I have two linksys routers, one being a cable modem router and the other a wireless router. A couple of machines in the house are wireless, and the rest are hardwired.
Everyone uses the cable mode as their default gateway, and they all share the 192.168.1.XXX address space.
Machines on the wired portion can see each other by name, but those on the wireless (or vice versa) cannot. I've resorted to static IPs and hosts files, but I'm wondering if there's a better way short of going to a broadcast protocol like NetBEUI or installing a server machine with DHCP and DNS.
Is there anything I can do so that everyone can have dynamic IPs but still see other by name across the two different routers?
Oh neato. A mystery question. Well, Linksys doesn't make a cable modem router combination that's not wireless. Therefore, I can only guess that you have a Linksys cable modem but no router. That would be a BEFCMU10. Linksys makes several wireless routers so it's probably a BEFW11s4 or a WRT54G. How close did I guess? Do I get a gold star if I guess right?
A couple means two, so I decode that to mean that you have two wireless machines and probably two or more hardwired machines. More gold stars please.
Well, that's odd because the cable modem doesn't use the IP address for routeing, only management. What's the IP address of the default gateway and which box has the DHCP server?
I'll assume that they're all using Windoze XP Home. Failure to "see" each other can be due to a variety of causes. The usual culprits are failure to configure the Windoze Firewall for "file and print sharing" on the exceptions tab or different workgroup names.
Another common problem is that if by some chance, your wireless router is a WRT54G, it has a feature called "access point protection" located on the Wireless -> Advanced setting page. It's really client radio protection and will keep wireless clients from seeing each other. Uncheck the box.
"Resorted"???? Does that mean it works with static IP's? Just for fun, put things back the way they're suppose to be (i.e. DHCP and no NETBEUI) and try to ping each machine. If you can't access by NETBIOS name, try it this way: Start -> Run -> cmd \\\\NETBIOS_NAME or \\\\192.168.1.xxx Both should show a list of available shares.
Well, that largely depends on where you have the clients plugged in. If you have the wired clients plugged into the first router (the one that may or may not have a cable modem inside), then those clients will never see the wireless clients because they're going to them via the WAN port on the 2nd mystery router. You can open up one machine by using the DMZ feature, but not the others.
That's an understatment. Hint: If you don't supply model numbers, IP numbers, exact description, and details, you're going to get a vague and probably insulting answer (like this). If it helps, try to organize your question like this:
What problem are you trying to solve?
What do you have to work with?
What have you done so far and what was the result?
You should only pour on the sarcasm when you're correct :-) Linksys makes a cable modem router that's not wireless, called the BEFSX41, which I have one of, and the wireless one BEFW11S4 which I also have.
So, the cable modem is plugged into the BEFSX41 and the BDFW11S4 is plugged into it. All are on the same subet. The BEFSX41 acts as the DHCP server for both sides of the equation (thought I've tried it both ways with no change)
The problem I am trying to solve is that I'd like the wireless clients connecting via the BDFW11S4 to be able to resolve names of clients wired to the BEFSX41.
Do I still get a gold star for guessing the BEFW11s4?
I went looking for it on the Linksys web pile and didn't find it. The thumbnails in the product selection page don't say cable modem but the product page does. Typical Linksys attention to detail. |
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I shouldn't have to guess your hardware and softare.
I think we can both agree that you have one of each type. I'll leave the number of client computers and their corresponding hardware and software to the imagination of the reader as it's not really relevent at this point. I'll assume Windoze XP Home because nobody really wants to admit that they're running Microsoft products.
Well, there's only one way to plug in the BEFSX41. Cable port goes to the cable.
However, there are two places to plug in the wired clients. You can plug them into the BEFSX41 LAN ports or the BEFW11S4 LAN ports. Which way do you have it wired?
The BEFW11S4 can be configured in two different ways. The WAN port of the BEFW11S4 can go to one of the LAN ports on the BEFSX41. This results in what's called "double NAT" and causes the problem your having.
Another way is to run the BEFW11s4 as an access point instead of a router with the ethernet cable going from a LAN port of the BEFW11s4 to a LAN port of the BEFSX41. That's the way you should have it configured.
My guess this is a home system so isolation between the two routers is not a requirement.
Trying to decode your configuration is a bit tedious tonight (my foot in a bucket of warm water thanks to a slight mishap while hiking today) so I'll just tell you what to do to get what I'll guess you're trying to accomplish, rather than figure out some complicated way to get NETBIOS browser election broadcasts to go through a firewall.
To convert your BEFW11S4 into an access point, perform the following ritual:
Setup the IP address of the BEFW11s4 to something that does NOT conflict with any other device. If the BEFSX41 is 192.168.1.1, then I suggest using 192.168.1.2.
Turn OFF the DHCP server in the BEFW11s4.
Do not connect anything to the WAN port. The WAN port is not used. Nothing goes to the WAN port. The WAN port is not needed. (This is the most common screwup so I thought repetition might be useful).
Connect an ethernet cable between a LAN port on the BEFSX41 and a LAN port on the BEFW11s4. You might need to use a crossover ethernet cable, but I don't think so. If the BEFSX41 has an MDI/MDI-X switch, or "uplink" port, use it. Check that the wiring is correct by observing the front panel lights on the respective ports.
You now have an access point instead of a wireless router. DHCP will be assigned from the BEFSX41 to both wired and wireless clients. If setup correctly, Windoze networking should be transparent on both the wired and wireless clients.
No, that's where you were stuck. What you are trying to accomplish is how to get your wired and wireless clients to talk to each other via Windoze networking through two boxes.
A little bit, but not much. In all seriouslessness, your description of both the problem and your setup was very vague and difficult to decode. Hint: If you don't have any numbers in your question, you're leaving out quite a bit of important information.
Made by various contract vendors in China. Linksys just adds their name, instructions, firmware, sales, and support. I can supply the names on some of these if you're really interested.
Here's the original description: "I have two linksys routers, one being a cable modem router and the other a wireless router."
Note the word "modem". Which one of the afformentioned has a cable modem built in?
Linksys does sell the WGR-200, which has a cable modem, router, and wireless built in. However, the subsequent description clearly indicated that there was no wireless in the unit. Therefore, none of those listed would qualify. Sorry, no gold star for guessing the correct model number.
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