Qwerty & TC: Full Explanation

I will start from the beginning. I had no intention of posting anything
intentionally 'obscure'. To be clear, I am not trying to use my router with
another router. That is not the issue. I sincerely appreciate any help I
receive:

I have a Linksys BEFW11S4, version 4 router/AP. I had two desktops and a
laptop hooked up to it. The desktops went direct to the router via ethernet,
and the laptop is wireless, using a Linksys wireless card. I was only trying
to share an internet connection from my cable modem, and not share any
files/printing, etc. between them.

It worked, and all 3 computers had internet access, but it would drop
connections on all 3 computers, especially when streaming video or music. It
was just very unreliable, even after updating to the latest firmware
version. SO, what I wanted to do was this:

Hook up my 2 desktops to my hub (it's a D-Link DE-805 TP), as well as my
cable modem. This is the way I had it before the laptop came around, and
this configuration works fine. Each pc has it's own IP address, and can both
access the internet. But now I want to get my laptop to have internet access
as well. Since I can't hook everything up to the router (because of the
unreliable connection mentioned above), I wanted to somehow plug the router
into the hub to use it only as an AP for the wireless laptop.

I know I have to disable DHCP, but besides that, I don't have any inkling of
how to proceed.

Again, your help is much appreciated. Sorry if I caused any confusion.
--
-Bill
------

Bill,

I've read about the problems with the BEFW11S4, V4 problems. I just
bought mine a month ago, but it's a V3.2. I guess blind luck helped me
dodge a bullet there.

What I don't understand is why you couldn't go ahead and follow the
Linksys instructions I linked previously. Since the router's IP address
will only be used for provisioning and upgrades, I would try just
putting it somewhere in the private address range (92.168.x.x). I think
I read somewhere that those addresses are not supposed to be routable
over the internet.

Do not leave it at default though, since it MIGHT be visible to
others who are using your ISP. Of couse, you would want to set a good
strong password and change it frequently.

If I'm wrong here, someone please correct me.

Also, since you'll be broadcasting a truly open internet connection,
I think you should secure it in every way possible to avoid any problems
with your ISP. Turn SSID off and use MAC filtering as well as 128-bit
WEP. Change that key often, also.

I hope this is a help. I'm not the sharpest tack in the box when it
comes to networking.

"Bill" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:QUGLa.83993$%42.21251@fed1read06...
> I will start from the beginning. I had no intention of posting
anything
> intentionally 'obscure'. To be clear, I am not trying to use my router
with
> another router. That is not the issue. I sincerely appreciate any help
I
> receive:
>
> I have a Linksys BEFW11S4, version 4 router/AP. I had two desktops and
a
> laptop hooked up to it. The desktops went direct to the router via
ethernet,
> and the laptop is wireless, using a Linksys wireless card. I was only
trying
> to share an internet connection from my cable modem, and not share any
> files/printing, etc. between them.
>
> It worked, and all 3 computers had internet access, but it would drop
> connections on all 3 computers, especially when streaming video or
music. It
> was just very unreliable, even after updating to the latest firmware
> version. SO, what I wanted to do was this:
>
> Hook up my 2 desktops to my hub (it's a D-Link DE-805 TP), as well as
my
> cable modem. This is the way I had it before the laptop came around,
and
> this configuration works fine. Each pc has it's own IP address, and
can both
> access the internet. But now I want to get my laptop to have internet
access
> as well. Since I can't hook everything up to the router (because of
the
> unreliable connection mentioned above), I wanted to somehow plug the
router
> into the hub to use it only as an AP for the wireless laptop.
>
> I know I have to disable DHCP, but besides that, I don't have any
inkling of
> how to proceed.
>
> Again, your help is much appreciated. Sorry if I caused any confusion.
> --
> -Bill
> ------
>
>

"Bill" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:QUGLa.83993$%42.21251@fed1read06:

> I will start from the beginning. I had no intention of posting
> anything intentionally 'obscure'.
> snip
> -Bill
> ------

/\/\/\/\
Thanks for the clarification Bill ... I thought you were pulling our chains
.... my apologies ... I am getting back under my rock now.
campbell

Sorry. I obviously didn't explain my situation well. No need to climb under
a rock. But some help would be great : )

--
-Bill
------
"TC" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:Xns93A994B2368D3Campbell@207.225.159.6...
> "Bill" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> news:QUGLa.83993$%42.21251@fed1read06:
>
> > I will start from the beginning. I had no intention of posting
> > anything intentionally 'obscure'.
> > snip
> > -Bill
> > ------
>
> /\/\/\/\
> Thanks for the clarification Bill ... I thought you were pulling our
chains
> ... my apologies ... I am getting back under my rock now.
> campbell
>
>

