WIFI networking questions

[killivolt]

dlink

The attached PDF is from the Saint Cloud, Fla. website, not particularly informative tech-wise... The DLINK DWL-2100AP goes for about $100, almost bought it off the manufacturer's website. Going to look around local first.

Harv I have a Dlink I'm not using. I can't remember what model I'll have to dig it up out of the basement in my computer parts box.

kv

Edit: The one I have is Dl-604. I have the setup disk and power supply plus the original shipping box. I used it once to setup I was going to use it for a Security Camera but found another solution instead. Plus it wasn't in the Basement upstairs in the roll top desk.

 

[arrie]

Upload the data sheet for my router. Should have posted it earlier, only 97k PDF...

It states that it is an Access Point, but getting the feeling some of these terms might have multiple meanings. Besides the 4 RJ-45 ports, there is only one other market 'internet', but it also apears to be an RJ-45. Figure on exploring the settings and options some more, before running out and buying another piece of equipment (least until after the holiday). I need to get this XP machine talking to the router, then I should be able to get both computers on board. Not in a rush to get on the city's network, but that might be another problem. The nearest antenna I've spotted was at the far end of block. Pretty sure its more than 200 feet.

Anyway, on the Vista computer, I used Internet Explorer to access the router. Tried the same way with XP, but got nothing. Kind of wondering if this is what you use to access the other computer. Don't see how I could access files, or share the printers and such from IE. Is there another program I should be running instead?

That extra RJ45 is probably your WAN connection we have been talking about.
Also, you should be fine for 200ft, depending on the strength of their antennas, but it's normally not these standard omni-directional stuff, those are suitable for very short distances.
I use a 2.6GHz proprietary technology modem and the tower is a couple of km's away on top of a mountain. I also do not have line of sight between my modem and the tower, couple of walls and roof in the way.
It works fine, maybe a bit high jittery, but 2.6 is even worse that 2.4GHz when talking about line of sight requirement.
All depends on their final stage output, you might be lucky and get on with just your omni.
If it (your router) truly is an access point, you should get on.
Just in case, try an external antenna.

 

[davidbball13]

take out the drive of your XP computer and put it in your vista computer. thats what i did....but i had over 200 gigs

 

[HarveyH42]

I just got the DLINK DWL-2100AP yesterday. Still no luck with the XP, got to be some setting somewhere blocking. I got into the setup with the Vista PC, but still no signal from the city. The WRT54GS router and DLINK Access point aren't talking yet though. I'm going to take a break from it for a while, too many things I don't understand. Going to search for a tutorial on networking, maybe I'll learn what I'm missing.

 

[Torben]

Hi Harvey,

This is just what I would do, so I didn't need to buy a bridge: I'd turn one of my machines + the router into a bridge. I had a setup like this in my workshop all last week while I was working on my printer power control circuit. I used Linux on my "bridge" laptop and you'll be using Windows, but the general ideas are the same. I just might miss a step or two since I'm a little rusty on the Windows side of things. :/ I *think* Windows XP and Vista can both do this. I know Linux can.

I'm just going to write this out as if it was a HOWTO since I get tired of writing "I would do *this*, then I would do *that*, then I would do *something else*. . .".

Pick an existing computer which has a built-in NIC. If neither does, buy one (they're cheap) and install it and the Wifi adaptor in one desktop.

Connect to the city's access point using the Wifi adaptor. If the signal is too weak you can get or make a higher-gain antenna and use that in place of the stock antenna on the Wifi adaptor (assuming that it has removable antennas with standard antenna jacks). You can use something like Netstumbler (free download) on Windows to check signal strength.

Configure the Ethernet NIC to have a static address of, say, 192.168.0.100. Give it a netmask of 255.255.255.0. Put the city Wifi access point's IP address into the gateway field. Plug it into port 1 on your Wifi router. In your web browser, make sure that you can connect to your Wifi router's configuration page.

At this point you should be able to connect to your Wifi router from other local computers either by plugging them directly into the router's other Ethernet ports or wirelessly if they have Wifi adaptors. On your local network, the bridge computer's IP address will be 192.168.0.100. Other local computers should be able to ping the bridge computer at 192.168.0.100, and the bridge computer should be able to ping them back at whatever address the Wifi router has given them. However, only the bridge computer at this point should be able to ping the city Wifi access point or access the Internet.

On the bridge computer, go to Network Connections and simultaneously select the Wifi adaptor and the Ethernet adaptor (make sure they both say that they are Enabled first). Right-click on one of them and select "Bridge connections" from the popup menu.

If all goes well, after this, the local network computers should be able to talk to each other and also access the Internet. Traffic from a local computer will be routed first to the Wifi router, then via Ethernet to the bridge computer, then via the bridged connection you just created to the Wifi adaptor, then wirelessly to the city Wifi access point.

Unfortunately I don't have Windows running on the machine I'm using right now or I'd test my assumptions on what Windows can do, but I think the above should be just about right. I know that it was easy to set up the laptop to bridge its Ethernet and Wifi connections so that I could plug in my cheap old Linksys router here in the workshop and make a local Wifi access point with Internet access and local networking.

OK, I know that was long-winded, but it's really not that complicated, and it means that you should be able to skip buying a bridge. Of course, there may be aspects to your systems or city Wifi which mean that some things would need to be changed, but this is how I was able to do something very similar.

Note that you really should also enable the firewall (ideally, install something like ZoneAlarm, but the Windows firewall can also do) on the bridge computer to protect the local network.


Hope this helps,

Torben

 

[HarveyH42]

Just got connected! Not exactly as I had been planning, but I'm on the City network right now. Bought another adapter, Linksys WUSB100. Plugs into the USB port, using the XP computer. Just had to run the setup CD, plug it in, and it works. Signal is a little weak, but definately faster than my dial-up connection.
Now, I need to set the Dlink AP up as a bridge. Remembered reading that once its configured, it doesn't need a physical computer connection. Hopefully, I can use it to boost the signal. The router should let me share stuff between computers.