need help wirelessly connecting a replaytv4040

[dolph]

sorry, edited to clarify:
i have 2 rooms. one with a computer and a cable modem, the other with a computer and a replaytv 4040. i would like to have both rooms on the same lan, but i can't run cable, so i'd like to go wireless (there's already an existing wireless network here, with the smc router and another computer with a wireless nic. i just want to add my stuff to it).

this is what i have:
2 computers with nics
1 cable modem
1 netgear me102 802.11b wireless access point
1 linksys EtherFast® Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch
1 smc 7004 wireless broadband router
1 replaytv 4040
and some cat 5 cables.

please, tell me what i need to do, if i need to replace anything, if i need to buy anything. as of right now, this is what i think i need to do:

comp1 + netgear access point + cable modem---> linksys router
comp2 + replay ---->smc router

makes sense? is everything compatible? do i need anything else? i won't be able to try it out until late tonight at earliest, more likely tomorrow, but i'd like to swing by fry's or compusa if i need to before. please help, thanks!

(link to wireless networking with the replay from sonicblue)

 

[rw120555]

EDIT -- Edits in original message answered my Qs.

 

[dolph]

also, one computer is xp and the other is win2k

 

[rw120555]

Well. make sure you save the receipts I don't think you want two routers. Instead, how about

comp1 + cable modem---> smc router
comp2 + replay + Linksys Wet11 ----> Switch

The Linksys Wet11 is basically an ethernet client card. So, what will happen is the smc wireless router will send out its 802.11b beams. The Wet11 will then pick them up, and because it is connected to a switch, computer 2 and the replay will be able to communicate with the devices in the other room.

As opposed to the Wet11, you could get a Linksys WAP11 and configure it in client mode, which may actually be a better deal because the Wap11 could later be reconfigured as an AP if you wanted it for that purpose. I think the Netgear ME102 can also be configured as a client card (after you do the firmware upgrade) but I don't 100% trust it; Netgear has admitted to me in emails that some of the things the ME102 is supposed to do don't actually work, despite what their web pages say.

Even if you don't buy the wet11, you may want to download the users guide for it, as it helps to make the logic clear as to what it is doing.

No promises, but this is my best guess.

 

[rw120555]

Also, just to clarify what I think is wrong with your scenario:

(1) You don't want 2 routers because you don't want 2 devices both trying to do dhcp. You can maybe get around this by disabling dhcp in the smc wireless router or the Linksys, but this is a little more complicated and a router will cost more than a switch anyway.

(2) Even so, you don't want 2 access points; you need a client card somewhere. Two APs configured as APs can't communicate with each other.

My guess is the smc can't be configured as a client card. So, use it as the router connected to the cable modem, and use an ethernet client card in the other room (either the Wet11 or a WAP that can be configured as a client).

 

[rw120555]

Oh, and one other wrinkle that occurs to me -- I think you could just hook up the Wet11 (or WAP configured as client) to your replay. Then, get wireless NICs for any other machines.

Depending on physical layout, the use of a switch may be cheaper (you just need ethernet NICs and cat5 cable to connect machines). Also, communication between machines connected via switch will be faster.

But, the switch isn't essential. The key thing is that, the Replay can't just use a USB or PCI client card like a PC could. It needs an ethernet client, like the WET11. The WET11 is useful for non-PC ethernet devices, such as ethernet-ready printers, switches, and (hopefully) Replays. See this diagram.

 

[dolph]

<FONT face=Verdana size=1>rw120555,
thanks for all your help. unfortunately, the only thing i can take back is the access point (everything else is at least 6 months old). i, too, looked at the linksys bridge for connecting my replay, but it was $100, and i was hoping that i could make the access point work as a bridge (it was only $50). right now i have the following hooked up:
comp 1 + cable modem ---> smc router
comp 2 + replay + access point ---> linksys router (except it doesn't connect with the wireless network)
it looks like all of my troubles would disappear if i replaced the ap with the bridge, but is the ap for sure not going to work? thanks again!</FONT>

 

[rw120555]

It is a little more trouble, but I think you have a fighting shot here:

* Disable DHCP (and maybe NAT) on the Linksys router. Basically, you want to kill the router features so it works like a switch. Having both the SMC and the linksys doing dhcp is a no no. In order to configure the linksys, it may be easiest if you temporarily directly connect it via cable to a machine that is not also connected to the smc.

