Using Wireless Router as Wireless Access Point Only

In the next few days I am soon to join Orange, after leaving AOL, and
shall receive an Orange Livebox, which, as far as I am aware, in
basically a normal wireless router.

I currently have a Netgear DG834G wireless router, and as the wireless
signal can fluctuate in our house (environmental reasons I believe) I
was thinking of demoting the Netgear to just an Access Point; having
the Netgear upstairs, and the Livebox downstairs with the phone line.

I really just need confirmation on how to go about this. I know I
shall have to disable DHCP on the Netgear, and change the SSID on both
routers to the same.

Now, if I change the "Internet IP Address" on the Netgear to the IP
Address of Livebox (making it the default gateway, in essence), and
change the former "LAN TCP/IP Setup" option from what was the gateway
to a new IP address within the range, would this be sufficent?

i.e.

PC --> Netgear (IP:192.168.0.10) --> Livebox (IP:192.168.0.1) -->
Internet
^
192.168.0.11____________________________DHCP/

(I hope that diagram comes out right).

Basically I would be changing the Netgear Router's static gateway IP
Address into just a static IP Address for access, and sending any
traffic through to the Livebox Static IP (new gateway) through what
used to be the IP that would access the Internet...

Or am I just over-complicating things?

Would this work, and would my computer upstairs find the SSID (Ch:9) on
the Netgear, send traffic through to Livebox, with the same SSID
(Ch:10) and DHCP come from the Livebox...

Most(?) wireless routers can only act as access points when they are
connected by RJ45 to the "other" router... You may find something about that
in the docs for your router. I also don't think you want both routers to
have the same SSID... I'll have to do some more reading on this, but that
is my first suggestion of possible issues for you.

HTH

Kerry


<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
> In the next few days I am soon to join Orange, after leaving AOL, and
> shall receive an Orange Livebox, which, as far as I am aware, in
> basically a normal wireless router.
>
> I currently have a Netgear DG834G wireless router, and as the wireless
> signal can fluctuate in our house (environmental reasons I believe) I
> was thinking of demoting the Netgear to just an Access Point; having
> the Netgear upstairs, and the Livebox downstairs with the phone line.
>
> I really just need confirmation on how to go about this. I know I
> shall have to disable DHCP on the Netgear, and change the SSID on both
> routers to the same.
>
> Now, if I change the "Internet IP Address" on the Netgear to the IP
> Address of Livebox (making it the default gateway, in essence), and
> change the former "LAN TCP/IP Setup" option from what was the gateway
> to a new IP address within the range, would this be sufficent?
>
> i.e.
>
> PC --> Netgear (IP:192.168.0.10) --> Livebox (IP:192.168.0.1) -->
> Internet
> ^
> 192.168.0.11____________________________DHCP/
>
> (I hope that diagram comes out right).
>
> Basically I would be changing the Netgear Router's static gateway IP
> Address into just a static IP Address for access, and sending any
> traffic through to the Livebox Static IP (new gateway) through what
> used to be the IP that would access the Internet...
>
> Or am I just over-complicating things?
>
> Would this work, and would my computer upstairs find the SSID (Ch:9) on
> the Netgear, send traffic through to Livebox, with the same SSID
> (Ch:10) and DHCP come from the Livebox...
>

Surely they wouldn't connect if they didn't have the same SSID... they
wouldn't be able to find each other. As long as they are on a
different channel, they should not conflict, just happily overlap.

The school I work in is set out in the same way with the Access Points,
three of which have the same SSID so that laptops can connect to the
same SSID without reconfiguration whereever they are in the school... I
can't see why a home network should be any different.

The question would be can I route from one router to the other through
IP addresses alone in the same SSID or not... if I need a cable, as it
would not be possible wirelessly, then fair enough. That really is one
of my questions.


