PCA Forums

my current setup is dsl - modem/router - switch - pcs

I was a linksys W34gtl or whatever, and was trying to set it up as a wireless access point for the lappies.

modem/router is 192.168.254.254 hands out ips 192.168.254.x
subnet is 255.255.255 i think

tried to setup linksys using 192.168.254.254 as dns server etc

can connect to the wireless with a lappie - but wireless doesn't seem to be clicking into system

what I will probably end up doing if i don't find an easy fix is disabling nat on the modem and running an extra cable to the router and back to the switch and using it as the primary router - modem is in the basement and I want to get a good signal outside so it has to be on the first floor - this is probably a way of looking for a hi-tech solution for a problem which is basically that i don't feel like running the cables.....I keep the modem switch etc in my office in the basement so that children, dogs and other critters do not bump intop things or borrow parts

i also have the sveasoft software which I willl probably use after I get the whole thing up and running

Depends on what you want to do. I will assume that you want not just internet on the wireless but also file and printer sharing.

I will also assume your modem/router does not have a switch on it. That there's only one network jack on it you have connected directly to the computer.

There's multiple ways to do this, bu the simplest is the "stack" the wireless router after the modem/router. Connect the network jack on the modem/router to the WAN jack on the wireless router. In order for this to work the wireless router MUST use a different base IP address. Long story short without getting into WHY if the modem/router is 192.168.254.254 then the wireless router should be 192.168.x.1 (you usually make your router .1) where x = any number other than 254. Linksys routers are usually setup as 192.168.1.1 from the factory so this will work fine.

Your hard-wired desktop must be connected to the switch side of the wireless router. Both the lappy and the desktop should be setup to aquire an IP automatically from the wireless router and DHCP should be enabled on the wireless router.

If the wireless router doesn't aquire an IP automatically from the modem/router then you may need to power the modem/router on and off. If that doesn't work then your ISP may have the modem/router locked to the MAC address of the desktop PC in which case you'll need to use the MAC address cloning feature in the Linksys router's configuration menu to give the Linksys the same MAC address as your desktop to "fool" your ISP into thinking your desktop is still connected to the modem/router.

This configuration will work fine except that if you have to do port forwardin it gets a bit complicated. You need to port forward from the modem/router to the IP of the wireless router and then port forward the wireless router to the IP computer of the computer on your network you want port forward to. But that's another discussion and only if you need port forwarding.

There is another way to do this - by making the wireless router an Access point only, but this only works if there's a 4 port switch on your modem/router, or you add a switch, but it's more complicated and unless you really think you need to do that, the other way is better.

i found a convenient hole in the floor above the modem from a prior project so I will probably do as follows

modem/router (router part turned off) > wireless router > switch >pcs

i just have to find a decent piece of cat5 that the dog hasn't chewed

that way i can have only one network, etc. seems a lot simpler and I can put the wireless router upstairs to get the coverage i want