Dear newsgroup members,
I write to You because I am sick and tired of waiting for answers from 3Coms
support. I don't think my problem has anything to do with failures in my
system. I am a newbie that probably has configured the whole thing wrong.
One thing that concerns me is that I in many cases has to do the opposite of
what is recommended by 3Com.
I hope that some of You are patient enough to give me some help.
My problem:
I cannot access any servers in the LAN to which I connect to through my
access point.
The network setup when using normal wired connection:
I live in a building where a big DSL modem is installed in the basement. 30
apartments, including mine, are connected to the modem through a wired LAN.
In my apartment, I have a hole in the wall to which I can connect to the LAN
using a TP cable.
When connecting my laptop computer to the LAN by wire, a DHCP server that
belongs to my ISP gives my client an IP address, a subnet mask and a default
gateway address. I use my web browser to go to a server that displays a
login page which I use to get access to the Internet outside the LAN.
The setup when trying to use the wireless access point:
I connect the access point to my only connection to the LAN.
I communicate wirelessly to the access point via my laptop computer. This is
not recommended by 3Com, but as I don't own a hub, this is the only way I
can connect to the access point when it is occupying the only connection to
the LAN.
I configure the access point so that it recieves IP address and subnet mask
dynamically from the DHCP server on the LAN. 3Com recommends the use of
static IP address for the access point, but, once again, I have no other
choice but using dynamic IP address allocating, as this is what my ISP, the
owner of the LAN, wants me to do.
When the access point is set to recieve IP address dynamically, it cannot
act as a DHCP server towards my laptop client. So, in order to connect to
the access point, I have to use either a static IP address or automatic
addressing for the wireless network adapter on my laptop. I cannot set the
adapter to use DHCP, as it doesn't reach the DHCP server on the LAN before
it's connected to the access point, and it seems like it has to have an IP
address before it connects to the access point.
Having done the wireless setup as described above, I can communicate to the
access point. The Ethernet LED indicator on the access point also indicates
LAN activity. But, I cannot reach the server I need for logging on to the
ISP. I can't even ping it. What is the problem?
When talking to support staff at my ISP, they can't understand if my device
is an access point or a router. They say that an access point should act
like a replacement of a TP cable. An access point should just recieve an IP
address from the LAN, and then forward that IP-address to my laptop client.
A router, they say, distributes internal IP addresses to its connected
clients. They refuse to help me, as they say that there must be something
wrong with the access point.
I don't know, but it seems like my 3Com OfficeConnect works a bit
differently to a "normal" access point.
Actually, my internet connection worked for a short while a week ago, when I
first tried to configure it. Then I set the access point to have a static IP
address, and to act as a DHCP server towards my client. I've tried this
again, but without success. It seemed like sheer luck made it work then.
Ok, this is a long letter. If noone cares to answer I understand. I hope
that 3Com support helps me some day.
Regards,
Fredrik
PS. A friend of mine laughed when he heard that I bought an access point
instead of a router. Another friend, however, said that with the current
network setup in my building, using a simple access point should be no
problem, as long as I only connect one and only one laptop to it. DS.
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