Two wireless routers? or...?

Here's my story. It's sad but true. About a girl that I once knew... Sorry, wrong song and dance.
I have an assortment of old and new computers that I want to use in two different parts of the house, sharing my DSL (and eventually some printer sharing and file sharing.) I've bought WRT54G and a couple of WUSB54Gs.
At one location, where the DSL connection is:
Win XP desktop with ethernet, no problem
Win XP laptop with existing wireless G, no problem
At the other location, where power is hard enough to come by let alone getting any cables in there:
Win 2000 laptop with new ethernet and WUSB54G, no problem (I think)
Win 98 (NOT SE) laptop with neither ethernet nor wireless, BIG PROBLEM
Now, I had thought I could use a WUSB54G with the Win 98 laptop (since the product description said any desktop or laptop computer with available USB port) but it turns out that a WUSB54G will only work with Win 2000 or XP (or POSSIBLY with Win 98SE.) But apparently I can get an ethernet adapter that will work with Win 98... but that's why I was going for wireless to begin with, because getting eithernet there is a problem.
Can I use YWO WRT54Gs? Connect the DSL and nearby desktop to one router, connect the Win 98 laptop to the other router, let the two routers talk to eachother over the air? Good idea? Bad idea? Got other ideas?
Thanks.

You can do it with older WRT54G or WRT54GS (ver 4 or older) or WRT54GL or WRTSL54GS and a third party firmware like DD-WRT in the WDS mode, I have used this setup and it did work. You just have to follow instructions closely.

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Help, Issues Connecting two Wireless Routers

Ahead of time I would like to thank everyone for their responses and help. I tried to be as clear as possible. I believe I got all the details right. Some things are repetitive and might be a little confusing, but please ask questions for any clarification. Thanks for the help.
Current Routers:
1. Linksys WRT600N ---- Used as primary router. Connected to the 4 ports are 3 PCs and a wireless router. All three PC have static IPs I reservered, also have a static IP reserved for the WGT624 wireless router. DMZ is also enabled and destination is the IP reserved for WGT624.
2. Netgear WGT624 ---- WGT624 is connected to WRT600N through the WAN port on the WGT624 to port number X on the WRT600N . I was using Netgear WGT624 as an access point for a Xbox360 , a couple of macs and ubuntu netbook. This router recently died needs to be replaced.
3. Linksys E3000 ---- Recently purchased to replace the Netgear WGT624 that has died. I want to use this as my new access point. Having trouble setting up the settings for this router. I want the same setup as before.
Detailed Problem
I currently have the WRT600N located in the basement connected to a cable modem through the WAN port. Connected to the 4 ports on the back of WRT600N are 3 PCs and a Wireless router. Most of the settings on the WRT600N I left alone. The only thing I changed was reserving 4 IPs for the 3 PCs and the WGT624 wireless router. I also enabled the DMZ for the destination IP of the WGT624. I also opened a couple of ports.
The Netgear WGT624 that died was located on the upper level third floor. I was using it primarily as an access point. It was connected through the WAN port of the WGT624 to port X on the WRT600N which is located in the basement. Settings on this are a little different. On the WGT624 I disabled the firewall. I left both the Auto DHCP enabled and the DHCP server. WPA was enabled on the WGT624. With these settings on the WGT624 I was able to connect to a xbox 360 and a few macs wirelessly to the internet with no issues . I also noticed that the the internet IP displayed on the status tab on the WGT624 was the IP I had reserved on the WRT600N.
Recently the WGT624 died after years of usage. So I purchased a Linkys E3000. I want to have a similar setup as before with the WGT624. However I have been running into issues. Wirelessly I cannot get access to the internet through the E3000. The E3000 is connected to the WRT600N in the same was as the WGT624. The WAN port of the E3000 is connected to the port number X of WRT600N. On the status tab of the E3000 I seem to be getting a strange Internet IP address. 127.0.0.1. This I think is a loopback address, I am not sure? Same with the subnet mask of 255.0.0.0
So the problem is I want the keep the same setup as before if I can. I don't want to the any computers who connect to the access point to have access to any computers that are connected to the 600N.
I read on another thread I could connect two wireless routers together by connecting port X on the 600N to port X on the E3000. Then changing the internal IP of the second router from 192.168.1.1 to 198.168.1.2 and then disabling the DHCP server.
I really want to keep the same set up as before if posslble. More importantly I want to know why my setup prior, the WRT600N to the WGT624 worked with no problems. Why could I use the WGT624 as an access point and not the E3000? Should I switch the the two routers use the 600N as the access point and E3000 as my main router?
Thanks again.

