Bridging Networks with XP?

[cKGunslinger]

OK, I've had this dilemma for a while, but I avoided it buy simply buying another Wireless AP. Now I have a 3rd machine and I don't really want to have to keep buying Wireless APs for machine that are sitting right next to each other.

Let me try to lay out the configuration for you:

My Neighbor has a LAN and Internet connection. His router is 192.168.0.1 and his other PCs are on the same subnet. I connect to his network on one PC with my USB 802.11g Wireless AP (and get an address of 192.168.0.4) and share his internet service (completely allowed by the ISP's TOS, if case you are wondering.)

Now, what I would *like* to do is have my 3 PCs on a local 100T LAN (for fast file sharing, etc), and allow all three access to the internet through my neighbor's connection. In theory, I though this was somewhat simple, but it has eluded me for weeks. Here's what I though I would do. Perhaps you can tell where I'm going wrong:

1) I create a local LAN via my 3 PCs and a hub (actually a WGR614 router, but I'm using it as a hub). I put them on a different subnet, so I won't collide with my neighbor's IPs. My IPs are 192.168.1.101 (PC1), etc. Notice they are "xxx.xxx.1.xxx" as opposed to "xxx.xxx.0.xxx"

2) This works fine. I have 3 PCs that call ping each other, share printers and folders, and play LAN games together without a hitch. The only thing they are missing is Internet Access.

3) So, I connect my Wireless AP to my PC1 and connect to my neighbor's LAN. I get an IP of 192.168.0.4 (auto-assigned).

4) Now, neither network connection works (on PC1) when they are both enabled. If I disable my LAN, I can see his network and get to the internet, but I can't see my other PCs. If I disable the Wireless link, I can see my PCs, but lose his and the internet connection.

5) OK, I think. Now I simply need to use WinXP to "bridge" the connections and all should be dandy. I bridge the wireless and my LAN, and get a Bridged connection, and tell it to obtain an IP automatically. Now, that PC (PC1) can now see my neighbor's LAN and the internet. All is good, except that my LAN is gone. I can't ping any machine on the xxx.xxx.1.xxx subnet.

6) What am I missing? There are tons of options for "Alternate Configurations," gateways, manual IP selections, etc. I've tried several combinations of setting, but have yet to stumble upon a configuration that gives me what I was looking for. Also, will I need ICS, or can I configure other PCs on my LAn with the appropriate DNS servers, gateway, etc?

I assume this can be done. Does anyone have any detailed suggestions?

 

[cKGunslinger]

Arggh! This is getting frustrating.

How about this, given the above text and this list of hardware, is there some
way I can have all 3 of my PCs connected to the 'net through my friends connection?


* 3 WinXP PCs (each with 2 Ethercards)
* 1 Netgear WGR614 Wireless router (WAN port + 4 10/100T ports)
* 1 8-port 10T hub
* 2 Wireless AP (USB)

The biggest issue I'm having right now is that I think I just need ICS enabled and everything would work, but WinXPs ICS wants to assign my PC an address of 192.168.0.1, which conflicts with his network. Is there another ICS app that allows me to control which address it wants to use, perhaps?

 

[Solema]

Can you make a small investment of about $50?

If so, ditch the netgear and get a Linksys WRT54G version 4 or earlier, and load it up with linux firmware like DD-WRT. From there you can configure the linksys as a wireless client, which will mean that it acts as a wireless card of sorts and connects to the neighbor's wireless router. Then you should be able to connect your PC's to the WRT54G's LAN ports and be done with it.

I current share my internet with my friend across the street from me using two WRT54G's running in a WDS mesh, meaning that my friend's WRT54G acts as a repeater for my linksys. Any PC on my friend's wireless or wired WRT54G connections automatically gets a DHCP address from my router. It works fantastically, and ideally that would be the way to go, presuming your neighbor would be okay also getting a WRT54G.

