HOWTO: Use Linksys WRT54G as a wireless ethernet bridge

[mcmug]

Hi all,

I've scanned the forums and the solution is to convert the Linksys as the wireless client. Is there a solution to convert the D-Link DI714P+ as the wireless client, while keeping the Linksys WRT54G as the main router?

My D-Link DI714P+ is only 802.11b, so I'm quite reluctant to use it as the main router.

Cheers!

 

[furiouslettuce]

Hey guys,

I don't know if anyone's still around to listen, but I just wanted to thank everyone (especially user1234) for all the info - it's made my life much easier!

I have a main wireless router / wired switch to which a number of computers connect both wirelessly and wired. I also have another computer + xbox360 in a place where I cannot run a cable. Previously, my xbox 360 connected through my computer using ICS (on its wireless NIC), which was less than satisfactory - apart from anything else the NIC was crap and kept dropping the connection, when a laptop placed in the same place never did.

I bought the WRT54G on the basis of this thread and various related searches, then installed the Freeman hack of the Sveasoft software. Using these instructions my xbox 360 and computer were attached to a permenant, high-strength wireless network within 15 minutes! Thanks guys!

One thing that was different - I think I've seen this mentioned, but just in case: The Freeman version that I am using (1.04) allows you to select client-routed mode, which means the router connects as a client, and then I just use the inbuilt NAT to regulate the computers this side. The Linksys is placed in the DMZ of the main router, and the xbox 360 is placed in the DMZ of the Linksys, meaning I don't have to fiddle around with port forwarding etc. Also, I can still have laptops etc connect to the main AP - amazing!

In addition, I don't know if it's still an issue, but I was able to connect using WPA with no problems at all!

Thanks again for the help guys

 

[swanandmokashi]

Sounds very cool !
Any idea if this applies to WRT54GC as well ? (Compact router)

 

[kalster]

Originally posted by: kjeerji
Chomp,

I have same issue, V5 hardware. I've been told public firmware cannot be loaded. I'm still trying to figure out if/where to get something that'll work. Let me know if you find something.

look into dd-wrt , dd-wrt.com they have a micro release which runs on on v5 as well (not sure how hard it is to flash it though),

 

[nsdir]

Hi all,

I read the first message posted by user1234 about the following configuration :

Room 1: Cable Modem <===> D-Link DI-624 Wireless Router <===> PC-1
Room 2: WRT54G <===> PC-2

I tested instructions and it work very fine. Juste, i have 2 WRT54G router in place of DI-624 router. So i have :

Room 1: Cable Modem <===> WRT54G <===> PC-1
Room 2: WRT54G <===> PC-2

All work fine.

My question is :
How it's possible to do the same thing, but on the room 2, the communication between the router WRT54G and the PC-2 must be by wireless and not by cable ? like This :

Room 1: Cable Modem <===> WRT54G <===> PC-1
Room 2: WRT54G <Wireless> PC-2

Thank You very much for your help

Best Regards
Nadir

 

[markcavus]

Thanks for the tutorial. I am having trouble telnetting into the router. It will not take the web password and let me telnet in. I enabled telnet and remote admin and still no luck. I am being promted for username and password. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[nsdir]

use :

login : root
password : <the password that you use for web interface>

 

[djatwill]

Has anyone hookd up an xbox 360 to the WRT54G in wireless ethernet bridge mode?

The xbox 360 needs the UPNP to work flawlessly. I think it maps a bunch of ports dynamically for voip and other things. A couple routers I have tried in the past have had problems with this.

 

[DidlySquat]

Originally posted by: nsdir
Hi all,

I read the first message posted by user1234 about the following configuration :

Room 1: Cable Modem <===> D-Link DI-624 Wireless Router <===> PC-1
Room 2: WRT54G <===> PC-2

I tested instructions and it work very fine. Juste, i have 2 WRT54G router in place of DI-624 router. So i have :

Room 1: Cable Modem <===> WRT54G <===> PC-1
Room 2: WRT54G <===> PC-2

All work fine.

