Help extending my home network

Eoinsku

Hi,

I have a current home network (wired & wireless) that is currently working pretty well. However, there are some areas of the house where the wireless signal is too weak so I bought another router to extend the network.

When I plugged the router (with dd-wrt) into the LAN socket in one of the bedrooms I couldn't get it to connect to the internet through the other router. What do I need to do? Set up the new router as a Wireless Access Point or Bridge? If so, how? If not, what could I be doing wrong?

I've attached a picture to this post to indicate what I'm trying to do, and where the problem is. Note that the routers are not physically connected - the main router is routing to various LAN points in the house, and the second router is connected to one of those LAN points.

RangeR

Eoinsku wrote: »

Hi,

I have a current home network (wired & wireless) that is currently working pretty well. However, there are some areas of the house where the wireless signal is too weak so I bought another router to extend the network.

When I plugged the router (with dd-wrt) into the LAN socket in one of the bedrooms I couldn't get it to connect to the internet through the other router. What do I need to do? Set up the new router as a Wireless Access Point or Bridge? If so, how? If not, what could I be doing wrong?

I've attached a picture to this post to indicate what I'm trying to do, and where the problem is. Note that the routers are not physically connected - the main router is routing to various LAN points in the house, and the second router is connected to one of those LAN points.

Having two routers on your network is problematic at best. Unless you KNOW what you are doing.

Suggest:
1. Either disable all router/firewall/dhcp/etc functions on router 2 and just use it as a switch.
2. OR Do as point 1 AND configure both [wifi?] routers with WDS to extend your wifi foot print. There are also downsides to this but generally means a little slower speed.

Eoinsku

Thanks for the reply!

You mention the 2nd router as a switch... Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the planned setup i.e. it would lose wireless functionality, which was the goal in the first place... Or am I mistaken?

RangeR

Nah. 2nd router as a switch doesn't mean turn WIFI off. You can leave that on.

and

1. Either setup the second wifi point independently as a separate SSID and Channel
2. OR as WDS on same SSID and same Channel.

2 routers on the same LAN will cause you dreadful problems if it's not done right. A router sole purpose [simply] is to route traffic between two different networks. You only have one network. You only need a switch with maybe an AP hanging off it.

So you can use your router, just disable the routing software [NAT, Firewall, DHCP etc.]

Eoinsku

I've disabled all the things you suggested, but still no joy... I'm sure there are some settings/things I've done wrong e.g. local IP address, Subnet Mask, gateway & local DNS

But yes, my idea was to have a totally new SSID, as the only devices that would be connecting to the 2nd router would be an iPhone & iPad, which do not need to be connected to a 'home network'.

RangeR

First things first. Can you connect your computer to a LAN port on the second switch? Do you get an IP Address from Router 1? Can you surf the internet. If this doesn't work, there is probably no way WIFI on Router 2 will work.

If we can get wired working on router 2, wifi should be a breeze.

nc43

sorry for butting in lads!

any chance you could help me out RangeR

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=72115331#post72115331

when youve got time of course!

Eoinsku

Right, I connected a laptop via wire to the 2nd router.

I then did an ipconfig and it says I have an ip address, but I cannot connect to the internet. The ip address is totally different to my normal ip address - different starting numbers.

Eoinsku

Actually, I messed around a bit and managed to get a different ip address. Tis time it is 192.168.1.132, so it must be coming from the router.

Subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 and gateway is 192.168.1.1

Still can't access the internet though.

I'm not sure whether this is impportant or not, but the subnet mask on my main router is 255.255.252.0

nc43

qoute: Subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 and gateway is 192.168.1.1

this means that router 2 is giving your lappy its ip address via dhcp ( I think! )

is router 1 setup to use dhcp?

Eoinsku

Router 1 (main router) is set up to use DHCP, but router 2 has DHCP disabled.

nc43

thats even better and what I was getting at

but it shouldnt issus a different subnet mask unless router 1 has been setup to do that

Eoinsku

Router 1 isn't set up to do that, and I've no idea why it does...

I was able to set up a 1 router wired and wireless network (incl. switch) without any hassle. Stupidly I thought I could just lash another router in without any bother, but sadly that doesn't seem to be the case.

It seems like it's possible to configure my 2nd router to act as an access point, as I have dd-wrt firmware installed on it. I've checked the dd-wrt forums, but it's a bit over my head...

nc43

Ive never worked with router 1 talking to router 2 before hence I wont be much help, but I definetly know that addresses with different subnet masks will not talk to each other. maybe just as an experiment use router 2 like a plain hub and just tell the lappy what it*s ip and netmask will be ( as in dont use dhcp on the laptop ) and see if that helps

Eoinsku

After more playing around, and comparing a computer connected to router 1 with a laptop connected to router 2 (ipconfig/all), I've now got almost all things matching - Subnet Mask, Default Gateway and DHCP server are now 192.168.1.1.

The only differences are the ipaddress (as it should be) and the DNS Servers.

