Connecting two WRT54g... is this possible...

Hi!

I am trying to connect two WRT54G Routers to complete a home network.

Upstairs, I have the broadband modem and the WRT54g setup correctly
(all with static IP addresses and DHCP disabled) with address
192.168.1.1

Downstairs, I have a computer with static IP and I want to be able to
use the other WRT54g to communicate with the upstairs router. I tried
to setup this router with DHCP off and ip at 192.168.1.2

Some computers in the network have static ip addresses,

192.168.1.23
192.168.1.24
....

They all work correctly with the upstaris router.

What setting I need to do to the WRT54g router downstairs so that both
routers can communicate and at least I can ping.

I know that I could have used a bridge downstairs instead of the
router, but I am trying to explore the cheaper option.

thanks
Dutta S.K.

In article <(E-Mail Removed) >,
S.K. Dutta <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>Hi!
>
>I am trying to connect two WRT54G Routers to complete a home network.
>
>Upstairs, I have the broadband modem and the WRT54g setup correctly
>(all with static IP addresses and DHCP disabled) with address
>192.168.1.1
>
>Downstairs, I have a computer with static IP and I want to be able to
>use the other WRT54g to communicate with the upstairs router. I tried
>to setup this router with DHCP off and ip at 192.168.1.2
>
>Some computers in the network have static ip addresses,
>
>192.168.1.23
>192.168.1.24
>...
>
>They all work correctly with the upstaris router.
>
>What setting I need to do to the WRT54g router downstairs so that both
>routers can communicate and at least I can ping.
>
>I know that I could have used a bridge downstairs instead of the
>router, but I am trying to explore the cheaper option.
>
>thanks
>Dutta S.K.

I don't think this is a supported feature of the wrt54g, but this post
on http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/LinksysWrt54g caught my eye :

----
I've found that you can easily enable wds on the WRT54G's by using the ping
trick or telnet to issue a command such as: /usr/sbin/wl wds
00:06:f4:23:34:e1. The Mac address here should be the mac address of
the peer WAP (or WRT), and the system will create a subinterface wrt0.2
and add it to the bridging group (br0). It actually relies on the Linux
bridging code to bridge between the wrt0.2 interface and clients associated
with this access point. You may be able to configure the WRT
to automatically reassociate with the remote AP by using nvram
(nvram set wl_wrt=00:06:f4:23:34:e1). There must be something else
happening because nvram setting aren't saved automatically--only way
I've found to save an nvram setting is to go into the web interface
and hit apply on one of the pages. Don't know why.

---

If you try this out, please post your results here and/or on the
seattlewireless forum linked above.

Good Luck
Jim

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Buzbee "I was gratified to be able to
(E-Mail Removed) answer promptly, and I did. I
http://batbox.org said I didn't know." Mark Twain

This looks like a unix hack. I do not have a linux machine right now.
Also, I am not sure if this will make changes in the router NVRAM
permanently (i.e. the reset button will not bring it back to the
factory default). I was looking for a simpler workaround.

Thanks for your posting...
Dutta S.K.

