Network Gurus: Will this work?

[WhiteD3]

Hiya,

We have a long thin house. Down one end (my study) is the Belkin 4 port wireless router/ADSL+2 modem. Currently the printer, 2 PCs and the PVR are connected to it. Wireless reception at the other end of the house is dodgy and I have to fight with my boys re wireless access as their Nintendo products only do WEP and my Vista laptop only does WPA2.

So I want to add a wireless 4 port router (their Xmas present + a 2nd PC up their end to stop the fights!)at their end of the house and set it to WEP. Allow all PCs and Nintendo's access to the net and the printer.

Thought, suggestions and witty commentary welcome:D

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/6159/homenetworkhb7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Xavie]

Not possible to put the router in the middle of the house? even in a roof is fine in my experience although I was told never to do it I did and was the best way of doing it.

[incisor]

you will need to keep all the dhcp ip addfress space within one c class if you want windows file and printer sharing to work without dramas.

set first router dhcp address space to .2 thru .127 and the second to .129 thru .254

give the second router an ip address of .128 and enter it as a reserved address in the first router using the mac address etc etc.

netmask should be 255.255.255.0


so

first rounter ip address is say 192.168.1.1 netmask of 255.255.255.0

dhcp range set to 192.168.1.2 thru 192.168.1.127


second router ip address is 192.168.1.128 netmask 255.255.255.0

put second router mac address in reserved list of dhcp list of first router

dhcp range of second router set to 192.168.1.129 thru 192.168.1.254


clear as mud ?

[WhiteD3]

clear as mud ?


I think I follow you:eek: Time will tell. Can I call you xmas morning if I can't get it working?:D

[WhiteD3]

Not possible to put the router in the middle of the house? even in a roof is fine in my experience although I was told never to do it I did and was the best way of doing it.

Unfortunately not. I can move the existing router but it doesn't have enough ports and I'd still have the WEP/WPA issue.

Cheers.

[incisor]

I think I follow you:eek: Time will tell. Can I call you xmas morning if I can't get it working?:D

feel free 1300wontbeathome


;)

[jik22]

you will need to keep all the dhcp ip address space within one c class if you want windows file and printer sharing to work without dramas.

set first router dhcp address space to .2 thru .127 and the second to .129 thru .254

give the second router an ip address of .128 and enter it as a reserved address in the first router using the mac address etc etc.

netmask should be 255.255.255.0


so

first rounter ip address is say 192.168.1.1 netmask of 255.255.255.0

dhcp range set to 192.168.1.2 thru 192.168.1.127


second router ip address is 192.168.1.128 netmask 255.255.255.0

put second router mac address in reserved list of dhcp list of first router

dhcp range of second router set to 192.168.1.129 thru 192.168.1.254


clear as mud ?

Don't see why each router needs to do DHCP if they are connected by Ethernet and using the same class C? The second "router" is only being used as a switch and WAP, and isn't actually routing as it has no WAN connection...so while it needs an IP address either outside the DHCP range of the first router or it's address reserving in the DHCP range of the first router as you say, I don't think anything else needs to be done. I run much the same setup here and simply turn off the WAN port and DHCP server on the second router.

One other thing though - make sure the wireless channels are at least three apart between the routers. You may not get a good enough signal to connect from one end of the house to the other, but you'll probably have enough signal to interfere if they're on overlapping channels!

[steveG]

Don't see why each router needs to do DHCP if they are connected by Ethernet and using the same class C? The second "router" is only being used as a switch and WAP, and isn't actually routing as it has no WAN connection...so while it needs an IP address either outside the DHCP range of the first router or it's address reserving in the DHCP range of the first router as you say, I don't think anything else needs to be done. I run much the same setup here and simply turn off the WAN port and DHCP server on the second router.

One other thing though - make sure the wireless channels are at least three apart between the routers. You may not get a good enough signal to connect from one end of the house to the other, but you'll probably have enough signal to interfere if they're on overlapping channels!
Agreed.
We run the same config at work when we need temporary network to an area that doesn't already have coverage.

I usually plug the WAN interface port with an old connector to stop people plugging into it and then calling me saying "I've plugged my network cable into the switch but it doesn't work".

SteveG

[The ho har's]

watching with interest

maybe solve my prob:D


Mrs ho har:D

[incisor]

Don't see why each router needs to do DHCP if they are connected by Ethernet and using the same class C?

he has two wireless zones that way so if he does venture to that end of the house its there if needed by a game console or laptop etc etc...

he has the hardware, why not use it ;)

[jik22]

he has two wireless zones that way so if he does venture to that end of the house its there if needed by a game console or laptop etc etc...

he has the hardware, why not use it ;)

He'll have that anyway, as both routers can run as WAP's independently of whether they are DHCP servers. It was the two DHCP scopes and servers I was querying....as a wireless client on the second (non-routing) router will simply pass the DHCP request back up the ethernet to the main router running the DHCP server and the ADSL WAN connection.

(Plus, most routers when you turn on WPA2 and WEP don't allow you to enter WEP Key 1, which screws up a NDS as that's the only key you can use, so he'll need two WAP's unless he's going to back the Vista client off to WEP as well.)

