I have a D-Link DI-624 wireless router on the first floor. I want to connect a Tivo and a PC upstairs using the DWL-2100AP. I also have a DSS-5+ switch.
I tried putting the DWL-2100AP in every mode and nothing works as follows:
Access Point mode: Supposedly only works with another DWL-2100AP; so far that appears to be true. WDS with AP: The AP appears to join the wireless network but the neither connected device can get an IP. WDS: Same as above. Repeater: Seems to work as a repeater, but again, any device plugged in does not get an IP. AP Client: First device connected gets an IP. Second does not.
Does anyone know if there is a way to make this work? I know I can buy another DWL-2100AP and it will probably work, but it seems silly to connect a wireless AP to a wireless router.
No problem. That should work just fine. The DWL-2100AP has a client mode that allegedly can handle more than one MAC address. However, before we blunder onward, kindly check if the DWL-2100AP has the latest firmware. Also, please disclose the hardware version of your DI-624 and DWL-2100AP from the serial number sticker.
See:
Select "AP Client" Type in the MAC address of the wireless port on the DI-624. That's NOT the MAC adress printed on the serial number sticker. Go to the status page at:
and read the numbers from the screen. Oh swell, the wireless port isn't listed.
Plan B is to take one of your existing wireless clients and ping the router. Then extract the MAC address with the arp command. Like this: Start -> Run -> cmd ping 192.168.0.1 ( lines of junk) arp -a The line with the 192.168.0.1 has the correct MAC address. Sheesh.
You'll also need to select the same RF channel as the DI-624, and the same SSID as the DI-624 (Main -> Wireless).
Also, the DWL-2100AP comes with a DHCP server. It's correctly disabled by default. Verify that it's really disabled.
Welcome to a common problem. Some access point clients will pass more than one MAC address. Others will pass exactly one. This may have been corrected in later versions of the DWL-2100AP firmware. Also, see list of clients at:
The list claims that the DWL-2100AP will handle more than one MAC address. However, I didn't do the testing and have no clue where the information came from.
That's why the various manufacturers are very reluctant to discuss the number of MAC addresses that can be passed by their client radios. If they claim it's only one, they'll sell far more radios. It's a common problem with the "game adapters" which are the same device with potentially the same problem.
The DWL-2100AP is H/W Rev. A4. Strangely, this shipped with firmware version 2.11. The latest on their website is 2.10. Do I have a bad version of their firmware that they pulled off their website? Or maybe I have a corrected version of the firmware that forces the AP Client mode to only pass one MAC address.
I tried both the root MAC and the wireless MAC of the router and the
2nd device can never get an IP. I also assigned static IPs to the Tivo and PC and still, the first one connected is the only one that works.
I wonder if I should exchange the DWL-2100AP for a 2nd wireless router. If I shut off DHCP and put them on the same subnet, will that work?
Worst case is that they released 2.11, changed their mind due to bugs or customer feedback, and just reverted to 2.10. I don't have any inside info, but a call to DLink support might be useful. It might be nothing more than a typo error.
Difficult to tell from here. If you install 2.10, there's no way to get back to 2.11 because there's no image on the Dlink web pile.
Dunno. It could be the DI-624 is causing the problem. Methinks it would be best to try some creative substitution. Find another wireless router and see if it works any differently. If possible try a different wireless ethernet bridge. It may not solve the problem, but at least it might help isolate the culprit and assign the blame.
Also, here's how a transparent bridge should work.
The article is about DD-WRT and the WRT54G, but the operation and diagnostics should be similar. See the arp example from "tlj2".
Yes, mostly. The down side is that now you have two sources of interference. The idea is to reduce the number of radios to a minimum. However, it will function, especially if you isolate the two radios on different channels (i.e. 1 and 11) and apply some physical isolation. In effect, you're converting a wireless router into a wireless access point by:
Ignore the WAN port.
Connect CAT5 between a LAN port on the DI-624 to a LAN port on the new device. You may need an ethernet cross-over cable.
Disable the DHCP server in the new device.
Set the IP address of the new device to something in the same subnet as the DI-624, but not duplicated.
You can use the same SSID if you want to try roaming, or different SSID's if you want to connect to a specific radio.
Well, I'll have to play with it some more. I'll reply here if and when I figure anything out. I may not get a chance to try again until next weekend. Thanks for all the help so far! Just some background on me...I am a software engineer and have been building computers since before that. Networking is not my top subject, but I'm very sure that everything I have tried has been configured correctly and I have tried all possible permutations of those configurations.
D-Link support got back to me and suggested I configure it as a Repeater. As usual, I don't even think they understood my question. Anyway, like I said, I tried Repeater mode and not even one wired device connected directly to the AP can see the router. I think they thought I had wireLESS clients rather than wired. I'll see if they get back to me with any other suggestions.