1. You have chained two routers. The WRT600N uses LAN IP address 192.168.1.1 subnet mask 255.255.255.0. The Netgear is connected with the WAN port to the WRT (thus uses an 192.168.1.* address on the WAN port) and uses 192.168.0.1 by default on the LAN side. Your new E3000, however, uses the Linksys default 192.168.1.1 on the LAN side. If you connect the E3000 to the WRT600 without making any changes it won't work. A router cannot work if WAN and LAN side both use 192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0. That's impossible.
2. Thus, the quick and easy setup to get the same as before would be to change the LAN IP address of the E3000 from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.0.1. After that change you can connect the internet port of the E3000 to the WRT and everything works like before.
3. However, in particular because you need port forwarding and you do port forwarding through two routers I would recommend not to run two routers chained. I can't see why it is necessary for you to run two routers and two separated networks. The basic setup and an explaination why a different setup may be better is here. I think in your case it would make things much simpler and you have full connectivity between all your computers. You can set up a roaming wireless network, too. The only problem is that you will "loose" one port on the E3000 because you cannot use the internet port.

Two wireless routers on same home network

hi - i have one wireless router downstairs and i want to install another one upstairs to get better connectivity. I have wired Ethernet jacks around the house and I can connect the wireless router to those. If I do this will I be able to roam around my house; I want to make sure I have one wireless network, not two.
thanks!

You can as long as they are connected via a wire (using Linksys firmware). In a nut shell you are going to connect the two routers together, router 1 will have IP 192.168.1.1, router 2 will have IP 192.168.2.1. You will turn off DHCP on one of the routers so only one router will be passing out addresses to your devices. You can have the same SSID on both routers but should have different channels like 1&6 (or 6&11 or 1&11) to avoid 'co-channel' interference.
Search Google for 'connecting two wireless routers' and read up on it.

Connecting Two Wireless Routers HELP!!!!

I recently bought two WRT150N routers. I currently have one connected to my cable modem. I want to setup the second one in another part of my house. How do I connect the second router to the first router that is already connected? I am VERY new in all this. I read somewhere that I would need an Access Point but this router is supposably an "access point". PLEASE HELP ME!!
Diagram:
cable moden-->WRT150N )))))))) XX (((((((((WRT150N--->computer.
Message Edited by ddp4lyfe on 03-18-200704:04 PM

How far away is the "other" side of the house from the 1st routers location? You could just probably do this....
WGA54G ---- XBOX
modem---WRT150N )))))))))))
WUSB300N ---- PC

Can I get two wireless routers to communicate in the same house?

Hi there,
Here's my problem.
BT (a UK telecoms company) upgraded the household telephone line to fibre optic broadband on Friday and installed their BT Home Hub router and ADSL2+ modem. However, although this is a great upgrade for the household, this has given me a heap of problems.
Previously, my Time Capsule (TC) did everything:
it handled the link to the ADSL modem that routed all the wired and wireless household traffic to the internet (there are three wireless enabled PCs in the household too)
handled the printer via USB from the TC
backed up my Mac data to the TC via wired and wireless and allowed me to transfer files between my Macs.
However, as it stands right now, since the upgrade my MacBook Pro and iPhone will connect to the Internet via the BT Home Hub and that's it.However, I think there is a great opportunity here to isolate my office/study network from the household (a sub network?); but, I have no idea how to set up the TC to accomplish this or whether this is even possible.
I have:
An Apple Time Capsule
A Mac Pro without wireless capability that connects to my TC via ethernet cable
A 13" MacBook Pro that connects to the TC via wireless
A HP printer that connects to the TC via USB cable
Also, I might need to add a Drobo NAS drive via ethernet cable
Both Macs run Lion; the firmware and software for AE/TC are up to date.
So, is there anyway that I can maintain my setup but simply use the TC as a wireless transmitter/receiver to and from the BT Home Hub for Internet traffic but keep everything else within my own network? I should also add that the BT Home Hub ended up being located downstairs and my office/study is upstairs so hard wiring the two isn't an option. The only way I can achieve my needs is to have the two routers communicating wirelessly.
To complicate matters further, I am a complete networking ignoramus - in fact I don't know what networking terminology I should be researching to accomplish this; but, if anyone can provide an answer or point me in the right direction, I'd be really grateful.
Thanks in advance

Update: As I understand it, what I want is to configure my Time Capsule as a wireless bridge. This seems easy to do if your main base station is an Apple device, but I haven't found anything that allows you to configure the Time Capsule as a wireless bridge when the main router is not an Apple device. Any suggestions?

