Need help with WiFi Settings

[Fyson]

Hi all,

I'm in a bit of a pickle and have no idea how to solve my problem.

But first a bit of background.
I already have a TP-Link Router and TP-Link Range Extender as well as three PC's that all work well with a TP-Link Nano N Receiver each.

I would like to set up a Guest network for friends and family when they are nearby with their cellphones and tablets etc.

But my problem is that i don't want to give them my password as I would like some limited way of knowing how much they use and limit them to say 512kbps for example when they grab the whole hand instead of the pinky.

I found some freeware that might be able to do what i want.
It is Cutehotspot.
With it I can easily give a ticket to someone and set any kind of limit I want and also keep an eye on how much they use.

I have a oldish Linksys E1200 and thought i can use that for the second network and give the password out and manage their usage with Cutehotspot.

I've followed the instructions as best I can but it just isn't working. I can connect to the second wifi network but it has no internet.

I do hope someone can help me solve this.
My best guess is that my incoming internet shouldn't be via wifi but cable. But I only have one Lan port so i'll try and swop the two round. Connecting my internet router to PC via Lan Cable and then PC to Linksys router via wifi.

I would really like to get this up and running.
View attachment 79897

 

[Level7]

Buy a Routerboard 750 and setup a Hotspot with guest access it will allow a certain time and speed per MAC address.

Interesting family you have

 

[Fyson]

I was hoping not to spend a lot (or indeed any) money.
Mostly because i'm not going to be the one to benefit from any of it.
I had the e1200 already and thought this would work. I'll have to tinker a bit more with it and see if I can get it to work.

The cutehotspot software isn't great but at least it is free.

If all else fails i'll try the firmware hack for the e1200 and see how that is.
Perhaps just use it as a second wifi signal with severe time and speed limits. OR

use it as a range extender for my existing wifi ^_^

I really wanted to do this for my palls as Cell service really suck in our area. Cell C takes about 40+ seconds just to open Google search page. If you want to search something then it takes another minute or more. Absolutely useless.
The others aren't any better, but at least they aren't that bad.

 

[Tim the Techxpert]

Hi Fyson,
Your attachment cannot be opened.
Are you sure that you have set the routers up correctly. The primary one must be in bridge mode.
Each router must be using same SSID but put them on channels that are at least 4 apart.
Link them using the cable. Understand that this may reduce connectivity elsewhere.

Then using your software you should be able to dish out tickets.
Sounds a bit though like you are charging your relatives for a cup of tea when they come visiting.

Regards

Tim

 

[Fyson]

I'll see if I can get that attachment to work. It would explain it better than I can.

But even with my limited knowledge of wifi i can tell your explanation is wrong.(By that I don't mean that your way can't work, but that it won't work the way I need it to)

If they are bridged and have the exact same SSID then the second one just extends the range of the first one, doesn't it?

Then completely bypass my pc so the software won't work.
Here's a basic view of how my network should be set up (according to Cutehotspot)
Internet -> Router -> PC -> Second Router -> Laptop/cellphone/etc.

The way you intend i do it:
Internet -> router -> router -> pc won't work as then the software on the pc can't "manage" the router.

Here is how my network is at the moment:
Internet -> 8 port switch -> TP-Link Router _ TL-WR743ND -> PC via Wifi -> Linksys E1200 via Cable -> Laptop via Wifi(Linksys)
I also have a TP-Link Range extender but it plays no part in this scenario as it boosts range to another area of my house.

I also tried it with the range extender unplugged. It made no difference.

I'm starting to think that it might be a IP address conflict . I really don't know what else it can be.

I have a printer connected to the 8 port switch with IP address 192.168.100.3, (my previous printers were .1 and .2 but they died and it seemed pointless to change the third one to .1)

The Switch is connected to TP-Link router which then uses the following IP address' for Wireless: 192.168.100.100 upwards.
My Main PC is then .101 with wireless printers as .103 and .245 (For some reason my PC would randomly go to .102 for a while and then back to .101 - thats why I started the wireless printer at 103.

Right, then cutehotspot changed my default IP address for Lan from obtain automatically to 192.168.137.1
Everything works perfectly well, just like it used to. Except for the linksys router and whatever want to connect to it. I can find and connect to the wifi easily, but there is no internet.

I have run the setup now twice and i'm sure I followed the instructions correctly.
Only problem is that I resetted the router as per their instructions and now i can't connect to it anymore to change the ssid to something other than Cisco####

But that should work once I change my lan ipv4 back to obtain address automatically.

I think I will need to try this on another pc and see if that works or not. If I know where the darn problem is i can start to solve it.
Sort of a maths exam where you are asked to find X but first you must find the paper with the question of where x is, if that makes sense. I dunno, its late and all I will dream about tonight is darn IP's.

 

[Fyson]

Can anyone confirm whether that first attachment is working fine or not?
I can open it perfectly, on both pc's

Just in case, here it is again. (Hopefully)

 

[Tim the Techxpert]

Hi There,
Second attachment works fine and thank you for clarifying with the description as well. Now I understand the layout.
I would suggest going back to factory defaults on the routers as a start. It might pay you to also set it up with fixed IP addresses in each device so that you know who is which address. and disconnect all printers and simplify to the 2 routers, the cutehotspot PC and 1 device attached to the Linksys.
You have made sure that the Linksys router works?
If you disconnect the Internet can you connect a device to the Linksys and use the Lan to the PC with cutehotspot just to prove that that is working?

Regards

Tim

 

[Fyson]

Ok, i've reset the Linksys router, again. I reinstalled Cutehotspot and installed fing on my Cellphone to test wifi.

 

[Fyson]

Thanks Tim the tech god.
I've disabled Dhcp and used a fixed ip instead.

It is working perfectly now. Brilliant.
Thank you very much.

 

[Tim the Techxpert]

Hi There Fyson,
Glad it worked with fixed IP. Now you need to get it going with DHCP

Regards

Tim