The laptop connected to router 2 shows just 1 number beside DNS Servers: 192.168.1.1

The PC connected to router 1 shows 3 numbers beside DNS Servers: 192.168.1.1, 193.239.0.40 & 193.239.0.42.

Also, when I check the priorities of the laptop (router 2) connection, I can see that it has both sent and received packets. Internet is still a no-go though.

RangeR

Ok, one thing I failed to mention. Connect router 1 and router 2 via respective LAN ports. Weird things can happen [similar to what you are experiencing] if you connect to WAN port on Router 2.

RangeR

Eoinsku wrote: »

Actually, I messed around a bit and managed to get a different ip address. Tis time it is 192.168.1.132, so it must be coming from the router.

Subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 and gateway is 192.168.1.1

Still can't access the internet though.

I'm not sure whether this is impportant or not, but the subnet mask on my main router is 255.255.252.0

When connected to Router 2, you should always be getting an IP Address from router 1. If you are getting something like 162.x.x.x, it means that your computer is looking for a DHCP server [Router] but can't find one.

Try this.... Connect to router 2 but set a static ip on your pc [assuming router 1 is 192.168.1.1]

IP : 192.168.1.2
Subnet : 255.255.255.0
Gateway : 192.168.1.1
DNS : 192.168.1.1


If this doesn't work, change your DNS to 8.8.8.8 and try surfing again.

Eoinsku

No joy I'm afraid.

I'll probably need to get someone in the know down to the house who can see everything in front of him, or jack the whole project altogether.

RangeR

You are definitely going from LAN port to LAN port?
You have disabled DHCP, NAT, FIREWALL, all other things that can be disabled?

Don't jack in the project. It is absolutely possible to complete.

What is make and model of each router?

Eoinsku

the 2nd router is not connected directly to the 1st router, but through the network in another room. if I need to connect them directly then (a) it defeats the purpose as their wireless ranges are similar, and (b) there's not enough space in the area where the first router is to accommodate the 2nd router.

everything that can be disabled has been disabled...

RangeR

Eoinsku wrote: »

the 2nd router is not connected directly to the 1st router, but through the network in another room.

Please explain this in as much detail as possible. Are you trying to connect them via wifi signal?

I don't understand "Network in another room".

Gulliver

Technically, they ARE directly connected: ROUTER 1 --> WALL JACK --> HOUSE NETWORK --> WALL JACK --> ROUTER 2

This is the exact same as running a cable from one to the other in the same room, so don't worry about that.

What you could do is set the DNS in the wireless settings of routers 1 and 2 to 192.168.2.1 (router 1's IP address). Router 1 will assign the IP addresses to the devices, but within router 2's range, there might be an issue with it trying to assign wireless settings.

Basically, your DNS settings should be whatever box is connected to the internet on the WAN port.

Eoinsku

my house is pretty new so it has an inbuilt LAN. So, there's a 'fusebox' type box by the front door. in there there are multiple RJ45 connections - one which relates to (let's call it) 'internet in' and the rest are to distribute the network to multple room. so, I have the 1st router in there routing the internet to all rooms in the house (creating a LAN home network). Then in each room I connect my pc/ps3 etc. to the network via CAT5 cable. The router also broadcasts a wireless signal but it is not strong enough to reach all points in the house. Therefore, I cannot surf the web on my iPad if I'm in my bedroom.

Eoinsku

OK, wait a second! I got it working!

However, the wireless SSID being broadcast is the default, and it is also umprotected. I went back into the router firmware and checked the settings - I have a different SSID name defined and WPA2 security.

Any thoughts? I can't believe we've got this far!

Gulliver

Good. check the two routers and see what the settings are, but don't save anything yet! What is the IP address of router 2? Also, have you set aside a range of IPs for static addresses on router 1? Might be an idea to do so and make sure router 2's address doesn't get assigned by router 1 to some other device.

Eoinsku

The strange thing now is that if I connect to the wireless signal from router 2, i.e. type 192.168.1.1 I get taken to the settings page of router 1.

The only way I can get back into router 2 is by changing the connection from a LAN (wall)> LAN (router port) to a LAN (wall) > WAN (router port). Once I'm back in to router 2's settings I can see that I've set SSID and security up as I should have done. But in this case the set-up doesn't work anymore as the LAN>LAN set-up is not in place anymore.

Gulliver

That's correct. Your internet connected router (router 1) should have a static IP address of 192.168.1.1. Give router 2 a static address of 192.168.1.2. If there is an option for adding gateway and DNS on router 2, set these to router 1's address 192.168.1.1.

Router 1 will handle all the address allocation and internet requests, router 2 should wirelessly serve another "section" of the same network, routing the requests to router 1. Is there an option for access point mode on router 2?

Eoinsku

How can I give router 2 a static address?

Will that enable me to broadcast the desired SSID and security settings?

I'll check on the access point option in the router - have to keep switching back and forth!

Eoinsku

I went to Routing > Advanced Routing options and the Operating Mode options were: Gateway, BGP, RIP2 Router, OSPF Router, OLSR Router, and Router.