  We consider the problem of obtaining maximally entangled photon states at
distance in the presence of loss. We compare the efficiency of two different
schemes in establishing $N$ shared ebits: i) $N$ single ebit states with the
qubit encoded on polarization; ii) a single continuous variable entangled state
(emode) assisted by optimal local operation and classical communication (LOCC)
protocol in order to obtain a $2^N$-dimensional maximally entangled state, with
qubits encoded on the photon number.
