Wireless Networking with Linksys WRT54GL

[Ron Krebs]

Hi, I have a Westell Modem-Router with Wireless capability (327W) that I use
on the first floor to manage my home network. I use both ports(wired) and
xmit capabilities on the modem to connect two desktops (wired via cable) and
three laptops (wireless via Westell antenna) to my home network. However,
the xmit power of the Westell is not enough to give my daughter's laptop on
the second floor far end of the house a good signal. In addition, my sons
also play XBox 360 also on second floor and need online connectivity. I
solved the Xbox problem by running a ethernet cable up to the second floor.
I wanted to use that cable to also give my daughter's laptop internet access
as well as home network access. So I bought a Linksys WRT54GL router,
reflashed to DD-WRT mini SP2 firmware and now have both the Xbox and my
daughter's laptop functioning with the exception that my daughter's laptop
is not being discovered by my first floor network. I have disabled the
54GL's SPI firewall thinking that was the problem but still no connection.
What settings do I need to change on the linksys router to be used as an AP
(it currently is in AP mode)? The Linksys currently is being seen by my
daughter's laptop as having a gateway address of 192.168.1.1 but that is
also what my westell is set at. Is that a conflict? Also, should I have the
Linksys set to DHCP forwarding instead of DHCP server? Any help is
appreciated.

Ron

[jim]

"Ron Krebs" <rkrebs11@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:2MZ3k.864$7A1.830@trndny04...
> Hi, I have a Westell Modem-Router with Wireless capability (327W) that I
> use
> on the first floor to manage my home network. I use both ports(wired) and
> xmit capabilities on the modem to connect two desktops (wired via cable)
> and
> three laptops (wireless via Westell antenna) to my home network. However,
> the xmit power of the Westell is not enough to give my daughter's laptop
> on
> the second floor far end of the house a good signal. In addition, my sons
> also play XBox 360 also on second floor and need online connectivity. I
> solved the Xbox problem by running a ethernet cable up to the second
> floor.
> I wanted to use that cable to also give my daughter's laptop internet
> access
> as well as home network access. So I bought a Linksys WRT54GL router,
> reflashed to DD-WRT mini SP2 firmware and now have both the Xbox and my
> daughter's laptop functioning with the exception that my daughter's laptop
> is not being discovered by my first floor network. I have disabled the
> 54GL's SPI firewall thinking that was the problem but still no connection.
> What settings do I need to change on the linksys router to be used as an
> AP
> (it currently is in AP mode)? The Linksys currently is being seen by my
> daughter's laptop as having a gateway address of 192.168.1.1 but that is
> also what my westell is set at. Is that a conflict? Also, should I have
> the
> Linksys set to DHCP forwarding instead of DHCP server? Any help is
> appreciated.
>
> Ron

http://www.pizzatorrent.com/wrt54-torrents

jim

[John Wunderlich]

"Ron Krebs" <rkrebs11@verizon.net> wrote in
news:2MZ3k.864$7A1.830@trndny04:

> Hi, I have a Westell Modem-Router with Wireless capability (327W)
> that I use on the first floor to manage my home network. I use
> both ports(wired) and xmit capabilities on the modem to connect
> two desktops (wired via cable) and three laptops (wireless via
> Westell antenna) to my home network. However, the xmit power of
> the Westell is not enough to give my daughter's laptop on the
> second floor far end of the house a good signal. In addition, my
> sons also play XBox 360 also on second floor and need online
> connectivity. I solved the Xbox problem by running a ethernet
> cable up to the second floor. I wanted to use that cable to also
> give my daughter's laptop internet access as well as home network
> access. So I bought a Linksys WRT54GL router, reflashed to DD-WRT
> mini SP2 firmware and now have both the Xbox and my daughter's
> laptop functioning with the exception that my daughter's laptop
> is not being discovered by my first floor network. I have
> disabled the 54GL's SPI firewall thinking that was the problem but
> still no connection. What settings do I need to change on the
> linksys router to be used as an AP (it currently is in AP mode)?
> The Linksys currently is being seen by my daughter's laptop as
> having a gateway address of 192.168.1.1 but that is also what my
> westell is set at. Is that a conflict? Also, should I have the
> Linksys set to DHCP forwarding instead of DHCP server? Any help
> is appreciated.
>
> Ron

Windows networking does not traverse routers. What you really need
instead of the Linksys WRT54GL "Router" is an "Access Point" to
extend your network. Fortunately, the WRT54GL can be configured to
work as an Access Point. The steps are basically:
1) In your Linksys Configuration, assign a different IP address to
the Linksys in the same subnet as your Westel. In your case,
probably 192.168.1.2.
2) Disable DHCP on your Linksys Router. your Westel Router will
provide DHCP
3) Connect your network using the LAN ports of your Linksys modem
and leave your WAN port disconnected.

More information may be found here:

"Using a Wireless Router as an Access Point"
<http://www.dslreports.com/faq/11233>

"How do I use a Wireless Cable/DSL Router as a Switch with an Access
Point"
<http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html>

HTH,
John