Installing a Belkin wireless router on a network with two computers and a Linksys wired router

[Daniel Prince]

I have a home network with two desktop computers, a cable modem and
a Linksys wired router. I bought a Belkin wireless router (part #
F5D7230-4) and a Belkin notebook card (F5D7010) so that I can
network my new laptop computer.

All the instructions for the Belkin router assume that the user has
one computer connected directly to a cable modem. What is the best
way to connect this wireless router to my system?

Can I leave the Linksys router connected to the two desktop
computers and connect the wireless router to the Linksys? (I would
rather do it this way because I do not want to mess around with my
brother's computer.) Thank you in advance for all replies.

 

[Andrew]

: I have a home network with two desktop computers, a cable modem and
: a Linksys wired router. I bought a Belkin wireless router (part #
: F5D7230-4) and a Belkin notebook card (F5D7010) so that I can
: network my new laptop computer.

: All the instructions for the Belkin router assume that the user has
: one computer connected directly to a cable modem. What is the best
: way to connect this wireless router to my system?

: Can I leave the Linksys router connected to the two desktop
: computers and connect the wireless router to the Linksys? (I would
: rather do it this way because I do not want to mess around with my
: brother's computer.) Thank you in advance for all replies.

You could leave the older router in place. In summary, what you need
to do is:
- turn off DHCP on the Belkin, to make it simply a Wireless Access
Point.
- assign an IP address to the Belkin on the LAN side (not the WAN)
- make sure the IP address for the Belkin is either reserved on the
Linksys or higher than the range of IP addresses the Linksys can
assign.
- Connect the Belkin to the Linksys using a LAN port on the Belkin
(and on the Linksys).

In Summary:

What you would want to do is configure the new router by plugging it
into one of your existing computers with an ethernet cable, then
logging into it to configure it, probably http://192.168.0.1 (could be
a different local IP address - check the Belkin manual). From there,
find something labeled "DHCP server" and turn it off. What you want
to do is make your new router an access point only and let your old
router do DHCP (which assigns IP addresses to the computers on your
network).

Besides turning off DHCP on the new router, you also want to assign it
an IP address, so you can administer it later on your network (by
logging into it again, if you need to). On your Linksys, you might
find a way to reserve an IP address for the Belkin. If you can't
reserve an address, setup DHCP on the Linksys to be to some maximum
range - for example, maybe it assigns IP addresses from a range of 100
to 199 on the subnet (you don't need 100 addresses on your little home
network). Then pick an IP address of 192.168.0.201 for your Belkin.

Once you've done this, you should be able simply to plug the Belkin
into one of the LAN ports of your Linksys with the ethernet cable.
Plug the other end of the cable into a LAN port (NOT the WAN port) of
the Belkin.


Having said all this...it should be pretty easy to swap out the
Linksys with the Belkin, and in your case that is what I would do.
Your brother's computer is most likely set to get an IP address
automatically from the router, so it wouldn't care whether the IP
comes from the Belkin or the Linksys. At worst, you'd need to tell
your brother's computer to renew its IP address but that would most
likely happen automatically when you unplug it from the Linksys and
plug it into the Belkin.

Andrew
--
----> Portland, Oregon, USA <----
*******************************************************************
----> http://www.bizave.com <---- Photo Albums and Portland Info
----> To Email me remove "MYSHOES" from email address
*******************************************************************

 

[Daniel Prince]

: I have a home network with two desktop computers, a cable modem and
: a Linksys wired router. I bought a Belkin wireless router (part #
: F5D7230-4) and a Belkin notebook card (F5D7010) so that I can
: network my new laptop computer.

: All the instructions for the Belkin router assume that the user has
: one computer connected directly to a cable modem. What is the best
: way to connect this wireless router to my system?

: Can I leave the Linksys router connected to the two desktop
: computers and connect the wireless router to the Linksys? (I would
: rather do it this way because I do not want to mess around with my
: brother's computer.) Thank you in advance for all replies.

You could leave the older router in place. In summary, what you need
to do is:
- turn off DHCP on the Belkin, to make it simply a Wireless Access
Point.
- assign an IP address to the Belkin on the LAN side (not the WAN)
- make sure the IP address for the Belkin is either reserved on the
Linksys or higher than the range of IP addresses the Linksys can
assign.

The starting address on the Linksys is 192.168.1.100. The number of
DHCP users is 50. So I could set the Belkin as 192.168.1.201,
right?

- Connect the Belkin to the Linksys using a LAN port on the Belkin
(and on the Linksys).

I found this on page 64 of the manual:
___________________________________________________________
Using the Access Point Mode
Note: This advanced feature should be employed by advanced users
only. The Router can be configured to work as a wireless network
access point. Using this mode will defeat the NAT IP sharing feature
and DHCP server. In Access Point (AP) mode, the Router will need to
be configured with an IP address that is in the same subnet as the
rest of the network that you will bridge to. The default IP address
is 192.168.2.254 and subnet mask is 255.255.255.0. These can be
customized for your need.

