Network design assistance - 2 access points 1 gateway

[whctree]

Hi all

I am looking for some network design assistance / suggestions please.

Scenario is 1 dsl connection with linksys wag354g gateway (wireless & 4 ethernet) and lg access point(wireless and 4 ethernet). Both are opposite ends of the house and connected via a crossover cable.

DHCP and DSL connection configured on Linksys working fine (changed to 192.168.0.x) range to match LG Access Point. Wireless configured on different SSID and clients connecting fine.

Problem is how do I configure LG (or Linksys) so that second access point will use same DHCP server and find default gateway - that is connect bottom end of the house to same network and also have internet access?

Can it be done with static routings? settings or address ranges?
Any clues appreciated.

 

[Napalm]

On one of the routers, disable DHCP and assign gateway to the other routers IP.


leave the router that has ADSL connection same as always with all firewall / dhcp intact

 

[JAS]

It is best to make the Linksys the DHCP server, as you have done. The LG should either be setup with a static IP address that matches the IP and subnet match of the Linksys (remember to set the default gateway IP on the LG to be the IP of the LInksys), or setup as a DHCP client to get an IP parameters from the Linksys. (Most routers have a page where you can see the IP addresses that have been assigned, in case you need the IP address assigned to the LG, so as to talk to the LG.) This will make the Linksys and the LG all part of the same logical network. Any DHCP request from a machine on the wireless of the LG should just be passed directly to the DHCP server on the Linksys, which should provide the IP parameters.

However, the wireless on the LG should be set to the *SAME* SSID as the SSID on the Linksys. You must however set a different channel - use only channels 1, 6 or 11 to get enough channel separation. This will enable you to roam between the two access points.

 

[whctree]

Thanks

but help on "assign gateway to the other routers IP"
is this a setting on second access point(LG)? if so some clues on where?
This access point has WAN connection (RJ45) built in and seems to automatically route internet traffic that way.

(On a seperate question can you convert rj45 to rj11 for adsl?)

Sorry for the questions but bit lost on all the technicalities of networking.

 

[whctree]

Thanks

But lost on "static IP address that matches the IP and subnet match of the Linksys " - do you mean exact same (conflict??) or in same range?

"set the default gateway IP on the LG to be the IP of the LInksys" is where I am not sure how - unfortunately does not seem to have option to get it's own settings via dhcp.

Thanks for tip on *same* ssid - never thought of that and will make life easier!

 

[JAS]

If I understand you correctly, the Linksys is working fine, and all PCs attached to the Linksys have internet access. Let's use that as a starting point. Go to one of these PCs (one attached to the Linksys and that can see the internet) and go "Start|Programs|Accessories|Command Prompt" and type in IPCONFIG. For the LAN that is attached to the Linksys (may be wired or wireless) it will give you three important parameters.

a) IP Address - This is the IP address of this LAN connection, and would be assigned by the DHCP server (i.e. the Linksys) from a range of IP addresses (for example 192.168.0.100 to 192.168.0.199 (range of 100 addresses)) that is defined for the DHCP server (Linksys). Every LAN connection on the network MUST have a unique IP address.

b) Subnet Mask - This would typically be 255.255.255.0. Suffice to say that this particular Subnet Mask just means that all IP addresses on your network must have the first three numbers the same (e.g. all your addresses will be 192.168.0.x), with only the last number varying).

c) Default Gateway - Requests to any addresses that fall outside the range for your network (i.e. any of the first three numbers in the IP Adress being different) (e.g. internet packet requests) will automatically be forwarded to the "Default Gateway". The Default Gateway is the IP Address of the router with the ADSL connection (Linksys). I don't knnow what it would be in your setup, but IPCONFIG will give you this information. For the purposes of further discussion, let's say that it is 192.168.0.254.

Now let's consider the LG. You didn't say what the model number of the LG is, and if you tell me, I'll try to download the manual so that I can tell you exactly where to setup it's IP configuration. You have two choices:

1) Static IP Address: You must set the LG for "Static IP Address" mode. Choose an IP address that is outside the DHCP range, and which does not confict with any other device on the network. In other words, do not choose anything that is between 192.168.0.100 to 192.168.0.199 (inclusive) because the DHCP might assign that address, or of course 192.168.0.254, because that is the Linksys. Choose say 192.168.0.230 for the static IP Address. You will also need to manually specify the Subnet Mask (255.255.255.0) and the Default Gateway (192.168.0.254).

2) Dynamic IP Address: You must set the LG for "DHCP Client" mode. The LG will then get the IP Address, Subnet Mask and Default Gateway from the DHCP server (in your case the Linksys).

You mentioned that the LG has an RJ-45 WAN port. This is for attaching an external ADSL modem (or other PPPoE modem such as Sentech MyWireless or iBurst). You cannot plug this directly into the ADSL line. There must be a way of disabling the WAN port on the LG.

 

[whctree]

Thanks for the comprehensive response.

LG Access Point is LWG5404R and info can be found at http://www.lgnetwork.com/lgnetwork/products/view.jsp?prdt_seq=84

Some info IP range is 192.168.0.x - gateway is 192.168.0.1 (Linksys) - have assigned LG as 192.168.0.10 - subnet is 255.255.255.0

PC's connecting via DHCP to Linksys get these settings fine.