[steveG]

A wireless connection to second router will still receive a DHCP address from the first, just the same as it would if you added a switch to the first router, so no need to do DHCP on both.

[awabbit6]

you will need to keep all the dhcp ip addfress space within one c class if you want windows file and printer sharing to work without dramas.

set first router dhcp address space to .2 thru .127 and the second to .129 thru .254

give the second router an ip address of .128 and enter it as a reserved address in the first router using the mac address etc etc.

netmask should be 255.255.255.0


so

first rounter ip address is say 192.168.1.1 netmask of 255.255.255.0

dhcp range set to 192.168.1.2 thru 192.168.1.127


second router ip address is 192.168.1.128 netmask 255.255.255.0

put second router mac address in reserved list of dhcp list of first router

dhcp range of second router set to 192.168.1.129 thru 192.168.1.254


clear as mud ?


Is the WL-520gU a router? It doesn't seem to have a WAN port.

I'd disable the DHCP server on the WL-520gU and let the Belkin router assign the all the addresses.

Check that both points will auto detect the cable type (most do), otherwise you'll need a crossover cable between them.


Paul

[WhiteD3]

Is the WL-520gU a router? It doesn't seem to have a WAN port.

Yes, it does.

LAN Ports = WAN x 1, LAN x 4 RJ45 for 10/100 BaseT

One small thing that's perhaps been lost in the comments is the WPA/WEP issue. The Nintendo gear does not do WPA, only WEP, and my current Belkin router (and I assume the Asus) doesn't do both at the same time.

By using this new config then I can leave my Vista laptop as WPA2 and connect to the Belkin while the boys can go WEP to the Asus router.

On a side issue, I bought the Belkin G router think it'd cover the house but the best I can get is 15m. Beyond 20m (in the boy's territory) there's no signal at all (and it's line of site down the hallway from the Belkin router).

One more question: Does the cat5 from the Belkin plug into the WAN port of the Asus, or one of the 4 comms ports?

Cheers.

[steveG]

One more question: Does the cat5 from the Belkin plug into the WAN port of the Asus, or one of the 4 comms ports?


Into one of the comms ports - you don't need to use the WAN port at all on the ASUS (I usually plug the port with an old RJ45 connector to make it obvious that nothing should be connected).

SteveG

[abaddonxi]

<snip>
On a side issue, I bought the Belkin G router think it'd cover the house but the best I can get is 15m. Beyond 20m (in the boy's territory) there's no signal at all (and it's line of site down the hallway from the Belkin router).
<snip>


If your signal is that bad you probably don't need to worry about wireless security.

After all, if the signal isn't leaving your house there isn't much chance of someone hacking into it.

You can always do the walkaround with the laptop to see if the signal is available outside the house.

Some wireless AP's and cards have a power setting to adjust the signal strength. If you turn it down on the AP, and up on the receivers and make sure it's in Infrastructure Mode.

Cheers
Simon

[LOVEMYRANGIE]

Check out these pages on WLAN

http://www.e3.com.au/

Antennit (http://www.saunalahti.fi/elepal/antennit.html)

If you decide on the antenna route, can you just tweak it enough to reach my place!! :D:p

[WhiteD3]

I plugged the new router in and it worked straight away. :eek: No set up, no nothing:D:D

Now for the wifi bit...

[The Mutt]

We have a wired D-link router which is connected to the internet and a Wireless TPLink that is plugged into the back of the D-Link as if it was another computer, all our computers kept trying to access the internet thru the TP-Link I switched off DHCP server in the TP-Link's setup menu and have no more problems since.

Glenn

[WhiteD3]

Well, it seemed to work until we restarted the PCs on boxing day, now there's no Internet access from the 2 PCs on the new ASUS router.

What I have done:
Topology as per the network drawing in the first post.
Belkin router settings: IP = 192.168.2.1, 255.255.255.0, DHCP is on with range = 2-127.
Asus router "Operations mode" is set for "Access Point", being "In Access Point mode, 4 LAN ports and wireless devices are set to locate in the same local area network. Those WAN related functions are not supported here.

Explaining with technical terms, access point mode is, NAT is disabled, wireless LAN and four LAN ports of WL520GU are bridged together."

IP = 192.168.2.128, 255.255.255.0. I Think DHCP is off as I've selected to manually set the IP. The manual is written in Chinglish and is unclear on the DHCP server issue.

In the Belkin DHCP list I can see the IP addresses of the 2 PC connected to the Asus router.

Suggestions welcome (please, the kids are threatening me with physical violence:cool:

[dmdigital]

The fact you can see the IP's of the 2 ASUS ports in the Belkin's DHCP list would suggest they are getting an IP address allocated from the Belkin.

[WhiteD3]

Factory reset the Asus router, re entered the settings and all's good:)

Kids are happy, SWMBO's happy, therefore I'm happy.:D

[dmdigital]

Factory reset the Asus router, re entered the settings and all's good:)

Kids are happy, SWMBO's happy, therefore I'm happy.:D
:cool: Good news and a happy ending:D