 can issue to six (set IP range from 100 - 105).

It appears that with the IPs limited to only the 3- PCs, NAS disk, net printer, and the range booster, the D-Link Media Player (DSM-520, wireless) still connects to the network WITHOUT any IPs available for issuance.

How can that be? Does the range booster open up the network to an unlimited number of devices that can attach as long as they know the encryption key?