Questions about running multiple Routers in my home

[Homer S.]

Hello,

I have an existing network in my house that uses a Linksys wired
Cable/DSL Firewall Router to connect to the Internet through a Motorola
Surfboard cable modem - SB5100. I recently purchased a laptop for my
wife, that has a built-in wireless a/b/g NIC. I would like to use the
wireless feature so she can be on-line anywhere in the house. I'd also
like to do this while leaving my existing router/network alone. Is it
possible to connect a second wireless router to my existing network and
basically set it up as a wireless access point for my wife's laptop - I
guess it would have to act like a switch???

Any help would be greatly appreciated. My knowledge of PC's and the O/S
is good - I build and repair PC's regularly. I just don't do a lot of
networking stuff.

Thanx,
HJS

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

Yes, this is a common configuration - especially because wireless routers
are often cheaper than full featured access points. Basically what you do
is disable the DHCP function on the wireless router and assign it a
compatible non-conflicting IP on the network. Then connect an ethernet
cable to a LAN port on the Linksys and a LAN port on the wireless router.
Do not connect anything to the WAN/Internet port on the wireless router.
How you configure these settings is product specific.

Doug Sherman
MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

 

[Homer S.]

Thank you for the info.... About the compatible IP address, I can log in
to the wireless router and see how and where to set the IP but have no
clue as to what to set it to. Can I just pick a number? Like
191.168.100.1?

Thanx again,
Homer J

One more question, can I assume that the wireless router will merely
pass along any requests for an IP address to the Linksys DHCP, then the
Linksys DHCP will generate an IP address and again the wireless router
will pass the address off to the wireless client?

Sorry, I don't usually work a lot with networks but I learn fast -
thanx...

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

OK - the IP address of the wireless router is only important for purposes of
accessing its web based configuration page - eg. http://192.168.1.1. You
need to determine the Linksys address scheme - typically 192.168.1.x. Then
assign the wireless router an IP where x = some number between 1 and 254
which does not duplicate a number, including that of the Linksys router,
already existing on the network. Ideally you would exclude this number from
the DHCP range provided by the Linksys router, but usually this is not
necessary as long as the number you select is not already in use.

In order to determine the IP address scheme of the Linksys router, open a
command prompt on a machine connected to the router and: ipconfig /all
ENTER. This will tell you the IP address of the computer, its subnet mask,
and the IP address of the router (default gateway). The IP you assign to
the wireless router must be different from but compatible with the IP of the
computer and the Linksys router - eg. 192.168.1.x, 192.168.100.x, etc.

Doug Sherman
MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

 

[Homer S.]

Thanx for all the help. It's now working! I still have to kill Norton
and some other crap software that Lenovo preloaded to be able to access
my home network but for Internet access, it works like a charm.

Thanx Again,
HJS

 

[Robert L [MVP - Networking]]

Thank you for the update.

Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
I solved my own problem -

First looking at this post:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...-us-ms-winxp&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us&m=1&p=1

Second by reading this doc fron netgear KB:
http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/n101236.asp

Jay