My question is :
How it's possible to do the same thing, but on the room 2, the communication between the router WRT54G and the PC-2 must be by wireless and not by cable ? like This :

Room 1: Cable Modem <===> WRT54G <===> PC-1
Room 2: WRT54G <Wireless> PC-2

Thank You very much for your help

Best Regards
Nadir

No that's not possible. In bridge mode (aka client mode) the WRT54G doesn't accept wireless connections, the only wireless link is to the main router.

 

[ID3Freak]

I've setup according to instructions (using Freeman Basic 1.04) and I can ping all machines and login to both routers from both sides of the bridge. However, I cannot see machines across the bridge in Windows Networking. Nor can I type in the PC's name (i.e. \\1ghcompaq) across the bridge. I have entered the echo command as I've read this is the cause of this problem. Someone mentioned entering "route" as a telnet command to someone earlier so I thought I'd post that. Anyone have any ideas?

WRT54G:~#route
ernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.1.128 * 255.255.255.128 U 0 0 0 br0
192.168.1.0 * 255.255.255.0 eth1
127.0.0.0 * 255.0.0.0 lo
default 192.168.1.1 0.0.0.0 UG eth1

My main router is 192.168.1.1 and for some reason my laptop conneted to the WRT54G has the Gateway auto set to 192.168.1.150 (WRT54G's IP). In this setup isn' the Gateway supposed to be 192.168.1.1?

 

[ID3Freak]

Upon rereading the instuctions for the nth time I've input another routing command from my pc1 and am able to use Windows naming conventions to access the laptop share. I have a Westell 327w and would like to enter the correct route to enable all the pcs on the two subnets to talk to each other but when I try to put in the numbers that made my pc1 work the westell won't load the route page. It will however load every other staus page?! Oy. Suggestions?

 

[slocomp]

Thanks to usuer for creating this as it has been very beneficial for me. I'm just having one problem and that was with the last added step. I can log on to my router through telnet, but when I type in the command it says -sh: cannot create /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf//proxy_arp: Directory nonexistent. Anyone know what the problem could be? I have turned off most of my firewall programs.

 

[XtremeM3]

I thought this was exactly what I was looking for, but it's a little off. While it is a good writeup, the term "Wireless Bridge" is actually misleading.

By definition a bridge is a layer 2 device - this is actually performing layer 3 functions. While it may seem like I'm nitpicking here over layer 2/3 it all depends on what your wants/needs are.

I want(pretty much NEED based on apartment design) a setup like this:
(excuse the ... my spacing came out all jacked up without them.)


ADSL ROUTER >>>wireless<<< WRT54GS ==ether== PC1
...||.................................................||
...||.................................................||
ether............................................ether
...||.................................................||
...||.................................................||
Xbox360.........................................PC2

I want my ADSL router to assign DHCP throughout the entire network. Using a combination of static routes and dhcp on each router I can get to where I can ping everything, however I want to have broadcasts go throughout my entire network. Keeping everything at home at Layer 2 alleviates alot of problems with things like UPNP especially if using multiple upnp devices accessing through the WRT (i.e. xbox streaming media to PC1 one time PC2 the next). If anyone knows of a good way to actually set a WRT54GS as a wireless bridge (which would be transparent - no NAT - no routing - no layer 3 functions at all). Please let me know, as i was banging my head against the wall yesterday trying firmware after firmware - option after option. I've tried dhcp for wireless, static all kinds of stuff - i just started working with this yesterday but I have a pretty decent background in networking(although not home networking a whole other world it seems) and i think at this point it might be hurting me more than helping by overthinking things. FYI my adsl router is a linksys WAG54something (at work right now). I'm sure most people never heard of it but it was the only linksys ADSL router i could actually find (RJ-11 not RJ-45).