Kerry Liles wrote:
> Most(?) wireless routers can only act as access points when they are
> connected by RJ45 to the "other" router... You may find something about that
> in the docs for your router. I also don't think you want both routers to
> have the same SSID... I'll have to do some more reading on this, but that
> is my first suggestion of possible issues for you.
>
> HTH
>
> Kerry
>
>
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
> > In the next few days I am soon to join Orange, after leaving AOL, and
> > shall receive an Orange Livebox, which, as far as I am aware, in
> > basically a normal wireless router.
> >
> > I currently have a Netgear DG834G wireless router, and as the wireless
> > signal can fluctuate in our house (environmental reasons I believe) I
> > was thinking of demoting the Netgear to just an Access Point; having
> > the Netgear upstairs, and the Livebox downstairs with the phone line.
> >
> > I really just need confirmation on how to go about this. I know I
> > shall have to disable DHCP on the Netgear, and change the SSID on both
> > routers to the same.
> >
> > Now, if I change the "Internet IP Address" on the Netgear to the IP
> > Address of Livebox (making it the default gateway, in essence), and
> > change the former "LAN TCP/IP Setup" option from what was the gateway
> > to a new IP address within the range, would this be sufficent?
> >
> > i.e.
> >
> > PC --> Netgear (IP:192.168.0.10) --> Livebox (IP:192.168.0.1) -->
> > Internet
> > ^
> > 192.168.0.11____________________________DHCP/
> >
> > (I hope that diagram comes out right).
> >
> > Basically I would be changing the Netgear Router's static gateway IP
> > Address into just a static IP Address for access, and sending any
> > traffic through to the Livebox Static IP (new gateway) through what
> > used to be the IP that would access the Internet...
> >
> > Or am I just over-complicating things?
> >
> > Would this work, and would my computer upstairs find the SSID (Ch:9) on
> > the Netgear, send traffic through to Livebox, with the same SSID
> > (Ch:10) and DHCP come from the Livebox...
> >

"Kerry Liles" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> Most(?) wireless routers can only act as access points when they are
> connected by RJ45 to the "other" router... You may find something about
> that in the docs for your router. I also don't think you want both routers
> to have the same SSID... I'll have to do some more reading on this, but
> that is my first suggestion of possible issues for you.

Same SSID is fine, they just need to be on different channels like 1 & or
whatever.
unless your router supports WDS or something similar you'll need a physical
connection to your new one


Adair

Ah I see... yes, of course you are right about the SSID. Thanks.

"Karlos" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
> Surely they wouldn't connect if they didn't have the same SSID... they
> wouldn't be able to find each other. As long as they are on a
> different channel, they should not conflict, just happily overlap.
>
> The school I work in is set out in the same way with the Access Points,
> three of which have the same SSID so that laptops can connect to the
> same SSID without reconfiguration whereever they are in the school... I
> can't see why a home network should be any different.
>

Excellent,

Thanks for that... makes so much more sense when others give their
help. Sitting here trying to plan it all out in my head just gives me
a headache.

Yes, I would need a backbone (a mini-one at least)... which means
upping floorboards.. hmm, we will see.

Karl

Adair Witner wrote:
> "Kerry Liles" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > Most(?) wireless routers can only act as access points when they are
> > connected by RJ45 to the "other" router... You may find something about
> > that in the docs for your router. I also don't think you want both routers
> > to have the same SSID... I'll have to do some more reading on this, but
> > that is my first suggestion of possible issues for you.
>
> Same SSID is fine, they just need to be on different channels like 1 & or
> whatever.
> unless your router supports WDS or something similar you'll need a physical
> connection to your new one
>
>
> Adair

On 29 Dec 2006 10:36:49 -0800, in alt.internet.wireless , "Karlos"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Surely they wouldn't connect if they didn't have the same SSID... they
>wouldn't be able to find each other.

If the two routers are connected via RJ45, they're not connecting via
wireless.
In this scenario, you would need different SSIDs, to avoid your client
getting confused when you roamed from one router to the other.

> As long as they are on a
>different channel, they should not conflict, just happily overlap.

Yes, you need that too - but read up on how channels overlap, to pick
an optimal pair.

>The school I work in is set out in the same way with the Access Points,
>three of which have the same SSID so that laptops can connect to the
>same SSID without reconfiguration whereever they are in the school... I
>can't see why a home network should be any different.

This /can/ work but my experience (admittedly limited) is that
sometimes it confuses the client. WZC will autoconnect to the nearest
router anyway so there's no reconfig to perform if you configure each
AP up on each client (they ought to have different WPA/WEP keys
too...)

