Possible to connect wireless router, to already wired network?

[Nirok]

Basically I already have a wired network, with a wired router. But am wondering if it is possible to add a wireless router to the network. As in the rather spectacular diagram below?

I do have a reason for this, which is the fact that my wired router and all the wires from the computers come up to my attic, and I have a four story house. I am wanting to get wireless internet on my PSP throughout the house, and I know that I will not get a good (if any ) signal on the bottom floor. One of the wired cables from the wired router comes down to my room, which is on the 2nd floor which is ideal for getting signal all over the house.

So is this possible? ThanksF:\wireless

anyone know how to add an image to this?

[Nirok]

Ok done it, this is my piece of art!!!

[classicsoftware]

The answer is yes. However, since you are going to the expense of buying a wireless router and also note all wireless routers also have wired ports, the best and easiest thing to do is replace your wired router with a wireless router.

[deddard]

Hi - Welcome Aboard!

You won't need a wireless router if you already have a wired router. What you need is a WAP (wireless access point) to plug into your wired router.
There is no reason why it shouldn't work - this is the normal setup for a wired/wireless system.

Could you just clarify which floor each piece of equipment is on please? That way we can make any specific suggestions to help you out.

[Nirok]

Hi, thanks for the replys

The whole reason for this is the fact that my router, modem and everything comes through to the attic right at the top of my 4 story house (basically on a 5th floor) so I will not be able to get much signal , if any on the bottom floor, that is why I want to put the wireless router on my floor. (2nd floor). But all the other cables are wired throughout the house up to the attic, and not possible to re-wire now.

The cable modem and router are in the attic(5th floor) two computers are wired to that router on the forth floor, another computer is wired to the router on the 2nd floor. (this is where I want the wireless router).

I have already bought a cheap motorola router for £27, but if I where to buy just a wifi access point to put in my existing network, Does it support infrastucture mode? as a PSP requires infrastructure mode to access the internet. Thanks

Luke

[Nirok]

Also, how easy is it to set up this wireless router, on my existing wired network. Is there anything speacial I have to do. Thanks for your help.
Luke

[deddard]

If the motorola router you have just bought is your second device, and is a wireless system as well, then you can use that instead of a WAP. WAP's support infrastructure mode - that is exactly what a WAP is for.

If the motorola is 'wireless router' then it most likely a combination of 3 things:

A Router
A Switch
A WAP

If it has a built in modem, then you must NOT use the WAN port on it - the signalling coming out of there will not be compatible with your other router.

To use the new system if it is a standard ethernet router, you can plug the WAN port into your socket on floor 2, and configure it's default gateway to be the LAN address of your first Router.
Then set about setting up the wireless side of things following the instructions that came with the motorola, together with anything you have with the PSP.
A wireless system should cope well with going over 2 floors, unless the place is massive, has thick walls or lots of metal in the construction, in which case you should try things out by moving the WAP (motorola) around a bit.
You can have a maximum of 100 metres of ethernet cable, so you have a bit of freedom to get the best signal

[Nirok]

Thanks for the help.

How do I connect the WAP to the first router, so that I have internet access. You said to connect it to my PC on floor 2, but I also need ti connected to the first router, as in my diagram. Thanks

[deddard]

Let's call the router which is already connected to the Cable modem Router #1
We'll call your new WAP/Router a WAP

It is probably easier to configure this by using one of the LAN ports on the WAP. otherwise you may need to start adjusting IP addresses, as you will actually have two subnets if you use the WAN port of the WAP.

Proceed as follows:

Router #1 is connected to the cable modem. it should stay this way.
Connect one of the WAPs LAN ports to one of the LAN ports on Router #1
This will ensure that everything is in the same subnet.
Configure the Default Gateway on the WAP to match the IP subnet used by the LAN on Router #1 (e.g. if Router #1 has a LAN IP address of 192.168.2.1, then you should set the default gateway of the WAP to 192.168.2.1)

Set the LAN address of the WAP to match the IP subnet of Router#1 (e.g. if we are 192.168.2.1 as Router#1's LAN address, set the IP address of the WAP to something like 192.168.2.2)

configure your wireless network devices to use the 192.168.2.x network (assuming that is what is being used)

Note that to connect between two switches (which is what is happening between the LAN port on Router #1 and the WAP) you may need a crossover cable - modern units tend to autodetect which cable is used and make adjustments, but others may not.

