2 Routers, 1 as bridge?

[Krez]

Hey all, I have 2 routers, a lynksis WRT54G and an ancient lynksis BEFW11S4. The WRT provides wireless + ethernet to most of the house, but there's another room with multiple computers I want to get internet to but it is too far away for both wired and wireless. So I was hoping there was a way to use the BEFW as a bridge so I can get a stable and fast connection. Any tips? I do have Cat5 cable and know how to make it, I heard you need a crossover cable, is it possible I could make it or do I have to buy one? Thanks for your help!

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: Krez
it is too far away for both wired and wireless.
[...]
Any tips? I do have Cat5 cable and know how to make it

Confusing..

1. Can you run a cable from the main router to that room?
2. If not, and it's "too far for wireless", how do you expect to make a connection?

 

[JackMDS]

If you can not lay a cable and it is too far for straight Wireless then the only other solutions is Powerline Network.

http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-...-Adapter/dp/B000GR1CBI

Or WDS (second post here), http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2311321&enterthread=y

The BEFW11S4 is too old and useless for such topology.

 

[Krez]

Originally posted by: Madwand1
Confusing..

1. Can you run a cable from the main router to that room?
2. If not, and it's "too far for wireless", how do you expect to make a connection?

Uh, sorry, I wasn't thinking when I wrote that I couldn't get cable there. I can get cable to the room but since there will be multiple computers in there it would be pretty ugly to snake a few cables through the living room and down to the basement. Much easier with one So I thought I would use one Cat5 to get to the BEFW and then use shorter cable to get to the computers. Is it also possible to broadcast wireless from the BEFW?

 

[JackMDS]

Using a Wireless Router as a switch with an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

When you try check the Wireless output of the main Router.

Some old 802.11b Wireless can cause decrease in newer Wireless signal.

 

[Krez]

Hi Jack, thanks for your help. I think I followed the directions in that site to the letter but I still haven't gotten them to work together. There is an odd thing I noticed though. From the WRT54G to the basement requires about 20ft of Cat5 (we can call this cable the blue cable now). I have not gotten the BEFW to work, in the basement. The two work together fine on a much shorter (less than 5 feet) Cat5 cable (which we can call the gray cable). The setup I used was:

-default settings in both routers
-gray cable coming from normal 1-4 slots from WRT to the uplink in the BEFW

However, this set up does not work when I try it with the blue cable. I know the blue cable works, in fact I have 2 and both do nothing. Is there something in the distance stopping this set up working? Where do I go from here?

edit: hmm a ping to google revealed a 50% packet loss when in the basement. Yet I cannot log into the WRT. What does that mean?

 

[Krez]

Is the maximum length for a Cat5 cable used for uplink shorter than normal ethernet?

 

[JackMDS]

Cat5e can go up to 326 Feet.

If it works well with another cable then something is Not good with the Blue cable.

If it a stand alone cable get another one, they are very inexpensive these days.

http://www.monoprice.com/produ...id=5009&seq=1&format=2

 

[Krez]

Thanks for the link but I can make my own

 

[Krez]

Question, should I turn off the DHCP on the WRT or on the BEFW? And on that tutorial it says "make sure that the computer is configured to obtain DHCP automatically from the Router," how do I do that?

edit: sorry for the double post, meant to edit.

 

[JackMDS]

The Router in this case is the WRT54G, and its DHCP has to be On.

The BEFW11S4 under this configuration does not work as a Router any more.

The WAN/Internet port has to empty, and its DHCP Off.

 

[Krez]

Argh, still not working. DHCP is off on the BEFW. Is it a possibility that the blue cable can work as a LAN cord but not uplink?

 

[JackMDS]

Cables can be Straight or Crossover, and there are rules of connections.

http://www.ezlan.net/faq.html#crossover

 

[Krez]

Victory!!! I fixed it! It turns out some numbnuts wired my lan cord not using the 568 standards (not me of course :roll, so there must have been some sort of conflict. But now both routers talk to each other and the room is now wired . Jack, thank you so much for your help and for putting up with my inexperience, I'm really grateful for that (plus I learned a bit too).

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: Krez

Now both routers talk to each other and the room is now wired .

:thumbsup: