2 Routers, 1 Network

[Steve-o88]

Firstly, no, this is not some reference to some rancid video

Here is my situation:

At my residence we have the main house and the granny flat. The primary router (Telkom Mega 105WR) is in the house and has been setup and running fine for years, including the wireless.

I have run an ethernet cable to the granny flat and I can connect to the internet fine. My girlfriend has a laptop with wireless and I want her to be able to connect to wireless network that is setup on the primary router.
I managed to get a second router (another Mega 105WR) and want to use it to increase the strength of the pre-existing wireless network, so basically set it up as an access point I guess.

I did some googling and have been trying get it right with no lucky.

So just to be clear on the setup as it is:

I've got the cable that I ran to the granny flat currently plugged into the secondary router, and I've got another cable running from the secondary router into my PC. So at the moment the secondary router is essentially 'funneling' between my PC and the primary router.

Primary router >>> cable >>> Secondary router >>> cable >>> my PC.

When I type in 10.0.0.2 the settings for the primary router come up when both are on and operating.

From advice that I received from another website I have:

1) Changed primary routers range from 10.0.0.3 > 10.0.0.254 to 10.0.0.4 > 10.0.0.254
2) Changed secondary routers' IP from 10.0.0.2 to 10.0.0.3 and disabled DHCP

Apparently that's the way to do this.

Problem is step 2. Whenever I change the IP address of the secondary router it 'loads' the page forever. If I closed the page and try getting into its settings through 10.0.0.3 it won't go. If I switch it off and on, it goes back to default IP settings (so 10.0.0.2)

I'm lost

 

[T-Man]

Leave Primary router on the default settings IP=10.0.0.2 with DHCP enabled.

On the secondary router. Set it up without plugging in the cable to the primary initially. Change it's IP address to 10.0.0.3. and turn off DHCP.

If I remember correctly there's a "Save Settings" on the top left somewhere.


One more thing, the Windows XP had a issue getting a DHCP address with the 105WR . The DNS server setting was not picked up. There is a MS patch for this - KB953761.

Plug in the cable between the two routers and it should work.

Granny flat users connect to the remote Router, either via wifi or cable. The DHCP is served by the primary router.

 

[DanH]

Your PC has probably already been assigned 10.0.0.3.

Switch the 1st router off. Then change the IP on the second one, but make it 10.0.0.254 instead.

1st router dhcp on, second one dhcp off. You don't need to worry about the ranges.

If they both have wifi make their ssid and passwords the same.

 

[The_Ogre]

Have you considered making use of WDS? Much less hassle and no cables

 

[Steve-o88]

Leave Primary router on the default settings IP=10.0.0.2 with DHCP enabled.

On the secondary router. Set it up without plugging in the cable to the primary initially. Change it's IP address to 10.0.0.3. and turn off DHCP.

If I remember correctly there's a "Save Settings" on the top left somewhere.


One more thing, the Windows XP had a issue getting a DHCP address with the 105WR . The DNS server setting was not picked up. There is a MS patch for this - KB953761.

Plug in the cable between the two routers and it should work.

Granny flat users connect to the remote Router, either via wifi or cable. The DHCP is served by the primary router.

Your PC has probably already been assigned 10.0.0.3.

Switch the 1st router off. Then change the IP on the second one, but make it 10.0.0.254 instead.

1st router dhcp on, second one dhcp off. You don't need to worry about the ranges.

If they both have wifi make their ssid and passwords the same.

Thank you guys, both of your suggestions helped me.

I managed to get the primary routers IP to 10.0.0.2 and the secondary to 10.0.0.3 with both working off the same wireless SSID and passwords. Success!

Patience was also key since these routers tend to take awhile to accept changes you make. I did everything right and it wasn't working, left it for a while out of frustration and when I came back it was OK

 

[T-Man]

If they both have wifi make their ssid and passwords the same.

I once had problems on Win7 with different APs having the same SSID and password. Didn't investigate futher so I am not sure if it was just my imagination.