Bill wrote:
> I will start from the beginning. I had no intention of posting
> anything intentionally 'obscure'. To be clear, I am not trying to use
> my router with another router. That is not the issue. I sincerely
> appreciate any help I receive:
>
> I have a Linksys BEFW11S4, version 4 router/AP. I had two desktops
> and a laptop hooked up to it. The desktops went direct to the router
> via ethernet, and the laptop is wireless, using a Linksys wireless
> card. I was only trying to share an internet connection from my cable
> modem, and not share any files/printing, etc. between them.
>
> It worked, and all 3 computers had internet access, but it would drop
> connections on all 3 computers, especially when streaming video or
> music. It was just very unreliable, even after updating to the latest
> firmware version. SO, what I wanted to do was this:
>
> Hook up my 2 desktops to my hub (it's a D-Link DE-805 TP), as well as
> my cable modem. This is the way I had it before the laptop came
> around, and this configuration works fine. Each pc has it's own IP
> address, and can both access the internet. But now I want to get my
> laptop to have internet access as well. Since I can't hook everything
> up to the router (because of the unreliable connection mentioned
> above), I wanted to somehow plug the router into the hub to use it
> only as an AP for the wireless laptop.
>
> I know I have to disable DHCP, but besides that, I don't have any
> inkling of how to proceed.
>
> Again, your help is much appreciated. Sorry if I caused any confusion.

Before abandoning the functionality of the router, check the unit from
the web interface and verify the firmware version. Linksys has posted a
firmware update, dated 4/2003, version 1.44.2. If you have an earler
version, try updating the firmware and see if it corrects the connection
issues. LinkSys has a lot riding on this router, and must make it work
properly, especially given the reputation it is getting for
disconnections. This, or a newer firmware, should fix the problem.

http://www.linksys.com/download/firmware.asp?fwid=182

Q

I had updated the firmware a few days ago. Support actually emailed me the
latest firmware, which I thought was nice. Didn't take care of the problem
though. I'm thinking of resetting the router. Will this cause the firmware
to back to the older version?

--
-Bill
------
"Quaoar" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:O2LLa.56877$(E-Mail Removed) et...
>

> Before abandoning the functionality of the router, check the unit from
> the web interface and verify the firmware version. Linksys has posted a
> firmware update, dated 4/2003, version 1.44.2. If you have an earler
> version, try updating the firmware and see if it corrects the connection
> issues. LinkSys has a lot riding on this router, and must make it work
> properly, especially given the reputation it is getting for
> disconnections. This, or a newer firmware, should fix the problem.
>
> http://www.linksys.com/download/firmware.asp?fwid=182
>
> Q
>
>

"Bill" <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:

> I will start from the beginning. I had no intention of posting anything
> intentionally 'obscure'. To be clear, I am not trying to use my router with
> another router. That is not the issue. I sincerely appreciate any help I
> receive:
>
> I have a Linksys BEFW11S4, version 4 router/AP. I had two desktops and a
> laptop hooked up to it. The desktops went direct to the router via ethernet,
> and the laptop is wireless, using a Linksys wireless card. I was only trying
> to share an internet connection from my cable modem, and not share any
> files/printing, etc. between them.
>
> It worked, and all 3 computers had internet access, but it would drop
> connections on all 3 computers, especially when streaming video or music. It
> was just very unreliable, even after updating to the latest firmware
> version. SO, what I wanted to do was this:
>
> Hook up my 2 desktops to my hub (it's a D-Link DE-805 TP), as well as my
> cable modem. This is the way I had it before the laptop came around, and
> this configuration works fine. Each pc has it's own IP address, and can both
> access the internet.

Is your hub really a router? That is, where are your two PCs getting
their ethernet addresses from? Presumably by DHCP from _something_
(either your hub, cable modem, or possibly your ISP).

At any rate, what I would do is this (and I've done something similar
myself).

1) Plug your Linksys router into the hub also (a cable from the
WAN port of the Linksys to one of the LAN ports of your hub).

2) _Not_ turn off DHCP.

3) For this to work, I suspect you need to make sure that the LAN
subnet for your Linksys router is different from the subnet that
its WAN port is plugged into. I.e., if your two computers have IP
addreses like 192.168.1.x and 192.168.1.y, then the WAN port of
your Linksys unit will be assigned an IP address like 192.168.1.z,
and then you should make sure that the LAN side of your Linksys
router is assigning IP addresses from some range like 192.168.2.

(Note the "2" which is different from the "1.")

FWIW, I have an arrangment like this.

Cable modem <---> router <---> <2nd router> <---> my household Lan.

This is necessary because the first router is rather far away from my
computers and I wanted a unit near my computers which could serve both
wired and wireless connections.

(Never mind how the two routers are connected in my case - not by an
ethernet cable, but that should be irrelevant to this question.)