Wireless router question

[el bob]

Here is my quick ascii network representation:

Terayon Cable Connection (ISP: OptOnline)
^
|
Netgear RT311
^
|
CNet 8 Port 10/100 POWERSWITCH
^ ^
| |
| |
| SMC Barricade WiFi 802.11b Router/Print Server/4 Port 10/100
|
GigaFast 5 Port 10/100 Switch

I sort of wound up with the SMC Barricade by accident. I bought it off a guy for around $10 shipped because the seller didn't know the admin config password and the reset button circuit had been cut/destroyed. A friend and I were able to reset the password and I now have this device working. I also recently picked up an 802.11b PCMCIA card at the recent 50% off at Belkin.com refurbished deal so I'm looking to make use of this device.

My question in this. Since any computer connected to my network through the SMC Barracode uses a different set of IP addresses (I think this is referred to as a different subnet -not sure though) than any other computer connected directly to the RT311 router, is there any way to get the computers to communicate over Windows Networking without a complex VPN?

The simplest solution that I can think of would be to, one way or another, instruct the SMC Barracade to act as a WiFi access point + switch + print server and forget about its router capabilities but I don't know if this can be done. Can it?

Thanks in advance,
el bob

[YeOldeStonecat]

After a minute, I've never tried to do this, I'm thinking you could disable the SMC's DHCP service. Then assign it's LAN IP to match a fixed IP address within your current IP scope of the Netgear (probably 192.168.0.XXX), but pick an address outside of the Netgears DHCP handout range...such as perhaps 192.168.0.2 (so you can get to it's admin page)

Don't use the WAN port of your SMC router. Just uplink a cable from your Netgear to one of the LAN ports on your SMC. That way, you're only using the switch side of the SMC, which I believe should include the wireless AP part.

[el bob]

Interesting idea. I'll look into disabling the DHCP device.

I remember seeing options for something of the sort, but I don't believe it was exactly that because I was looking for such an option at the time.