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vincentfox
join:2003-03-18
Davis, CA
edit:
May 10th, @12:43PM
| reply to vincentfox
Re: Before you post 'how to share WiFi to neighbor
Time for an addition.
Another FAQ is:
"I want to pick up my neighbor's AP, then run my whole house off it. Wired desktop PC, WiFi laptop, etc. Name some ways I can do this, please?"
See the picture at top.
Logic here is that you have 3 discrete functions that do not neccessarily belong in the same places.
1) You want to put a unit somewhere that it can get good signal from the neighbor. Often this location is at the window, or outdoors under the eaves, or even on a TV mast. So you put a WET54G, or a WRT54G in "AP client" mode there. Stick a directional antenna on it to get a good solid link with neighbor. I mention "AP client" mode as many factory firmwares support it right out of box, it does not require you to buy something odd, or flash 3rd-party firmwares, or anything else a novice might have troubles with.
2) Run the ethernet from the "AP client" unit to the WAN port on any old wired router. A disadvantage with "AP client" mode is it typically only supports a single client MAC address, so you can't just plug it into a hub and support a dozen PC's directly. But by plugging it into the WAN port on a router, it only has the MAC address of the router to contend with. All your household LAN components are hidden behind that. Using a wired router here, has the plus that you are behind the NAT firewall of that router, so the PC's on your home LAN will be somewhat protected from worms on your neighbor's PC's.
3) Run your desktop PC's off the LAN ports. Also you can attach a WiFi Access Point to a LAN port and run a separate WiFi domain for your household needs. It will be most convenient to locate this AP somewhere central to your laptop needs, which is very likely NOT going to be where the "AP client" is with it's directional pointed the other way. Also frequently there is an office with a desktop PC where it is convenient to wire things, while you want to use the laptop in the den or by the pool or someplace else. Hence my logic that this setup is best done with 3 separate components. Also makes problems with each piece easy to debug. If components #2 and #3 can be in the same place, you could collapse them into a single WiFi router unit.
Couple things to keep in mind:
-If neighbor connection is on Ch.11 then use Ch.1 or 6 for household WiFi AP. Also use a different SSID and encryption key.
-If neighbor subnet is 192.168.1.x then you will need to use some other subnet for your internal LAN, 192.168.100.x should make it obvious which is internal and which external.
Yes, there are other ways to skin this cat, I'm sure someone will chime in with alternate designs. Please include pictures though! | |
wifi4milez
In Need Of Garbage Pail Kids 1st Series
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| An even easier design involves simply attaching a wireless router or WAP to the client bridge. There is no real need to have a dedicated wired router between the bridge and your wireless router/WAP. You can then choose if you want your neighbors AP to assign you IP's or yours. If you want your own separate network then make sure you connect your bridge to the WAN port on your router/WAP. Otherwise, connect your bridge to a LAN port on your device and his AP will issue all your IP's. It all depends on what you are looking to do!
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I like dogs, guns, and cheeseburgers. Whats your malfunction? | |
justscott5
join:2005-01-05
Terre Haute, IN
|  reply to vincentfox
I hope I can get a response from such and old thread! I'm a real noob at this stuff, so pardon the dumb questions.
I'm trying to use a signal coming into my house and run my network off of it. I have an old Linksys BEFW11S4 wireless router connected to my PC. I put a Buffalo WHR-G54S in my window and flicked the switch to put it in Bridge mode.
I'm running CAT5 cable from LAN port 1 in the Buffalo to the WAN (labeled "internet") port on my Linksys. I don't know if I have my terms correct here, but my Linksys and and the signal coming into my house both have an IP address of 192.168.1.1. So, with a USB wireless adapter connected, I have to change my PC's IP address to something like 192.168.0.1 in order to connect to the internet. If I change my PC's IP address to something like 192.168.1.105, I can connect to my Linksys router.
So, what should I do at this point?
Do I need to change my Linksys router's IP address to something like 192.168.100.1 as in vincentfox's example? And then let the Linksys router assign my PC an IP address? Or am I just way off here? | |
mudtoe
join:2005-10-09
Cleveland, OH
 ·Cincinnati Bell
edit:
February 5th, @11:35PM
| You are correct in your last statement. If you are going to have the connection from the buffalo unit connected into the WAN port of your linksys router, you must have the router and all the devices in your local network on a different subnet than the upstream connection. Changing the router's address to 192.168.100.1 will work fine, just be sure to verify that the DHCP pool addresses that it hands out in your local network are in the 192.168.100.x range.
Your other choice would be to use your linksys router as a switch instead of a router. If you do this you will get an IP address from the router connected to the upstream connection in the 192.168.1.x range, and you will be on the same network subnet as all the other devices that are connected to the network served by the wireless access point. To do this you have to disable DHCP on your linksys router, and then connect the buffalo unit into one of the LAN ports on the router, along with your other stuff. Also, to make this happen you will likely have to configure the linksys router first, using manually assigned IP addresses, and then after you connect things up you won't be able to talk to the router anymore. The reason for this is that the router's internal IP address shouldn't be set to the same subnet as the upstream network, as a duplication could occur; so that means you have to set it to something other than 192.168.1.x, in which case you won't be able to talk to it anymore after your pc gets an address in that range from the upstream network.
It's simpler to do it the first way as long as you aren't going to need to run a server, or use things like UPnP, plus it provides some protection and separation between your PCs and the upstream network's PCs. | |
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