Bottom line is that this whole process can be done much easier and in multiple ways with a Linksys WRT54G, since it has a ton more ways to configure it with the Linux firmware.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: Solema
Can you make a small investment of about $50?

If so, ditch the netgear and get a Linksys WRT54G version 4 or earlier, and load it up with linux firmware like DD-WRT. From there you can configure the linksys as a wireless client, which will mean that it acts as a wireless card of sorts and connects to the neighbor's wireless router. Then you should be able to connect your PC's to the WRT54G's LAN ports and be done with it.

I current share my internet with my friend across the street from me using two WRT54G's running in a WDS mesh, meaning that my friend's WRT54G acts as a repeater for my linksys. Any PC on my friend's wireless or wired WRT54G connections automatically gets a DHCP address from my router. It works fantastically, and ideally that would be the way to go, presuming your neighbor would be okay also getting a WRT54G.

Bottom line is that this whole process can be done much easier and in multiple ways with a Linksys WRT54G, since it has a ton more ways to configure it with the Linux firmware.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind as a non-free solution. I'm just a bit frustrated that the concept of what I'm trying to do seems so very simple, yet the implementation is far from it.

 

[Solema]

Yeah, ICS is a PITA.

 

[cKGunslinger]

But I have to wonder - if I only need to connect one more PC to the Internet, wouldn't it just cheaper and easier to just buy a 3rd and final Wireless AP, and have one for each PC? They are still pretty cheap. (<$30)

Not the best, long-term solution, I know. But I can't imagine having more than 3 full-fledged PCs up and running anytime soon. I would be losing out on high-speed local transfers, however.

I think I may just get that WRT54G. Is it imperative that you get an earlier version/revision? Do you have to flash the firmware with DD-WRT, or can the default firmware work as both an AP and DHCP router?

 

[nweaver]

do you have XP Pro?

Install Wireless NIC into XP Pro, connect to network, wire all 3 PC's into a switch, in XP Pro, grab both adapters and select "Bridge". The neigbors router will issue DHCP to all the computers, and should work OK. It's not the fastest, I've seen issues doing X Box live over a similar setup.

 

[Pulsar]

I'm a bit confused.

Why don't you have all the computers on your hub connect through the primary computer? Just use the windows XP wizard and set up all the computers to connect through another computer on your network - then configure your primary machine.

I've done that for years with no issue. Did I miss something? The only hitch is that your "gateway" computer has to have two cards, one for the hub and one for the internet.

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: LsDPulsar
I'm a bit confused.

Why don't you have all the computers on your hub connect through the primary computer? Just use the windows XP wizard and set up all the computers to connect through another computer on your network - then configure your primary machine.

I've done that for years with no issue. Did I miss something? The only hitch is that your "gateway" computer has to have two cards, one for the hub and one for the internet.

yes, there is a confilct in IP's, and craptastic ICS doesn't have an option to change it's IP.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: nweaver
do you have XP Pro?

Install Wireless NIC into XP Pro, connect to network, wire all 3 PC's into a switch, in XP Pro, grab both adapters and select "Bridge". The neigbors router will issue DHCP to all the computers, and should work OK. It's not the fastest, I've seen issues doing X Box live over a similar setup.

Well, that's exactly what I'm trying to do, but to no avail. PC1 has the Wireless AP and is assigned an IP of 192.168.0.4 via my neighbor's router's DHCP.

PC1, PC2, and PC3 each have a 10/100T NIC and are wired into a switch. I manually assigned IPs to each. (May be the problem..)

I bridge the Wireless connection and the LAN connection on PC1. PC1 has internet access, but now can't see PC2 or PC3. Neither can PC2 or PC3 see PC1 or access the internet.

Maybe I need to adjust the IP settings. Do I use PC1's IP as the gateway for PC2 and PC3? Which IP do I use? It's Wireless IP, it's LAN IP, or the IP of the Bridge? What about DNS adress?