Need help with Senao 3220 Client Bridge

I'm trying to set up a Senao 3220 in Client Bridge mode for use on my boat. The objective is to be able to select an access point on shore and be able to connect to it. Ideally the 3220 would automatically configure the PC TCPIP connection for DNS server, IP address, gateway IP, etc after connecting to the access point.

The problem I'm having arises from the need to be able to communicate with the 3220 via an ethernet connection at the same time it is connected to an access point. Right now the only way I can make this work half way reliably is to assign a static IP address of

192.168.1.3 to the 3220, assign my own DNS servers, turn off DHCP, and assume a gateway address of 192.168.1.1. This works most of the time for most access points but it is not very elegant, and I'm sure there are some access points that default to a gateway addres of something other than 192.168.1.1.

If I set the Senao to DHCP server mode, it does assign an IP address but no gateway, and no DNS.

If I set it to DHCP client mode, it changes its own IP address but does not communicate it back to the PC which results in loss of connectivity to the internal firmware, and requires a reset.

Anyone have any suggestions?

The manual is extremely sketchy on these points.

Reply to
Wayne.B
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Does no one here have any experience with a Senao 3220 bridge, or have I phrased my issue/question poorly?

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Reply to
Wayne.B

On Mon, 05 Feb 2007 16:39:58 -0500, Wayne.B wrote in :

I'll admit I had trouble parsing your original posting. I'll try again...

That's the job of the remote DHCP server -- the 3220 client bridge should be transparent.

OK. What's needed then is an IP address on the same subnet for management of the client bridge.

Ugh. What you really want is either two network adapters (one for management and the other for connection) or one adapter multi-homed, with both a static address and a DHCP address -- for how to do that, see .

Reply to
John Navas

Thanks.

That's what I thought since I've had other bridges that did work that way. I'm assuming that some setting on the Senao still needs to be tweaked but haven't figured it out yet. Right now I've got it working fairly reliably by forcing the gateway IP to 192.168.1.1 and plugging in my own DNS addresses. I've set the Senao bridge to 192.168.1.3 since that seems to avoid conflicts with most access points. My concern is that someday I'll encounter other access points where those gateway or bridge IPs will not work, or my DNS addresses will not be acceptable for some reason. I live and work on the boat for 6 months at a time while cruising the east coast and Bahamas so I encounter a wide variety of access points along the way.

That's an interesting tip, I'll have to try it. As of today I've discovered that I can IP my way into the Senao firmware in one browser window while surfing in a second window. That may be an artifact of forcing the gateway address into the same subnet as the bridge however. It seems to be working on both XP and Win2K.

Maybe I should leave well enough alone but I just know that sooner or later I'll run into some access points that have different addressing schemes than the APs around here, and I'll end up trying to figure this out all over again.

Reply to
Wayne.B

Well, for anyone who is interested, I have figured ou how to get the Senao 3220 working as a bridge, and dynamically assign IPs, gateways, etc.

The trick is to first configure your TCPIP properties with a static IP address in the same subnet as the bridge. Configure the mode setting as a "bridge", configure the bridge DHCP setting to "Server", configure any security settings appropriate to the access point you are connecting with, do a network scan, and connect.

Next, and this is the important step, go back into TCPIP settings on your PC and reconfigure them to obtain an IP automatically (via DHCP of course).

Verify your new settings with an IPCONFIG command and voila, you are on the net !

Of course you have now lost the ability to communicate with the bridge but I've received lots of tips about dealing with that.

Thanks John Navas for your help, and convincing me that there must be a way.

As an aside, the Senao looks like it is going to perform very well once I get it installed on the boat.

Reply to
Wayne.B

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