[Nirok]

thanks, I havent received the WAP yet so i cant try it out. I dont have a crossover cable, and it would be very hard to change it, as it runs under floor boards and stuff, which would require taking up carpets and stuff that id really rather not do again. So i hope it will work with the straight through cable i already have.

If it does not work with my cable is there any other solution except change the cable?

Thanks so much :)

[deddard]

If the cable from Router#1 goes down to floor 2 and ends with a wall socket, then you just need a small crossover cable between the socket and the WAP. If it doesn't see if there is an 'uplink' port on either Router#1 or the WAP. There may even be a button on Router#1 or the WAP which switches one of the ports between a normal connection and an uplink.
An Uplink port is one which is already wired as a crossover - you just need a normal patch cable for this.
Post the details of router#1 and the motorola and I can go take a look at the specs to find the best solution.

[Nirok]

Hi, this is the WAP : (wr850gp) http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/wr850gp/default.asp
Which says "Ethernet ports support auto-detection of appropriate signaling and auto-crossover — no need to buy special Ethernet crossover cables"

and this is the wired (router1):( BEFSR41) http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?childpagename=US%2FLayout&packedargs=c%3DL_Product_C2%26cid%3D1122062340941&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper

Thanks so much, this is really helpful

[classicsoftware]

I still say it makes no sense to spend $81.00 on a WAP when you can replace your router for $60-$70.

Unless the WAP is significantly less expensive, why bother trying to make the configuartion when you can swap routers and be done in 5 minutes and have enough left over for a couple of beers????

[deddard]

That setup should work ok - the motorola will autodetect the cable type and adjust to it accordingly.
let us know how you get on with the setup.

[deddard]

classicsoftware - the references I make to a WAP actually refer to the new Router which has already been ordered - this is the motorola unit which is a combined Router/Switch/WAP.
I've been referring to it as a WAP to differentiate it from the router that is already in place.

It may be possible to replace the Linksys Router with the Motorola, which would of course make setup easier, but what sort of signal strength is going to be availalbe over 4 floors is a different matter.

[Nirok]

OK thanks, I will let you know how i get on, I think it should come today.

Classicsoftware- if you read wot I have written you will understand why I need it set up this way. also it only cost me £27 for the new wireless router, plus I am goin to need it at university, where I will set up a whole new network with just that wireless router.

[Nirok]

Hi, i have the router. i have tried setting it up how you suggested. I managed to get onto the internet through my motorola (WAP) which was plugged into the LAN of the linksys (router#1) ,but only on the PC. I cant connect on the PSP, it comes up with DNS error. not sure if thats how ive set it up the routers o wwhat. Once I set the Lan ip address the same for both routers. When i try goin into the setup for my WAP it goes straight through to the linksys router, as the IPs are the same!!! (192.168.1.1) Im not totally sure what im doing , I have uploaded screen shots of both setup pages for the routers on my msn space

http://spaces.msn.com/members/Nirok/PersonalSpace.aspx?_c11_PhotoAlbum_spaHandler=TWlj cm9zb2Z0LlNwYWNlcy5XZWIuUGFydHMuUGhvdG9BbGJ1bS5FZG l0TW9kZUNvbnRyb2xsZXI%24&_c11_PhotoAlbum_albumid=cns!1pjCqVD-EiHgr0ZQyf9220Qg!368&_c11_PhotoAlbum_spaReturnToFull=1&_c11_PhotoAlbum_spaProcess=1&_c=PhotoAlbum&_c02_owner=1

under routing,

could you tell me exactly what to put in each box please. would be much appreciated. Thanks

[deddard]

your link didn't work, but the basic setup would be as follows:

(assuming you are using static IP addresses)

The linksys router shouldn't need any configuration
The motorola's LAN address should be configured with a DIFFERENT IP address to the Linksys Router - there should never be duplicate addresses on a network.
The Default Gateway on the Motorola should be set to the IP address of the Linksys Router's LAN address.
Now test to see if you can access the Internet by connecting a wired PC to one of the Motorolas LAN ports.
If everything is OK here, and you can access the Internet then we know that the link between the two devices is OK.