The setup described here is actually routing between 2 networks. The fact that they are the same inside is not really needed (i believe the setup was a full /24 in the front and a /25 from that /24 in the back). The back network could be completely different as long as you have a static route in Router1 to Router2 for the network behind Router2 (would alleviate the need for static routes on individual PCs). The fact that NAT is used actually proves that. The true way to tell is what is in the ARP table off of the first router. It's going to have nothing but what is directly connected to it and the second router's MAC and that's it. Atleast that's what I got everytime and could not get pc to pc communication without static routes up. I tried setting up RIPV2 between to too but that didn't seem to do jack and wouldn't solve my problem anyway - give me 2 cisco devices anyday and i can setup RIP/OSPF or whatever but I couldn't get RIP working on 2 Linksys ones - wasn't my proudest moment. I made the assumption that it would only do routing protocols over the WAN interface, which would make since since the other are all just switch ports and I'm guessing that's how wireless is treated. (while i could specify routing over wireless on the WRT54GS i could not on my ADSL Router.)


It was a great writeup and very easy to follow it just doesn't suit my individual needs. Thanks..

Jeff

 

[Madwand1]

Here's a quote from the DD-WRT forums (Broadcom based hardware / HOWTO: Client Bridged Mode):

DD-WRT's "client bridge" mode" is not a transparent bridge.
Only one single ethernet device is properly supported behind the
router running in "client bridge" mode. (It should have been baptized
"client adapter mode" instead!) In the old forum we already had
endless discussions about this subject. Note that this is a technical
limitation of the 802.11 standard, rather than a deficiency of DD-WRT.

To create a true transparent bridge, with multiple ethernet devices
at both sides, use WDS.

The WAG54G apparently supports WDS; you might try that if you haven't already.

FWIW, I haven't had any problems with simple Windows networking using DD-WRT "Client Bridged Mode", but I can see that it isn't transparent -- all devices behind the bridge show the bridge's MAC address.

 

[Kaido]

Quick question, can the second router connect multiple PCs? I have two computers in the basement and get really poor wireless signals down there; I have a spare WRT54GS and would love to hook both of them into that then tie it into my main router...

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: Kaido
can the second router connect multiple PCs?

Yes, the "transparent bridge" business is for advanced users IMO.

I've had no problems with multiple computers behind my DD-WRT (and Netgear WGPS606) wireless bridges. I've been able to: Run folding@home, a domain controller (toy), web browsing, windows file sharing, software updates, remote desktop, and a shared print server.

 

[lupoli]

Hi everybody!

Unfortunately the WLAN-signal of my ADSL-Router with an integrated AP is to weak in the room where I would like to work with my notebook. Using Linux I determined that the signal quality is about 31%. Moving toward the ADSL-Router I found out, that a signal quality of about 40% would be enough to establish a connection. My question is now, if the WRT54G will receive a stronger signal as my notebook does, as it has two antennas and probably it is also more powerful?

Thank you very much for answers in advance
Best Regards
Sandro

 

[skyking]

Originally posted by: lupoli
Hi everybody!

Unfortunately the WLAN-signal of my ADSL-Router with an integrated AP is to weak in the room where I would like to work with my notebook. Using Linux I determined that the signal quality is about 31%. Moving toward the ADSL-Router I found out, that a signal quality of about 40% would be enough to establish a connection. My question is now, if the WRT54G will receive a stronger signal as my notebook does, as it has two antennas and probably it is also more powerful?

Thank you very much for answers in advance
Best Regards
Sandro

If it is just that laptop, and you have not purchased a wrt54g yet, I would consider a wireless card with a better antenna first.

 

[lupoli]

Originally posted by: skyking


If it is just that laptop, and you have not purchased a wrt54g yet, I would consider a wireless card with a better antenna first.

Thank you very much for your reply.
Do you have any recommendation for such a card?

 

[winedave]

Greetings from Napa valley.