1. Enable the AP mode my selecting "Enable" in the "Use as Access
Point only" page. When you select this option, you will be able to
change the IP settings.
2. Set your IP settings to match your network. Click "Apply
Changes".
3. Connect a cable from the WAN port on the Router to your
existing network.
______________________________________________________________
I am not quite sure what a subnet is. The Linksys' IP Address is
192.168.1.1. Would any address from 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.255 be
in the same subnet?

In Summary:

What you would want to do is configure the new router by plugging it
into one of your existing computers with an ethernet cable, then
logging into it to configure it, probably http://192.168.0.1 (could be
a different local IP address - check the Belkin manual). From there,
find something labeled "DHCP server" and turn it off. What you want
to do is make your new router an access point only and let your old
router do DHCP (which assigns IP addresses to the computers on your
network).

Besides turning off DHCP on the new router, you also want to assign it
an IP address, so you can administer it later on your network (by
logging into it again, if you need to). On your Linksys, you might
find a way to reserve an IP address for the Belkin. If you can't
reserve an address, setup DHCP on the Linksys to be to some maximum
range - for example, maybe it assigns IP addresses from a range of 100
to 199 on the subnet (you don't need 100 addresses on your little home
network). Then pick an IP address of 192.168.0.201 for your Belkin.

Once you've done this, you should be able simply to plug the Belkin
into one of the LAN ports of your Linksys with the ethernet cable.
Plug the other end of the cable into a LAN port (NOT the WAN port) of
the Belkin.


Having said all this...it should be pretty easy to swap out the
Linksys with the Belkin, and in your case that is what I would do.
Your brother's computer is most likely set to get an IP address
automatically from the router, so it wouldn't care whether the IP
comes from the Belkin or the Linksys. At worst, you'd need to tell
your brother's computer to renew its IP address but that would most
likely happen automatically when you unplug it from the Linksys and
plug it into the Belkin.

The installation instructions for the Belkin say to run the
installation software first before connecting the router. The
installation instructions assume that the user has one computer
connected directly to a cable modem.

If I replace the Linksys with the Belkin, should I run the Belkin
installation software with my computer connected to the Linksys
router or should I temporarily connect my computer directly to the
cable modem? Do I even need to run the installation software since
the two computers are already configured to work with a router?

 

[Andrew]

: (e-mail address removed) (Andrew) wrote:

: >- make sure the IP address for the Belkin is either reserved on the
: > Linksys or higher than the range of IP addresses the Linksys can
: > assign.

: The starting address on the Linksys is 192.168.1.100. The number of
: DHCP users is 50. So I could set the Belkin as 192.168.1.201,
: right?

Yep. Just write it down somewhere, so you can remember how to login
to the router! How about taping a sticker to the top of it with the
IP address?

: >- Connect the Belkin to the Linksys using a LAN port on the Belkin
: >(and on the Linksys).

: I found this on page 64 of the manual:
: ___________________________________________________________
: Using the Access Point Mode

<snip>

: I am not quite sure what a subnet is. The Linksys' IP Address is
: 192.168.1.1. Would any address from 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.255 be
: in the same subnet?

Yes, assuming your subnet mask is set to 255.255.255.0. That's
decimal equivalent of 11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000 in binary.
The 1s define the subnet. So in this case, everything in
192.168.1.XXX is on the same subnet.

If you have a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0, then everything from
192.168.XXX.XXX would be on the same subnet. Anything not on the same
subnet would be routed to the gateway.

So if you your subnet mask is 255.255.255.0, if 192.168.0.2 tries to
talk to 192.168.0.3, they talk through the switch/router. If
192.168.0.2 tries to talk to 192.168.22.1, it's not on the same subnet
so it goes through the gateway. Make sense?

: The installation instructions for the Belkin say to run the
: installation software first before connecting the router. The
: installation instructions assume that the user has one computer
: connected directly to a cable modem.

: If I replace the Linksys with the Belkin, should I run the Belkin
: installation software with my computer connected to the Linksys
: router or should I temporarily connect my computer directly to the
: cable modem? Do I even need to run the installation software since
: the two computers are already configured to work with a router?

In that case, I would follow the install instructions by plugging only
one computer into the Belkin and the Belkin into the cable modem
(assuming that's what the Belkin instructions say). Follow the
instructions. When you are done, you should simply be able to plug the
other desktop computers into the Belkin and off you go. That's
assuming all the computers right now are setup to get their IP
addresses automatically from the network. Most likely that's how it
is setup - if not, you should try to set them up that way, usually
works better.

Andrew
--
----> Portland, Oregon, USA <----
*******************************************************************
----> http://www.bizave.com <---- Photo Albums and Portland Info
----> To Email me remove "MYSHOES" from email address
*******************************************************************

 

[Tom]

Look on the back that wireless router also has 4 wired ports on the back I
have one