Problems connecting router and router-as-access point

No. It's not possible with DI-524 routers.

What you're apparently trying to do is get two wireless routers to act as a wireless bridge. There are devices and protocols that will do this, but the DI-524 is not equiped to do either. Reading between the lines, what you're trying to accomplish is build an extension cord for your cable modem to your LAN. The best approach for this would be to run a CAT5 cable, but it can be done with wireless.

Methinks the best approach would be to package everything back in its box and upgrade to a pair of Dlink DI-624, Linksys WRT54G, or other routers that support WDS (wireless distribution service). This allows the wireless router to simultaneously act as an infrastructure access point and a wireless transparent bridge.

WDS setup instructions:

Note that there are other ways to do this other than using WDS. For example, you could use the DI-524 as a wireless router, and connect your LAN to it using an ethernet client adapter that supports multiple clients. WRT54G with alternative firmware will do this. However, be careful here as many client adapters will only bridge one MAC address and cannot bridge your entire LAN.

Try a different channel, same SSID

Jeff, thank you very much for your reply. I took the Dlink routers back and got 2 new LinkSys WRT54G routers. Hooked them up, went into the configuration so I could set them up just like the great article at "

"says to do, but the configuration pages don't have the WDS settings that are shown in the article and nothing close to it can I find anywhere. I am using WRT54G version 5 routers.

I guess I'm is off to Linksys support to see what they have to say. Thanks for pointing me in what looks like the right direction though!

Cheers, Buck

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Take them back and try again. The Linksys WRT54G routers support WDS only with alternative firmware from Sveasoft and DD-WRT. However, the V5 hardware is an oddity as it is VXWorks based firmware and NOT Linux based. At this time, there is no alternative firmware available for the V5 hardware. For example: |

"DD-WRT supports all versions of the WRT54G and WRT54GS hardware except for the WRT54G v5. This new router has limited ram (2/8) and runs on VxWorks and not Linux." V4 hardware is also a problem as only a specific version of DD-WRT runs on it. Grap the list of serial number to hardware versions and check the box.

Also, if you happen to call Linksys for something, be sure to thank them for killing the golden goose and possibly shooting themselves in the foot to save a few pennies.

If you're going to do WDS, I suggest you find an earlier version of the WRT54G or use a router with native WDS support such as the DI-624 C1. I'm not sure I would actually recommend the DI-624 as I now have

2 that have mysteriously died at customers in about the last 6 months and DLink is playing games with the warranty returns.

Also, it might be possible to do this without WDS if you can find just one WRT54G that can handle alternative firmware. Both Sveasoft and DD-WRT offer a "client mode" that can handle multiple clients (i.e. bridge multiple MAC addresses). You would use literally any wireless router at the cable modem end and connect to it with the WRT54G. Then, plug your LAN in and it should work. The problem is that unlike WDS, this method does NOT extend your wireless range into the area around the client adapter. If you have a wireless laptop, it will need to connect to the wireless router at the cable modem end.

I tried to find a list of wireless routers that support WDS, but couldn't. If you do find such a list, be advised that different chipsets have problems talking to each other with WDS. Try to keep it all one chipset.

Yes I can see that v5 will not work. I'll have to dig around to try and find earlier versions. I don't think Best Buy/Circuit City/CompUsa tend to carry older versions of equipment but hopefully I am wrong. I just thought that my situation, wanting to extend cable modem reach in an apartment where you don't have the ability to drill wires through walls, would have been figured out by now and be a basic feature of wireless networking. I apparently underestimated the evolution of the technology and/or the greed of hardware companies.

Thanks, all, for your responses. If and when I am able to get this working, I'll post the results. (I may just be better off returning the one router and purchasing 3 wireless adapters!)

Cheers, Buck Turgids> On 1 Nov 2005 23:15:40 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote: >

proclaims:

I didn't think Linksys supported WDS - only third party firmware like sveasoft (which is what that article describes) - and I've heard that version 4+ routers don't support third party firmware (I have no idea if that's true - mine are v3!