Using two wireless routers for two separate networks

I have one WRT54G router and a newly purchased E2000 router that replaced the WRT54G . I have one DSL connection coming into the house.
I have the DSL going directly into my main E2000 router which runs my existing wireless home network and it does this wonderfully. My son wanted the older WRT54G router to create his own network where he has it set up for his own purposes so I gave it to him. He has everything set up to where we have two functioning networks that do not conflict which is great however he ran an Ethernet cable from the e2000 to the WRT54G to make this happen. This cable is a problem since it basically is about 50 feet of ugly cable running up my stairs to his room. Is there a way to have the routers still work in tandem as they are now to manage two separate networks but to instead have them connected wirelessly and eliminate the existing wired setup?

You would need a third party firmware like DDWRT to do that (it will void the warranty too)
Or you need a wireless bridge like the WET54G or WAP54G set to bridged mode
"Sometimes your knight in shining armor is just a retard in tin foil.."-ARCHANGEL_06

How do I daisy chain two wireless routers?

I have recently got a new wireless router from O2- Thomson router, "G"
This is set up at main BT socket as primary wi-fi router.
I wish to add two of my old routers as a daisy chain just to extend the range to those rooms where reception is poor.
One is a Thomson speedtouch 576, other is a Sagem provided by Sky. Both are "G".
help me with step by step instructions if you can please?
Thanks in anticipation.
Regards

Welcome to the discussion area!
Are you planning to connect all of your routers using ethernet cables? If yes, then you need to place the Thompson and Sagem devices into "bridge" mode. If no, then you need to contact support for Thompson and Sagem regarding your products.
Since this is the discussion area for the AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule, we will not able to provide you with any details about the configuration of Thompson or Sagem products.

Possible to select one of two wireless routers preferentially?

I have two routers in my home because the signal strength doesn't reach the whole house.
Often my laptop will connect to the more distant router with a weaker (slower) signal. Is there a way that I can configure my connection to prefer one router over another, or to choose the stronger signal?
Thanks.

Thanks for the help, and sorry for my delayed reply.
I have a cable modem connected to the WAN on a new Netgear WNR3500 in a downstairs room with a metal roof. I have a G5 and an old G4 connected to the WNR3500 LAN ports at 1Gb speeds. I have Macbook Pro that I used to connect to the LAN port on my old wired router so I could get maximum speeds for work teleconferencing. Now I connect it wirelessly for that since the WNR3500 is wireless-N, but I still use the hardwired 1Gb connection occasionally for large data transfers.
I also have a cable from a WNR3500 LAN port running upstairs to the WAN port on my old wireless router, a Netgear WNR314, which only supports wirless-G. My WNR3500 does not reach all parts of the upstairs and I already had the old router and cabling so I hooked it up to supplement the 3500. The 314 is set up to NOT provide DHCP hosting - all of the wireless connections through it are assigned ip addresses by the 3500 downstairs. I have a Powerbook G4 upstairs that is usually connected wirelessly to this router.
The problem is that if I bring the Macbook Pro upstairs, or the Powerbook G4 downstairs, they don't automatically switch to the nearer (and stronger and thereby faster) router but stay connected to the weaker signal. I think that means my setup is not supporting roaming. I haven't looked at the WNR314 settings in more detail yet, but I don't remember a specific 'bridged" mode. The two routers do have different SSIDs.
So, is it just that the 314 is too old to support bridging, or is it because the two are using different protocols and channels? E.g, if I set up the 3500 to use wireless-G would that allow them to switch automatically? Not that I want to do that, because I like the LAN transfers speeds I get with the wireless-N. I do understand that my cable modem is the bottleneck for web I/O.
For now, I can switch manually, which is not such a big deal, but if I'm in the middle of a transfer or teleconference, that gets cut off.
Message was edited by: Dennis Seitz

Usering two wireless routers simultaneously?