* If you haven't already, upgrade the firmware on the Netgear me102. You can get it from the Netgear web pages (click on the customer support link and search for the me102)

* Now, here is the great unknown: Fire up the Netgear Me102 Access Point SNMP Manager. Click on the Operational Setting Tab and then on Operational Mode. There is a button for Access Point Client. Click it. Then, there is a box with 6 double-zeros. I think that should be filled in with the MAC address of the SMC router (you'll have to figure out how to get that -- I'm not sure if this is really necessary or not).

* Also, while you are in the snmp manager, set the ssid to be the same as the SMC. Also fill in the WEP settings (if any) that are being used by the SMC.

I'm just kind of guessing here, because Netgear has zero documentation on the Access Point Client feature. And, they've told me that, counter to what their web pages say, the point to point bridging features do not work. I think the client feature works, but I don't have the equipment to test it myslef.

If you can't get the me102 to work, any WAP that can be configured in client mode will probably do the trick. I suspect the Wet11 is just a crippled WAP that happens to be targeted toward these sort of purposes.

Good luck. I'll be very curious to hear if you can make the ME102 work.

 

[dolph]

well...
just got off the phone with all 3 companies tech support (and netgear, twice). final word is, it *should* work... but netgear's the problem, and it's not going to work until they release their next firmware upgrade. unfortunately, i have til friday to return the access point, so, bye bye netgear :-( now that i'm starting over, i have the smc wireless router and the linksys router. so now i have the pc and the cable modem on the smc wireless, and the other pc and the replay on the linksys router. should i buy the wet11 or the wap11?

 

[rw120555]

Originally posted by: dolph
well...
just got off the phone with all 3 companies tech support (and netgear, twice). final word is, it *should* work... but netgear's the problem, and it's not going to work until they release their next firmware upgrade. unfortunately, i have til friday to return the access point, so, bye bye netgear :-( now that i'm starting over, i have the smc wireless router and the linksys router. so now i have the pc and the cable modem on the smc wireless, and the other pc and the replay on the linksys router. should i buy the wet11 or the wap11?

I was afraid of that -- it annoys me that Netgear knows that its web pages are wrong about features added in the last firmware release, but still hasn't corrected the pages. As for wet11 or wap11, if price is about the same I'd lean towards wap11, because it can do more if you ever want to use it for some other purpose. Just skimming through the docs, the only advantage I could see to the wet11 is that if there are multiple wep11s each can have a name, which might offer some administrative advantages. perhaps there are other differences, but I suspect it is mostly a marketing issue -- it is easier to explain what the product can do if you push it as either an AP or a client even if it can do both. If wet11 is much cheaper though then get it. This diagram shows the wap11 doing pretty much what you want (see bottom left).

 

[dolph]

thank you rw120555 for all your help, i actually bought the wep11 today on the recommendation of some replay folk i had talked to later. it works pretty darn well, i have to say. i supposee i could have done it cheaper, and usually that makes me sad, but in this particular instance, i'm ok with paying more for working results. thanks again, & viva el anandtech!

 

[rw120555]

Great. I like Netgear, but I'm disappointed and puzzled by their failure to implement features that other WAPs have (and even that wouldn't be so bad if they didn't lie about it on their web pages). Glad to hear that this Wet11 really works. I think more people should consider devices like this -- instead of buying wireless cards for everything, you could buy a wet11 and a switch and connect some desktop machines that way. Could be a lot cheaper and your machines would communicate with each other a lot faster too.