My problem is LG only has settings for IP and subnet (no DHCP or Gateway) - also can not find a way to disable WAN Port.

Machines that connect to LG are unable to get an IP unless I do static addresses? That is why I was thinking of routing or some other settings?

Thanks again for the time and advice.

 

[broken1]

Interesting I ran across this thread.
I've been trying to do that same thing myself...but with partial success. I'm not "that big" into networking, so I don't know much.

At the moment, I have a Netgear ADSL "Modem", 4 port ethernet switch/wireless accesspoint all-in-one in the lounge. Connected to the one ethernet port, is a long ethernet cable which then enters the other Netgear Router on the other side of the house (bedrooms).

As default, the ADSL Modem Router's IP Address is 192.168.0.1 and the other routers IP Address is 192.168.1.1 - At the moment, I have them running as home and home1 respectively. The cable is connected to the WAN port on home1, and it's set up to just log onto the always on internet connection.

I have 3 problems with my set up:
1) I keep having to change wireless accesspoints as I move accross the house. For instance, it will sit on "home" with no signal, until I manually change it to home1 (it does change sometimes, if the home signal out of range)

2) The second problem I have is I cannot share files and printers of the two routers. If I am connected to the "home" network, I can share the files and printers on computers on that network - but not the ones on the home1 network. I would like to be able to share all printers in the house.

I tried using the settings mentioned here, but just ended up screwing things around so I couldn't even see the "home1" network on any pc or access it's settings (even linked via cable to the router). I've reset it and am back to my previous set-up.

The router that I want to change settings on is the "home1" router. It is a Netgear 54Mbps WGR614 v6 router.

Can anyone help me?

EDIT:
Ok...So I used this webpage http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/n101496.asp to help me set it up how I want it.
Now, on wireless - it works 100%. The gateway is the ADSL Router and it's connecting via the "access point" in the bedrooms.

My only problem is I can't get the one PC which is connected via cable to connect to the net?

EDIT AGAIN: I just fixed it. I'm smarter than I give myself credit for! I gave the PC a fixed IP address, reserved in on the DHCP Server (IP, NAME and MAC) and then changed the PC to "Obtain a IP Address" and now it works.

 

[JAS]

Hi whctree. I had a look at the LG manual. I does mention that you can use another DHCP server, but not in the way that you are trying to use it. You do need to disable the DHCP on the LG and set the IP and subnet as you have done to 192.168.0.10/255.255.255.0. Just make sure that the IP Address of the LG is such that it is unlikely that to be issued by the Linksys. You could try another IP address (say 192.168.0.200) just in case the one you have chosen is causing a conflict. I don't know the Linksys either, but from what you have said it seems like it can't restrict the range (to say 192.168.0.100 to 192.168.0.199) but will choose anything in the 192.168.0.x range. What IPs are you seeing on the PCs attached to the Linksys? The LG itself doesn't actually need to know the default gateway. Tell me, do the PCs connected to the LG get dynamic IPs from the Linksys - is it just the default gateway that is wrong - or don't they get anything at all? Can the PCs on the LG see the PCs on the Linksys? What parameters does IPCONFIG report on PCs that are attached to the LG?

 

[whctree]

Solution - at least partial

Ok - so I played around a little and seem to have got something working.

First tried JAS suggestions and played around with LG settings. (left them connected via crossover ethernet). The problem that I always came back to is that the LG router got the gateway "wrong" - it seems to always make itself the default gateway. Occasionaly got around this by setting fixed IP's on the PC's connecting to LG wireless but then when moveing notebook around house it became a manual connecting. BTW the ip ranges seem to work fine as both you can specify a range that does not overlap with each other.

Plan B was as per broken1 (and I think I now have similar problem):-

Connected both via ethernet port and WAN port on LG (found both crossover and direct worked) - of course set WAN port to direct connection.

Set LG as 192.168.0.10, set DHCP on(range 192.168.0.50-99) - WAN port to obtain IP & DNS automatically, set RIP v1 on, and setip WAN Port (host and suffix).

On Linksys setup as 192.168.0.100, set DHCP on (range from 101), RIPv1 on (in&out), NAT enabled.

On both setup wireless with same SSID (& key) one on channel 1 and the other on 11.

Result is can get wireless connectivity from both and internet. On LG get an IP and machines get gateway defined as LG(192.168.0.10), the WAN port get IP from Linksys (192.168.0.102) and gateway as Linksys(192.168.0.100) and DNS as Linksys and DSL DNS. On Linksys the machines get IP and itself as gateway (192.168.0.100). When moving around house the wireless connection just switches.

The problem is that I can not see / share across segments - ie machines connected on LG can not see machines connected on Linksys - even if you ping ip's it will not find it. The same is you can not connect to the Linksys from the LG network (and the opposite) - not great!

My thinking is that the problem is that both IP ranges are the same 192.168.0.x?
If I change ranges of one will it still work or will I have to do some static routing?
If I do static routing will I have to reserve IP of WAN Port on Linksys?

My problem is I am not 100% sure of what I am playing with or how these should work. So any ideas / comments / advice will be appreciated.