hi there - I'm hoping someone here may be able to point me in the right direction:
problem:
I have a WRT300n that is currently setup for WPA encryption for most of my wireless devices (xbox, another pc etc.). I have 2 desktop pcs connected (via wire) to the back of the router with 2 free ports left on the WRT300n.
However, my pocket PC does not support the new WPA encryption, only WEP - I'm hoping to use my spare WRT54GS to serve any WEP only devices (in my case, only my pocket PC.
Can anyone recommend an appropriate way to configure the two routers to behave correctly? I've tried to connect the WAN port of the WRT54GS to the one of the spare ports on the 300n, but so far am unable to "see" the 54GS from any of the wired PCs.
Much appreciated in advance!
Ted

Did you try connectiong free lan port of WRT300n to the lan port of WRT54GS. However, configuring the wireless security of WRT54GS to WEP.

How to share a single cable modem connection to two wireless routers?

I currently have a network comprised of two AEBS (the latest version and the gigabit version before it) as well as an airport express.
I recently bought an Asus RT-AC68U so that I could improve my wireless network range and throughput. I've always had some issues with the AEBS not being strong enough to reach the furthest rooms in the house. I decided to supplement it with an Asus. How do I set my network up in such a way to be able to run both routers connected to one modem and maintain my Airport nextwork?

Very good choice of router.. Asus is class leader now.
Simply plug the AEBS into the Asus.. set it in bridge mode and set it to create a wireless network..
Now you can have a few choices.. either setup a different network.. so call the AE wireless AEwifi (short names, no spaces, no strange characters).
Set up standard security WPA2 with 8-20 character password mixed case and numbers only. Then you can plug the AEBS no2 and Express into AEBS no1 or wireless extend however you want..
Or do roaming network,, where both Asus and AE use the same wireless name(s) different names for 2.4ghz and 5ghz can still help. Same security and passwords.. and leave the clients to join whatever is the strongest signal.. both are valid ways to do it.
Test both and use whichever suits.. !!

Connecting two wireless routers!?

Recently i got an iMac and now i have everything setup, except the internet. My office PC has a comcast netgear router, and i have an old linkskys router, how would i go about creating a wireless bridge? If it helps to solve the problem, heres some more info:
1)The PC is Windows XP media center
2)The iMac is a Snow g3.
3)The PC is the computer with internet from the wall, every other computer uses the wifi
4)I don't know the exact details of the two routers, but if it helps i could find out
Also, do i need to buy any extra cables or cards? I would like to avoid buying new things, but i will if i have to. My ISP is comcast, they told me that as i needed to get something i could find at my local best buy, but i'm not sure of the specifics.
Thanks for the help, the sooner i get this solved the better, and ask me anything if it might help you.

WDS stands for Wireless Distribution System. It is a means for having a central router to which various wireless access points can connect thus eliminating the need for multiple routers. An access point just provides an external wireless transceiver that connects to a computers Ethernet or USB port. In effect it is like a wireless card. The access point does not create networks but can connect to an existing network created by the central router. The router distributes IP addresses to the access point that in turn is used by the connected device.
Some more modern routers handle the configuration transparently so that the user does not get bogged down in configuration setups. You will have to explore what your cable modem/router does. Only the documentation for it will help you. in the documentation you may well find it explains how to do what you want. You will need the documentation for the LinkSys in order to configure it properly. Otherwise you can hire someone locally to set it all up for you.

One Printer - two wireless routers, and one Airport Express

Hi all,
I'll do my best to describe this convoluted situation in detail, please feel free to ask questions—I need all the help I can get.
I am in an office with 5 Macs (some with wireless capabilities: my Intel iMac, a Mac mini, an eMac with a wireless card, and a new iMac running OSx 10.5) and one eMac with no wireless capabilities.
We're all connected to an Actiontec router. The one eMac is hard-wired via ethernet to the router and the rest of us receive the signal wirelessly through an 2' thick concrete wall that makes for a slow connection. Our printer, an OKIdata C3200N, is also hard-wired via Ethernet to the router, which allows us wireless Macs to print on a crappy, slow connection.
I got fed up with the slowness and brought in an Airport Express, which is now also hard-wired to the ethernet port and seamlessly and easily connects all the wireless-capable Macs to the internet. It's a joy. However, whenever we wanted to print, we had to switch to the slower Actiontec network b/c the printer was not connected to the Aiport Express.
I figured I could remedy this by plugging a USB printer cable from the printer to the AX and all the wireless Macs would automatically find the printer through Bonjour. It seemed like a good plan; though I was worried that the printer would be confused by having both the Ethernet connection AND the AX connection (this could be the case).
Now, I have been able to be on the AX network, find the printer via Bonjour (with Printer Sharing turned on). However, when I print to it (or any of the other Macs in the office try to print to it) a variety of errors happens:
...the printer jobs are paused and will not resume (this happens on the iMac running OSX 10.5)
...the print queue spools and says "waiting to complete job"
Do I need to configure something through the Airport Admin Utility? Is this a lost cause because the printer is connected two ways to our computers? Is there any hope for printing on the AX connection?
Thanks in advance for your input.
Message was edited by: slobhan (to format error messages)

