Belkin wireless router WAN/LAN problem

On 29 Jul 2006 15:59:00 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@googlemail.com wrote: : Hi, : I have a Belkin F5D7230-4 wireless router and I am trying to set it up : in my house with CAT 5 outlets in several rooms (one outlet per room). : My dsl modem is in the basement and is connected to the CAT5 : infrastructure in the house. The Belkin has a single WAN and several : LAN ports and I want to place it in my office room. Since I have just : one CAT5 outlet in this room, if I connect the outlet to the WAN port : of the Belkin, then my wireless devices work fine. But a wired device : connected directly to the CAT5 outlet in another room won't work since : it is not connected to the LAN part of the Belkin router. I tried to : connect the LAN port of the Belkin to the wall outlet in the office and : then tried to use another network cable to connect the WAN port of the : Belkin directly to one of the remaining LAN ports of the Belkin. This : way, the Belkin can reach the dsl modem as well other computers on my : CAT5 infrastructure. However, this doesn't seem to work either and I : have routing problems and intermittent connections from some of my : desktops (connected to the CAT5 outlets in other rooms) that are unable : to reach the Belkin router with a ping all the time. I think this is a : routing problem overall since the Belkin router uses the same LAN and : WAN mac addresses. I would appreciate it if someone could tell me the : best way to set up the Belkin router. All of my computers run windows : xp. : Thanks, : Vasi

Since you only have one wired outlet in your office, you've gotta put a router in the basement and plug the wires to all your CAT5 outlets into it. That router doesn't have to be wireless, but can be. (It does have to have a DHCP server.) If you're lucky enough to be able to see the wireless signal in the rest of the house, then you're done. Otherwise, you need two routers: the one in the basement and the Belkin in your office. By default, you'll get two levels of NAT on devices connected to the Belkin, but that usually works, in my experience. If it doesn't, you can run the Belkin in "access point mode", where you use only the Belkin's LAN ports. This defeats its DHCP server, but you can still use the one in the basement router.

I might be hoplessly wrong but...

If using a switch where do all the wired computers get their IP addresses? Does your ISP give you more than one? If not then I believe you need router that does NAT/DHCP instead of the switch.

Then once all the wired devices are working you can hook up your Belkin either via it's WAN or LAN ports depending if you want the wireless to be on a seperate net or the same.

On 30 Jul 2006 01:11:03 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@googlemail.com wrote: : Hi, : I already have a 5 port switch in the basement to connect all the wires : to the CAT5 outlets. I am trying to get away without having to buy a : second router (wired or wireless). If I put my current Belkin router in : the basement, the signal will not be strong enough for wireless clients : in the 1st floor. Is it still possible to come up with a configuration : with my existing hardware that works? Why doesn't connecting the WAN : port to the LAN port of the Belkin work? : Thanks, : Vasi

Because it's a circular connection, in effect a feedback loop. The WAN side, if you're going to use it at all, must be connected to another network, ordinarily one closer to the Internet.

This is pretty fundamental stuff. If you actually don't understand why a router's LAN and WAN ports can't be connected to each other, I think you've got some reading to do.

But you could avoid the second router if you could put in a second CAT5 line from the basement to your office (one to get the incoming signal to your (wireless) router, the other to get the signal from the LAN side back to the switch). You said that wasn't an option, but notice that a CAT5 cable normally has eight strands. And I *think* I've been told [somebody stop me if I'm wrong] that only four strands are used for speeds up to 100Mbps. (Some of the early POE schemes relied on this, IIRC.) So you could conceivably re-jigger the connectors to separate the cable into two four-strand cables and thereby solve your problem. But I'm well out of my depth here (my field is software, not hardware), so don't blame me if it doesn't work.

: Robert Coe wrote: : >

: > Since you only have one wired outlet in your office, you've gotta put a router : > in the basement and plug the wires to all your CAT5 outlets into it. That : > router doesn't have to be wireless, but can be. (It does have to have a DHCP : > server.) If you're lucky enough to be able to see the wireless signal in the : > rest of the house, then you're done. Otherwise, you need two routers: the one : > in the basement and the Belkin in your office. By default, you'll get two : > levels of NAT on devices connected to the Belkin, but that usually works, in : > my experience. If it doesn't, you can run the Belkin in "access point mode", : > where you use only the Belkin's LAN ports. This defeats its DHCP server, but : > you can still use the one in the basement router.

On 30 Jul 2006 11:41:09 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@googlemail.com wrote: : Hi, : The switch is merely to get everything connected. My Belkin router is : the one configured to connect to my ISP and get the WAN IP address : using PPPoE. I used to have a compaq WL 310 as a router that had just : one WAN/LAN socket. Now my Belkin has one for WAN and one for LAN and : hence all the problems. : Vasi

If it had only one socket, it was an access point, not a router. If all you want to do is use your Belkin like an access point, put it in "access point" mode and use only the LAN-side ports. But that won't solve your problem as you described it in your original note.

Robert Coe hath wroth:

No, do NOT put the wireless router into the "access point mode" or whatever Belkin calls it. Belkin has the feature on some of their routers, which I consider to be a PITA. As soon as you select the access point mode, the web based configuration interface goes away and never comes back. This is described somewhere in the manual. The only way to change any setting is to punch the reset button and start over.

Instructions for how to use a wireless router as an access point:

On Sun, 30 Jul 2006 14:25:35 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote: : Robert Coe hath wroth: : : >If all you : >want to do is use your Belkin like an access point, put it in "access point" : >mode and use only the LAN-side ports. : : No, do NOT put the wireless router into the "access point mode" or : whatever Belkin calls it. Belkin has the feature on some of their : routers, which I consider to be a PITA. As soon as you select the : access point mode, the web based configuration interface goes away and : never comes back. This is described somewhere in the manual. The : only way to change any setting is to punch the reset button and start : over.

Actually, I've never seen that phenomenon as you've described it. What does happen is that in access point mode a Belkin loses its ability to find its gateway and can therefore not be managed from another subnet. And since you can't turn off access point mode without managing it, you may be tempted to chuck it all and reset. But if you can get your hands on the device (which you have to do anyway for a manual reset), I think you can connect to it with a minihub or a crossover cable and avoid the reset. Not much of a solution, I admit.

IIRC, the cheap Linksys routers work the same way.

In any case, as I mentioned in my note, I don't think making the router an access point will solve the OP's problem.

Robert Coe hath wroth:

Y'er right. The F4D7230-4 works differently than the Belkin something that I played with and described. See manual at: |

Note: This advanced feature should be employed by advanced users only. The Router can be configured to work as a wireless network access point. Using this mode will defeat the NAT IP sharing feature and DHCP server. In Access Point (AP) mode, the Router will need to be configured with an IP address that is in the same subnet as the rest of the network that you will bridge to. The default IP address is 192.168.2.254 and subnet mask is 255.255.255.0. These can be customized for your need. (...) The Router is now acting as an access point. To access the Router?s advanced user interface again, type the IP address you specified into your browser?s navigation bar. You can set the encryption settings, MAC address filtering, SSID, and channel normally.

Ok, it's safe to use the Belkin "access point mode".

So the Belkin gets an IP address ok but what about the other devices connected to the switch/CAT 5? They appear to be on the Internet side of the Belkin router so can't get an IP address from the DHCP in the Belkin router or ?