Trying to create a bridge / access point with spare modem.

[prejoh]

Hi guys

Please can someone help me before I go crazy. I must have spent 20 hours on this already and not even one step closer!!!

I have 3 ADSL modems.

Belkin Play Max F7D4401 v1
SMC 7904 WBRA2
Telkom DuoPlus 300WR

What I am trying to do.

I have a Popcorn Hour and Onkyo NR609 A/V receiver which both can be connected to internet. Both devices reside at the TV downstairs. My problem is twofold, the Belkin ADSL modem (i.e. with internet) is upstairs and secondly that both the Popcorn Hour and Onkyo require an ethernet connection. So after some googling I found out that if you have a spare wireless modem lying around you can use it to either create a bridge connection or use the spare modem as an access point. The idea being that the spare modem would then reside by the TV and connect to the Belkin Modem and then I would plug the ethernet cables into the Popcorn hour and Onkyo.


Great idea right? Well for the life of me I cannot get either the SMC or Telkom modem to work as either a bridge connection or access point for the Belkin modem. Both have the WDS (Wireless Distrubtion System) feature, I did however find out that the Belkin does not have WDS.

Is there anyone who can help me figure this out. I am currently trying to determine if the Telkom modem WDS repeater function could actually repeat the signal.

Oh and I am willing to use any combination of modems.


Thanks for you help in advance

 

[10i]

Sorry if it looks like I am hijacking this thread, I am also interested in creating a bridged connection.

I have a Duo Plus 300 WR router connected to an ADSL line which I want to connect to an Xbox 360 (for Xbox live) which is one floor up from the router. For this purpose I hope to use a Billion 800 VGT.

Everyone I have asked says that it should be possible, but nobody knows where to begin. I will subscribe to this tread and hope that we both gets answers.

 

[JerryMungo]

Hi guys

Please can someone help me before I go crazy. I must have spent 20 hours on this already and not even one step closer!!!

I have 3 ADSL modems.

Belkin Play Max F7D4401 v1
SMC 7904 WBRA2
Telkom DuoPlus 300WR

What I am trying to do.

I have a Popcorn Hour and Onkyo NR609 A/V receiver which both can be connected to internet. Both devices reside at the TV downstairs. My problem is twofold, the Belkin ADSL modem (i.e. with internet) is upstairs and secondly that both the Popcorn Hour and Onkyo require an ethernet connection. So after some googling I found out that if you have a spare wireless modem lying around you can use it to either create a bridge connection or use the spare modem as an access point. The idea being that the spare modem would then reside by the TV and connect to the Belkin Modem and then I would plug the ethernet cables into the Popcorn hour and Onkyo.


Great idea right? Well for the life of me I cannot get either the SMC or Telkom modem to work as either a bridge connection or access point for the Belkin modem. Both have the WDS (Wireless Distrubtion System) feature, I did however find out that the Belkin does not have WDS.

Is there anyone who can help me figure this out. I am currently trying to determine if the Telkom modem WDS repeater function could actually repeat the signal.

Oh and I am willing to use any combination of modems.


Thanks for you help in advance

WDS is correct - both modems to be bridged should support WDS. Both units must be on the same wireless channel for starters, and have different SSIDs but the same encryption type / passphrase.

You may need the MAC address from each, and specify each's partner's MAC address / SSID when pairing them. Unfortunately WDS between different brands sometimes doesn't work because of compatibility issues. Experiment with different encryption types...
Start with WPA2 personal with AES encryption and try the following in order:
WPA2 personal with TKIP
WPA personal with TKIP
128 bit WEP
64 bit WEP
64 bit WEP (open)

Finally no encryption... if you opt for no encryption then ensure that the wireless units don't allow clients to connect (and are purely for bridging / WDS) to prevent security issues.

Connect the two units upstairs via cable.
What I can tell you about the Telkom unit is that their interface sucks and you have to remember to SAVE / apply / whatever every time you make changes before navigating around otherwise those settings get when you power it off if I recall.

 

[prejoh]

WDS is correct - both modems to be bridged should support WDS. Both units must be on the same wireless channel for starters, and have different SSIDs but the same encryption type / passphrase.

You may need the MAC address from each, and specify each's partner's MAC address / SSID when pairing them. Unfortunately WDS between different brands sometimes doesn't work because of compatibility issues. Experiment with different encryption types...
Start with WPA2 personal with AES encryption and try the following in order:
WPA2 personal with TKIP
WPA personal with TKIP
128 bit WEP
64 bit WEP
64 bit WEP (open)

Finally no encryption... if you opt for no encryption then ensure that the wireless units don't allow clients to connect (and are purely for bridging / WDS) to prevent security issues.

Connect the two units upstairs via cable.
What I can tell you about the Telkom unit is that their interface sucks and you have to remember to SAVE / apply / whatever every time you make changes before navigating around otherwise those settings get when you power it off if I recall.

Hi Saladcharger

Thanks for this info. So I was able to bridge the SMC and Telkom modem together using no encryption. For anyone else trying to do this. In the Telkom DuoPlus 300WR admin screen under WDS you need to select Crude WDS, not bridge or repeater.

Now my next challenge will be to see if I can somehow get the encryption to work.

Thanks again

 

[AndreGVP]

Hi guys, I've been trying to set up my old telkom duoplus as a bridge... but i've had no luck at all. I tried Crude mode but no luck.. I'm not the most technical person when it comes to this so any help will be appreciated.

My primary router is a TP-Link TD-W8968, and its in our home office. My goal is to connect my PS4 and DSTV Explora to the internet. Running a hard line wouldn't be a option unfortunately.

Thanks in advance

 

[infscrtyrisk]

It is actually quite simple & easy without WDS, which I have found to be troublesome, especially with different brands, firmware versions, capabilities, age and then there are the security challenges...

1. Run a length of CAT5 between the access points -- this is clearly the part that you will find the most dificult , but two hours, some trunking, a glue gun and a hack saw (with a mitre box is you want a neat job) are all you are going to need (in addition to the CAT5 of course).

2. Setup the primary AP / router to:
a) connect to the Internet;
b) have a static IP address on the LAN side of, say, 192.168.10.1/24
c) provide a DHCP service on the wifi LAN side (if you're not using another source) and set the DHCP range/scope to less than the network range -- for e.g. 192.168.10.2 to 192.168.10.127/24;
d) use channel 1 (for 2.4Ghz); and
e) have an SSID and security (WPA-2 PSK AES).

3. Setup the secondary AP / router to:
a) use a static primary IP address on the LAN side that does not fall within the DHCP range of the primary router --192.168.10.128/24 will work;
b) disable DHCP and enable DHCP relay - for the remote DHCP server, give it the primary AP's LAN address (192.168.10.1);
c) use channel 7; and
d) use the same SSID and security (WPA-2 PSK AES) as the primary.

4. Connect the primary AP's LAN port to the secondary AP's LAN port, and it should work. You should be able to access and manage both APs from the wireless network as well as plugging straight into one of the other LAN points. When accessing your extended wifi network, you will receive an IP address out of the wifi DHCP range.