Thank you so much Duane. Can you clarify what you mean by:
I would recommend returning the printer connection to the original configuration.
Thanks! I'll look up the other stuff about AX as a bridge (now to remember that AX admin password....)
Thanks!

Linking 2 wrt300n wireless routers??

I need help in linking two wrt300n linksys wireless routers. I am setting up a retreat center with two wings 180 feet long. One router will not reach the length of the building. I am able to make connection with one router but the other router will not allow internet connection. Can anyone help me?
Dennis

With the equipment you have, the only way to "link" them together is by ethernet cable. You cannot link them wirelessly.
The WRT300N that is connected to your modem will be your primary router. The other WRT300N will need to be converted to a WAP (wireless access point).
For instructions on how to do that, see my post at:
http://forums.linksys.com/linksys/board/message?board.id=Wired_Routers&message.id=14774&query.id=175...
The instructions are the same for your setup, except the "wired" router in the instructions is the same as your primary router.
Also note that with two wireless routers, you will need to set them as follows:
SSID: same on both (do not use "linksys" )
SSID broadcast: both set to enabled
encyption method: same on both
encryption key: same on both
channel: set each router to a different channel. You can use any two channels, but ideally they should be at least 5 channels apart. Channels 1, 6, and 11 usually work best.

One cable modem tow wireless routers in my house --- is this possible?

I'd like to use two wireless routers to fully cover my house with wireless access. I have a WRT5462 v1 wireless router that I connected directly to the cable modem, and then connected a second wireless router to one of the CAT 5 ports in the first, with the CAT 5 going into the "Internet" port in the second, which is a WRT610N v1. The first router works fine, but the second does not provide internet connectivity to the devices that connect to it.
I suspect I need to make modifications to the Internet Connection Type in the Basic Wireless Configuration - I changed from DHCP to a Static IP of 192.168.1.2, but this didn't work. Any help and direction greatly appreciated
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Thank you very much for you response. Done the set-up as you described, with 1 exception: The WRT54G2 v1 doesn't allow me to reserve an IP address in the DHCP Server settings section. Therefore, I set up its Network as 192.168.1.2-192.168.1.49
That said, the 2nd router is set up with that IP address, and I can connect to it both vie Ethernet and wireless, and it is supplying IP addresses via its DHCP server address accordingly. However, no access to the Internet (via the first router).
Now, when I set up router 2 as a static IP, I'm asked to enter an "Internet IP Address", which I've specified as the 192.168.1.2 as you indicated. I'm then required to enter a subnet mask and default gateway, and then DNS 1, DNS2 (Optional), DNS3 (Optional)
Not knowing what I should enter here, I entered 255.255.255.0 for the subnet mask, and 192.168.1.1 (address of the first router) as default gateway.
Any suggestions on what I'm doing wrong?

Connect 2 Wireless Routers Wirelessly

I have two wireless routers, an older WRT54G (v5.0) and a new WRT310N (v1.0). I use the WRT310N for my wireless connection but I'd like to reconfigure my network. I moved the WRT310N downstairs so it would be closer to our laptops, but I would like to leave the network printer upstairs connected to the WRT54G so that we can still print, the problem is that I can't configure the two routers to talk to each other wirelessly, only through a wired connection between the two routers at which point I might as well just move the printer downstairs (which I really want to avoid).
Is there a way to do this with these two routers? If it's not possible with the existing equipment, what equipment should I get?
Thanks,

Yes it is possible to configure your both the routers to each other. But in this case your Both the Router should be Hardwired to each other.
Click Here how to configure 2 Routers to each other.
Message Edited by saber_tooth on 08-10-2009 05:09 PM

Two wireless routers? or...?

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