>The question would be can I route from one router to the other through
>IP addresses alone in the same SSID or not...

Are you trying to connect the two routers together wirelessly? This is
called bridging as far as I remember, and requires specific hardware.
--
Mark McIntyre

Mark McIntyre wrote:
> On 29 Dec 2006 10:36:49 -0800, in alt.internet.wireless , "Karlos"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >Surely they wouldn't connect if they didn't have the same SSID... they
> >wouldn't be able to find each other.
>
> If the two routers are connected via RJ45, they're not connecting via
> wireless.
> In this scenario, you would need different SSIDs, to avoid your client
> getting confused when you roamed from one router to the other.

This is totally wrong... If you want to have a wired distribution
system, with the fastest switch over between AP's, give hem the smae
SSID. Just make sure you have a single DHCP server so you don't have
to reassign IP addresses. I.E. make the wireless cloud its own IP
subnet and the wired lan another subnet.
>
<Lots of other stuff deleted>

> Mark McIntyre

Thanks,

I know that giving them the same SSID is correct as it is very similar
to Domain naming. If you call an SSID a Domain Name, for this example,
you would have to log on to two completely different networks everytime
you moved from upstairs to downstairs.

No, the SSID can be the same, for ease of use, as long as the signal
does not have the same channel, as they can fight over who rules the
space.

I know this as it has been tried and tested and confirmed at my current
place of work. This was not the issue, so for anyone who wishes to
argue with this idea, I suggest you try it yourselves.

The question was can I turn a Wireless Router into just a Wireless
Access Point, by turning off DHCP, changing round a couple of IP
Addresses, and do it all wirelessly... or does it need to be physically
connected to a backbone, or similar idea, to connect with the Network.

If the answer is no, then fair enough... it's just I am going to be
recieving an Orange Livebox anyway, and thought using my existing
router as a booster might be more beneficial than leaving one or the
other piece of equipment dormant in the corner of the room...

Has anyone used the Orange Livebox? How does it compare to a standard
Wireless Router, such as my Netgear?


(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> Mark McIntyre wrote:
> > On 29 Dec 2006 10:36:49 -0800, in alt.internet.wireless , "Karlos"
> > <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> >
> > >Surely they wouldn't connect if they didn't have the same SSID... they
> > >wouldn't be able to find each other.
> >
> > If the two routers are connected via RJ45, they're not connecting via
> > wireless.
> > In this scenario, you would need different SSIDs, to avoid your client
> > getting confused when you roamed from one router to the other.
>
> This is totally wrong... If you want to have a wired distribution
> system, with the fastest switch over between AP's, give hem the smae
> SSID. Just make sure you have a single DHCP server so you don't have
> to reassign IP addresses. I.E. make the wireless cloud its own IP
> subnet and the wired lan another subnet.
> >
> <Lots of other stuff deleted>
>
> > Mark McIntyre

>
> This /can/ work but my experience (admittedly limited) is that
> sometimes it confuses the client. WZC will autoconnect to the nearest
> router anyway so there's no reconfig to perform if you configure each
> AP up on each client (they ought to have different WPA/WEP keys
> too...)

If you have to configure every client with every possible wireless
connection... that is reconfiguring. If you only have one... no
reconfiguring. You have just basically told me, for example only, that
I would never have to replace any lightbulbs in my house if all of them
were brand new and working all the time...

Of course I wouldnt need to reconfigure anything if everything was
already configured for everything...

Damn.. but no ,the WEP/WPA is a matter of personal security. They can
be different, they can be the same. They do not conflict. Windows Zero
Configuration only connects to the nearest AP if the nearest one
happens to be configured to connect. Thing is they would both be near,
so one SSID makes more sense anyway..... otherwise my laptop would try
to connect to two SSID's at once, if I were to go by what you just
said... they are both near, and if I configured everything possible
onto my laptop, which would be those two SSID's then it would try to
connect to both of them!

But my original query still remains. Would my idea work wirelessly, or
would it have to be cabled. It has been suggested it needs a backbone
connection. Any one differ from that? See other posts for more
information.