Hi All I have a customer who uses a dedicated Netgear Router (Not Wireless) to access the web and use a VPN link to his Employer, this router cannot and must not be changed.
Using an ethernet cable connection to his router he can access the internet on another machine but he wants to do this wirelessly for other computers in his home.
What is the best way to do this, should he use a wireless router with an ethernet connection to his existing router? or what? Your help on this will be greatly appreciated.
He can access the internet, with cascased routers, as you describe. However, he might have issues with local networking. He could put an access point on his local network though.
I have a Netgear 4 port router connected to a cable modem, and a Belkin 54g WAP plugged into one of the Netgear ports. All of the computers are set with static IP's in the 192.168.0.x block, and they have no trouble seeing each other, and connecting to the internet.
Some consumer routers will run in access point mode. I have one (Microsoft MN700) hanging off of a Linksys, was cheaper for me and it works fine. All computers can see each other.
By putting the low voltage power on an unused pair in the CAT5 I was able to put the MN700 in a central point in the home for better wireless coverage.
He needs what is called an access point. It is pretty much the same in size and appearance as a wireless router, but plugs into a wired router port. The cost is MORE than a wireless router with 4 ports. Go figure.
I have a similar problem. My "main" cable/dsl router is a Linksys BEFSR41. I just picked up a Netgear MR814 Wireless Router that I want to hook into the Linksys. (I'm running Mac OS X, 10.3.5.)
I tried to set up the Netgear by plugging its "Interenet" port to the Linksys "Uplink" port. Running the Netgear set-up assistant, it "auto-detects" a static IP address and asks me for an IP address, netmask and gateway IP address. I have no idea what to put in these fields.
Should I be plugging in the Netgear to one of the other open Linksys ports? Should I be using the "Internet" port on the Netgear? Should the Netgear be using a static IP from the Linksys or dynamic?
The quoted message below implies a static IP, but again, I don't know what values to use.
If you have an MR814, then the BEFSR41 is redundant. Two routers won't work together very well. I'd suggest you hook up the Netgear instead of the Linksys, and then sell the Linksys on ebay. To set up the Netgear router is easy.
Turn off your computer. Unplug your cable modem and router. Meaning, cut the electrical power to both, and disconnect all other cables from the Linksys router as well. Now run an ethernet cable from the ethernet connector on the cable modem to the WAN (or Internet) port on the back of the Netgear router. Plug in the cable modem. WAIT TWO MINUTES. Plug in the Netgear router. WAIT TWO MINUTES. Now turn on your MAC. That should be all it takes to configure the Netgear router for local, wired, Internet access, assuming you are using a cable modem.
Eventually, you will need to fire up a web browser and point it to http://192.168.0.1 to log into the Netgear router. From there, go to wireless settings. Choose a name for your wireless network, enable wireless access point. Security settings are personal preference, but I'd suggest Shared Key and 64 bit encryption, and then type in a passphrase to generate keys to share. PRINT THIS PAGE BEFORE YOU EXIT. You will need this information to set up your wireless access card(s) later. -Dave
Thanks for the answer, and for being so specific. I fear that I simplified my query, though, and I need to supply some more info, as it directly affects your proposed solution.
I have come to actually need more Ethernet ports than just the Linksys or the Netgear router can supply by themselves. Hence, your suggestion to remove the Linksys from the system would leave me with too few ports.
So, I guess I still need a way to connect the Netgear wireless router to the Linksys. I did a bunch of searching last night and came up with this article from Netgear support:
formatting link
It describes using a wireless router as a wireless access point. Would this technique work in my situation? It seems like it should. Any thoughts on this?
Theoretically, it looks like it should work. However, what they have done there is to create a dumb hub out of a router. :) That's a bit like yanking the engine out of a motorcycle and putting pedals on it to create a bicycle. But if you already own the router, it's worth a shot. -Dave
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