Assuming you have set up the wireless link between your motorola and your PSP correctly (hopefully using WPA encryption)
Now configure the Default gateway and DNS Server address on the PSP (I've never done this so I can't know offhand exactly what info it needs) to be the LAN address of the Linksys Router.

If this doesn't work, then change the dns server and default gateway on the PSP to the IP address of the MOTOROLA LAN address.
Bear in mind that you will obviously need to ensure that the IP address of the PSP is in the same subnet as everything else!

[Nirok]

are you talking about the subnet mask being the same? because on my WAP i cant find anywhere where it says default gateway. I put the LAN address on the motorla the same as the linksys, which you said not to do, but I can access the internet fine on my PC wired through the motorola.

[Nirok]

it is very confusing becaue there is an ip address, subnet mask, and gateway to fill in when u put type of connection to static IP( this is all under internet tab)

there is just a local IP address and sybnet mask under the networking tab, im not sure what to put where. I cant seem to get the internet working wirelessly

[Steve]

I recently tried this setup with Linksys equipment. THIS LINK (http://linksys.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/linksys.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=358&p_created=1084209764&p_sid=z1IxhlDh&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX 3Jvd19jbnQ9NjExJnBfcHJvZHM9MCZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9JnB fY3Y9JnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU9YW5zd2Vycy5zZWFyY2hfbmwmc F9zY2ZfbGFuZz0xJnBfcGFnZT0xJnBfc2VhcmNoX3RleHQ9Y29 ubmVjdGluZyBhIHdpcmVsZXNzIHJvdXRlciB0byBhIHdpcmVkI HJvdXRlcg**&p_li=&p_topview=1) helped me out. Your equipment may be different but the theory might apply.

[deddard]

The wireless side of things is in two parts - firstly you need to be in the right subnet/network.

This means that you give the PC/NIC a local address which if you are using hte scheme we are talking about would be something like
192.168.2.4

The subnet mask for this should remain the same on ALL devices. The correct Subnet mask for this setup is 255.255.255.0

The default gateway tells the PC/WAP/PSP etc that you are CURRENTLY working on where to go to find addresses which it doesn't know about.
In all cases set it to the LAN address of your Linksys Router (again, assuming we are using the 192.168.2.as the Linksys LAN address, this will probably be 192.168.2.1)

The subnet mask just tells the machine which part of the local address describes the network, and which identifies the individual machine.

Apologies if I haven't been clear on how things should be done.
Note that if you use static addressing anywhere, then it's best to use it EVERYwhere.
If you have never had to set this up before, you may be using DHCP, please post back and let me know if this is the case, and we can go through things a in a bit more detail.

[Nirok]

yeah i think i am using DCHP on the linksys router, I dont understand why i can connect to the internet through my PC but not wirelessly. I have tried swapping the routers completly and i can connect wirelessly, but as i thought i dont get good signal on the bottom floor. so i wont to be able to use it as a wireless access point. in the link that Steve sent, it says to take DCHP off on te second router. I havent tried yet but would that work? wot is DCHP?
Thanks

[Nirok]

Hi, I got it working, thanks i did everything you said dedard, but i had to disable te LAN DHCP Server. now it works fine. very happy now. thanks for all your help

[deddard]

You're welcome!
Disabling the DHCP server is exactly what is needed if you use static addressing everywhere - congratulations on setting it up successfully :)

DHCP means Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. It is a way for one device (often a router or server PC) to hand out IP addresses whenever an other machine wants one.