I suspect this would have worked. However, the reason I never tried it is because it doesn't let you. The MAC address box is disabled when in AP Client mode. Only the SSID can be changed.
When in AP Repeater mode, you can type in a MAC address, but after you press Apply, it automatically changes it to the Root MAC address rather than the wireless MAC.
If this was ever allow, it looks like they disabled it. Also, my configuration page looks different than D-Link's web site emulator. But, even their emulator doesn't allow it. I wonder if an earlier version of the firmware exposed this trick and now they disabled it.
Hmmm... As I recall, I had to scan for access points when in the AP client mode. That would insert the MAC address of the wireless AP. However, there doesn't seem to be a way to do that so my memory must be fault. My guess(tm) is that you have a choice of either connecting by SSID or by MAC, but that might also be wrong. If it only allows SSID to be configured, that should be sufficient.
Duh. It's not suppose to do that. As a repeater, it needs to know where to forward the packets. SSID is insufficient because there are a number of devices with the same SSID. MAC address is unique and the packets should forward there. However, if the MAC address is not the same as the wireless interface, it won't work. Are you sure it's changing by itself and is not some artifact of the web browser cache? Try flushing the browser cache, a different browser, or even a different PC to do the configuration.
The emulator is version 2.00. You're using version 2.10.
Same here. It should work, but doesn't. In addition, it's doing weird things. The problem is that I can't tell which box is causing the problems. It could be the DI-624, the DWL-2100AP or the web browser. As I previously suggested, try substituting for the DI-624 (it's the easiest to change) or drag the DWL-2100AP to some place where there's a different access point to use for testing.
When you enable "AP Client" mode do you run the "Scan" and then choose which "AP" you wish to connect to? I seem to remember that this automatically entered the correct MAC details into the 2100, in early versions.
Hm! I just had a look at the emulator and when you select "AP Client" a "Site Survey" box appears, I presume this used to be the scan option? Has the OP got this on his version and what happens when he runs it? He may get the choice of wireless to connect to.
For AP Client mode, I can type in the SSID or use the Site Survey (aka Scan) button to find one. Either way, it enters the Root MAC address for me (not the wireless MAC address). This only allows 1 wired client. All other clients on my switch cannot see the router/ internet.
Based on Jeff's memory, I'm assuming if it let me enter the wireless MAC address instead, it would work. If Jeff is correct, I'm guessing D-Link disabled this "feature" to force you to buy one DWL-2100AP per wired client.
That sounds about right. Here is also a response from D-Link customer support:
it to a device which supports the same >mode. Unfortunately your DI-624 does not support any bridging modes. You can use the DWL-2100AP as a client >side adapter, but as you have discovered this only allows you to connect one host.
If I return this I will lose a 15% restocking fee + shipping. Maybe I should just try to find that firmware. As I mentioned earlier, my device actually came with firmware 2.11 which is newer than the D-Link website, so I'm not sure what to do.
Anyway, I guess that's as far as we can go here. Thanks for you help and suggestions.
connect it to a device which supports the same >mode. Unfortunately your DI-624 does not support any bridging modes. You can use the DWL-2100AP as a client
If you feel like experimenting:- ftp://ftp.dlink.com/Wireless/dwl2100AP/Firmware
It works!!! I took a risk and went backwards in the firmware. First I tried 2.10, which appeared to be just about the same as the mysterious shipping firmware (2.11) that is not on their website.
Then I went back to version 2.00. I selected AP Client mode, like I did when I first opened the box, and now it works. I connected 3 DHCP clients and the AP to my DSS-5+ switch and they all got IP addresses. The AP is set to have a static IP. I did not try setting it to DHCP.
Thanks for all the help! I'm very dissapointed in D-Link for pulling off a marketing scam like that just to get you to buy two access points. They should have at least left it open for the DI-624 router which is in the same wireless G family, which is the original reason I bought it.
Did 2.10 not work the same way as 2.11? It's not really clear from your description.
Nicely done. Congratulations on your perseverance.
Out of curiosity, did it connect to the MAC address of the wireless port, or did it do the same thing at 2.11 and try to connect to the MAC address of one of the ethernet ports?
Never attribute to malice, that which can be adequately explained by sloppy testing. I can personally attest to the difficulties involved in regression testing a product like the DWL-2100AP for every feature, function, combination, and specification. In this case, very few of the manufacturers even advertise the fact that you can run more than one client behind their access point client. Little wonder they didn't test for it. It's an old story, where a new update broke an "undocumented feature".
On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 14:07:24 -0000, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in :
Hardly a "scam" -- all products have specific feature sets, and it's up to the consumer to choose those products that have feature sets suitable for their needs. What might be possible in the product is irrelevant.
The MAC address box was still disabled and it automatically was filled in with the Ethernet port MAC address.
True. I guess I was just angry that I spent 12 hours of my life messing around with this thing when what I tried in the first 5 minutes should have worked. I know all about bugs.
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