Wireless router configuration problem?

[arogge]

I may have a stupid question or a bad router. I have a wireless router that was purchased in 2006 and connected to an existing router. It worked okay, until I tried to enable the WEP security on it. Then it started dropping connections and locking me out so that I couldn't access it anymore without resetting it by using the pin-switch. It was a gimmick, so I eventually stopped using it.

Now I want to reinstall it. I set it up with WPA security, and connected it to the main router in a daisy-chain configuration. The lights show ready, the wireless router insists that the Internet connection is good, and it shows the IP address of the main router as the gateway. The trouble is... I can't do anything from there.

I have no Internet connection, I can't see the other machines on the wired network, and although I can authenticate wirelessly, I also can't do anything from the wireless connection. I can access the main router, but I can't get out and nobody else on the main network can see the wireless router.

I have tried different IP configurations, disabled the DHCP server, and tried other things that I remembered to do when confronted with a network problem. Nothing worked. Then it got worse. I just tried to get back into the router by connecting to it through an Ethernet cable again and was locked out. I had to reset the router to get back in, and it still doesn't work.

Am I missing something obvious here, or is my router bad? I'd say that it's bad, considering that it's blocking me from accessing its configuration screen.

 

[MonkeyET]

I forget what it is called but you have to make sure the second router is not trying to assign ip addresses, if the first one is assigning them. I had a similar issue when I got fios because the modem is a router. The wireless on it was terrible compared to my Netgear. The other thing you can do is setup the number to start with assignment on the second router. Instead of using a 1, you can use a 10. I cannot remember what the number is called so I apologize if this is confusing.

 

[psxguru]

You need to set the wireless router in bridge mode if you are using both together. Why not just use the wireless router on it's own without the other router or am I missing something?

 

[arogge]

Why not just use the wireless router on it's own without the other router or am I missing something?

The reason is that the office connections are wired Ethernet, and wireless routers don't have support for those requirements. Even so, the wireless router by itself doesn't work. I can't see other machines on the same router, and the router occasionally locks me out and prevents me from changing its configuration. The only way to get back in is to reset the router with the pin switch. I can keep trying different configurations, but I do wonder if the router isn't working when it's only connected to two machines and nothing outside of my room, how is it going to work when it's connected to the larger network and the Internet?

 

[johnnj]

If you're connecting the wireless router to the wired network via its WAN (Internet) port, then don't. Connect it via one of the inside ethernet ports. Turn off DHCP and set the router's IP address info (address, subnet, default route) as valid on the wired network. The device is a client of the wired LAN, so it needs to be configured as such. Enter these setting with only your laptop connected to an inside port of the wireless device before you connect it the LAN.

You said that you're doing this in an office. If you're in a corporate environment and you're doing this without the involvement of IT, you'd possibly be breaking policy and/or causing network problems by installing a rogue access point. It's also possible that policy on the LAN's core switch could be set to only allow 1 IP per port. If that's the case, then the 1 IP would be used by the router (since it's probably now picking up a DHCP address) and then once wireless clients attach to the WAP the security policy on the switch would trip and lock the port.

John

 

[arogge]

The device is a client of the wired LAN, so it needs to be configured as such. Enter these setting with only your laptop connected to an inside port of the wireless device before you connect it the LAN.

I just tried the wireless router by itself again, without a WAN connection. I have the DHCP server turned on by default, the connection to the WLAN looks active, and I have a laptop connected to one of the wired ports, which also looks active. Shouldn't I be able to see across the WLAN? Well, I can't get out.

A second laptop can't see the wired laptop and I can't see anything past the wireless router. The Apple AirPort card can see other area networks, but it can't access mine, other than connecting to it and telling me that can't get an IP address and that it is self-assigning an IP address to the local machine. I'd say that's the first problem that needs to get fixed. I don't understand why it worked in 2006 but it doesn't work now. I'm using the plain default configuration, no security, and no custom IP addresses. It should be very simple to connect two machines, but it doesn't work.

Please correct me if I'm totally misunderstanding how a wireless LAN works in a standalone configuration.

 

[johnnj]

If you have the DHCP server turned on and a wireless client isn't getting an IP assigned to it when it connects to the WLAN, then maybe there is something wrong with the router. I think you might have said you did, but have you tried doing a hard reset on the device to get it back to factory defaults? If so, have you checked if there's a updated firmware for your unit?

John

 

[arogge]

I think you might have said you did, but have you tried doing a hard reset on the device to get it back to factory defaults?

Yes, I've done a hard reset at least ten times, most of them because the router locked out my access to its HTTP-accessed administration screen. The router is currently using its default configuration, but it's not routing any data as far as I can tell. There is also no new firmware available.