I have learned a lot here. Going to do a modified version of this:

Room 1: Cable Modem <===> D-Link DI-624 Wireless Router <===> PC-1
Room 2: WRT54G <===> PC-2


My version is for not rooms but buildings. and will include a total of 4 sites. All new equipment. These are up to 1100 feet apart, with generally good line of site from the base antenna. I have purchased Hawking Antennas HAQ145D for each building. My goal is to get this to run:

Building 1: Cable Modem <===> WRT54G Wireless Router <===> Antenna
Building 2: (500 feet away) Antenna<===>WRT54G<===>PC-2A, PC 2B, etc.
Building 3: (800 feet away) Antenna<===>WRT54G<===>PC-3
Building 4: (1100 feet away) Antenna<===>WRT54G<===>PC-4

My questions:
1. Is there anything specific I need to do with multiple WRT54G's? IP address range settings for example.
2. Anything about selecting WRT54G channels so that interference is minimal?
3. How do I create a wireless enviroment at each remote building?
4. Anything I should be aware of using V6 of the WRT54G?
5. Anyone done this?
6. Is there a better way?
7. Other advice?

Thanks tons,

winedave

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: winedave
Greetings from Napa valley.

My questions:
1. Is there anything specific I need to do with multiple WRT54G's? IP address range settings for example.
2. Anything about selecting WRT54G channels so that interference is minimal?
3. How do I create a wireless enviroment at each remote building?
4. Anything I should be aware of using V6 of the WRT54G?
5. Anyone done this?
6. Is there a better way?
7. Other advice?

(*) My advice would be to bribe somebody in that other valley with wine and get them to do it for you with the proper testing gear, etc., and perhaps not the WRT54G's.

(1) Assign each router its own reserved IP, and keep track of it for management. Each client should pick up its own IP from the base router/AP via DHCP.
(2) Test it or leave it to auto, I guess.
(3) Unless you get even more AP's, this is repeater territory, not client bridge mode.
(4) It's probably a reduced version, just like the v5. A WRT54GL would probably be better.
(5) Not me
(6) (*)
(7) (a) If you go to WDS, ensure that you have WPA security at least, not WEP.
(b) Continue making some great wines

Edit: corrected (1)

 

[DidlySquat]

Originally posted by: winedave
Greetings from Napa valley.

I have learned a lot here. Going to do a modified version of this:

Room 1: Cable Modem <===> D-Link DI-624 Wireless Router <===> PC-1
Room 2: WRT54G <===> PC-2


My version is for not rooms but buildings. and will include a total of 4 sites. All new equipment. These are up to 1100 feet apart, with generally good line of site from the base antenna. I have purchased Hawking Antennas HAQ145D for each building. My goal is to get this to run:

Building 1: Cable Modem <===> WRT54G Wireless Router <===> Antenna
Building 2: (500 feet away) Antenna<===>WRT54G<===>PC-2A, PC 2B, etc.
Building 3: (800 feet away) Antenna<===>WRT54G<===>PC-3
Building 4: (1100 feet away) Antenna<===>WRT54G<===>PC-4

My questions:
1. Is there anything specific I need to do with multiple WRT54G's? IP address range settings for example.
2. Anything about selecting WRT54G channels so that interference is minimal?
3. How do I create a wireless enviroment at each remote building?
4. Anything I should be aware of using V6 of the WRT54G?
5. Anyone done this?
6. Is there a better way?
7. Other advice?

Thanks tons,

winedave

Wifi 802.11 can't communicate effectively over more than 50 feet distance. There is no chance to get any kind of acceptable signal for the distances you're talking about. Eacg buildings need to have a network connection, but you can use wifi within a building to cut down on wiring within the buildings.

 

[EKKC]

WRT54GC probably wont work with this since it wont take in the custom firmware, correct?

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: EKKC
WRT54GC probably wont work with this since it wont take in the custom firmware, correct?

Correct -- last I checked. Use the target firmware's supported hardware list / info as the authority.

 

[scb175]

i'm a total noob when it comes to this networking stuff. I am trying to access the router settings through my PC 2. PC 2 does not have internet connection, just a network card and a wrt54G. I'm trying to run a cable from the router to the network card, and be able to access the settings within windows via the 192.168.1.1 command. I cannot get it to work. ANy help?