(E-Mail Removed) (Jim Buzbee) wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed)>...
> In article <(E-Mail Removed) >,
> S.K. Dutta <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> >Hi!
> >
> >I am trying to connect two WRT54G Routers to complete a home network.
> >
> >Upstairs, I have the broadband modem and the WRT54g setup correctly
> >(all with static IP addresses and DHCP disabled) with address
> >192.168.1.1
> >
> >Downstairs, I have a computer with static IP and I want to be able to
> >use the other WRT54g to communicate with the upstairs router. I tried
> >to setup this router with DHCP off and ip at 192.168.1.2
> >
> >Some computers in the network have static ip addresses,
> >
> >192.168.1.23
> >192.168.1.24
> >...
> >
> >They all work correctly with the upstaris router.
> >
> >What setting I need to do to the WRT54g router downstairs so that both
> >routers can communicate and at least I can ping.
> >
> >I know that I could have used a bridge downstairs instead of the
> >router, but I am trying to explore the cheaper option.
> >
> >thanks
> >Dutta S.K.
>
> I don't think this is a supported feature of the wrt54g, but this post
> on http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/LinksysWrt54g caught my eye :
>
> ----
> I've found that you can easily enable wds on the WRT54G's by using the ping
> trick or telnet to issue a command such as: /usr/sbin/wl wds
> 00:06:f4:23:34:e1. The Mac address here should be the mac address of
> the peer WAP (or WRT), and the system will create a subinterface wrt0.2
> and add it to the bridging group (br0). It actually relies on the Linux
> bridging code to bridge between the wrt0.2 interface and clients associated
> with this access point. You may be able to configure the WRT
> to automatically reassociate with the remote AP by using nvram
> (nvram set wl_wrt=00:06:f4:23:34:e1). There must be something else
> happening because nvram setting aren't saved automatically--only way
> I've found to save an nvram setting is to go into the web interface
> and hit apply on one of the pages. Don't know why.
>
> ---
>
> If you try this out, please post your results here and/or on the
> seattlewireless forum linked above.
>
> Good Luck
> Jim

In article <(E-Mail Removed)> ,
S.K. Dutta <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>This looks like a unix hack. I do not have a linux machine right now.
>Also, I am not sure if this will make changes in the router NVRAM
>permanently (i.e. the reset button will not bring it back to the
>factory default). I was looking for a simpler workaround.


As long as you just do just the "/usr/sbin/wl ..." command from the web
interface it won't be permanent. This will work from any browser and
a power-cyycle will bring it back to "normal". But I understand your
reluctance about messing with non-supported features. Check out the
forum below for details of the "ping hack"

http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/LinksysWrt54g


Jim


>
>Thanks for your posting...
>Dutta S.K.
>
>(E-Mail Removed) (Jim Buzbee) wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed)>...
>> In article <(E-Mail Removed) >,
>> S.K. Dutta <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>> >Hi!
>> >
>> >I am trying to connect two WRT54G Routers to complete a home network.
>> >
>> >Upstairs, I have the broadband modem and the WRT54g setup correctly
>> >(all with static IP addresses and DHCP disabled) with address
>> >192.168.1.1
>> >
>> >Downstairs, I have a computer with static IP and I want to be able to
>> >use the other WRT54g to communicate with the upstairs router. I tried
>> >to setup this router with DHCP off and ip at 192.168.1.2
>> >
>> >Some computers in the network have static ip addresses,
>> >
>> >192.168.1.23
>> >192.168.1.24
>> >...
>> >
>> >They all work correctly with the upstaris router.
>> >
>> >What setting I need to do to the WRT54g router downstairs so that both
>> >routers can communicate and at least I can ping.
>> >
>> >I know that I could have used a bridge downstairs instead of the
>> >router, but I am trying to explore the cheaper option.
>> >
>> >thanks
>> >Dutta S.K.
>>
>> I don't think this is a supported feature of the wrt54g, but this post
>> on http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/LinksysWrt54g caught my eye :
>>
>> ----
>> I've found that you can easily enable wds on the WRT54G's by using the ping
>> trick or telnet to issue a command such as: /usr/sbin/wl wds
>> 00:06:f4:23:34:e1. The Mac address here should be the mac address of
>> the peer WAP (or WRT), and the system will create a subinterface wrt0.2
>> and add it to the bridging group (br0). It actually relies on the Linux
>> bridging code to bridge between the wrt0.2 interface and clients associated
>> with this access point. You may be able to configure the WRT
>> to automatically reassociate with the remote AP by using nvram
>> (nvram set wl_wrt=00:06:f4:23:34:e1). There must be something else
>> happening because nvram setting aren't saved automatically--only way
>> I've found to save an nvram setting is to go into the web interface
>> and hit apply on one of the pages. Don't know why.
>>
>> ---
>>
>> If you try this out, please post your results here and/or on the
>> seattlewireless forum linked above.
>>
>> Good Luck
>> Jim


--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Buzbee "I was gratified to be able to
(E-Mail Removed) answer promptly, and I did. I
http://batbox.org said I didn't know." Mark Twain