WEP only in repeaters???

I have a NETGEAR WNDR 3700 and i wanted to make it a base station and turn my wife's old NEATGEAR WNDR N2000 into a repeater and both routers say you can do WEP only....really? WEP blows and I know now supposedly that WPA2 can now be cracked at an application. Granted I live on a farm and only have two neighbors but WEP? That just erks me. Thing is I really need the better coverage because it ranges from 50-70ish db depending on the location in the upstairs.

Should I just roll with WEP? or is there a way to get WPA2 in bridge/repeating?

edit ACK!!! I just was looking and I couldn't WEP in the settings so I tried changing the speed to 54Mbps instead of 300Mbps then it showed up. I would not only have WEP but also 54Mbps??? Should I even bother? With 54Mbps I would only have one antenna instead of two so Would I even get better coverage at that point stuck at g the whole time? Why is there no wireless N repeating?

 

You could look into DD-WRT or similar 3rd party firmware for your routers, those might allow better security.

 

what about repeating on N...I don't want to use wireless G because that would be pointless. Security doesn't even matter at this point because I am not about to downgrade to wireless G....I'll wait when I get some money to buy a good powerline network thing to try to hook up the router in that fashion if I have to.

 

If all you're trying to do is share an internet connection throughout the 'farm' I doubt moving to G is going to be a problem. The lower bandwidth would be sufficient for internet. Now if you're doing file sharing or anything like that, then N would make sense.

Why don't you try moving to 2.4GHz N. You'll hurt bandwidth a little but the range should improve.

DD-WRT has a few other advantages though -- usually the firmware allows you to set up not only a repeater but also increase transmit power. 3rd party firmware might enable better security as well (not sure if it is software or hardware limiting the router).

 

I am already on 2.4g n :/ I'll try the firmware later I guess. But all I am trying to do is get a good signal throughout the house. The internet/ router is in terrible placement that I can't change :/

 

Try the firmware and let us know how it goes. Make sure you test it on the lowest value router you got, and make sure you know how to revert back to the stock firmware if necessary.

...and of course if it gives you a little too much trouble, just shoot the computer equipment and go buy a new pair .

 

If i had money