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poolings
join:2005-08-03
Long Beach, CA

1 edit

poolings

Member

[Wired + Wireless] BEFSR41, EZXS55W, WRT54G

I am currently in the process of adding structured wiring in my house. Currently I have 8 outlets in the house which all run to a control box. In the control box is an interface that has 8 RJ45 sockets for each of the outlets.

In order to provide Internet access to these 8 sockets, I plan on using a BEFSR41 (the version with an Uplink port). Since the BEFSR41 only has 4 ports, I am thinking of connecting a EZXS55W to the BEFSR41. So this leads to my first question:

Do I use a straight-through cable and connect it to the BEFSR41 Uplink port and the EZXS55W's port 1?

I also want to add a WRT54G as a WAP. The WRT54G will sit separate from the BEF and EZ. The WRT will connect to one of the 8 outlets in the house. So my next question:

Do I also use a straight-through cable and connect it to the EZXS55's Uplink port and the WRT54G's port 1?

Now let's assume I have all the wiring done and it is correct. From reading other posts, this is what I have gathered on how to set the settings for each device:

1. Turn off DHCP on the WRT54G
2. Give the WRT54G a different IP address from the BEFSR41

Concerns/Questions:

1. Is the above possible?
2. Are there any problems I should be on the look out for?
3. If I were to connect two devices using both of their Port 1's, do I need to use a crossover cable?

I have attached a picture to visually demonstrate what I am trying to accomplish.

Any help, tips, or guidance is appreciated.

Bill
Premium Member
join:2001-12-09

1 edit

Bill

Premium Member

Howdy neighbor,

Your setup looks to be correct.

Yes, you should be able to use a straight-through cable to connect the BEFSR41 and EZXS55W, since you're using the BEFSR41's uplink port.

Yes, you should be able to use a straight-through cable to connect the WRT54G and EZXS55W, once again, since you're using the uplink port on the switch.

1. Yes, it's possible.

2. With most of the older devices (the ones with uplink ports) the uplink port is only active when the port directly next to it isn't in use. Ex: If you have a 5 port switch, with 1 uplink port, port 5 can not be used at the same time as the uplink port. The manual for the device should be able to tell you which port needs to be left free in order for the uplink to work correctly. It doesn't look like you have that many devices on the network right now, where you'd run into that problem, but it's something to think about if you plan on expanding the number of devices.

From your drawing it appears you're using the LAN port on the WRT54G to connect to the network, not the WAN port, which is the easiest way and gets rid of many problems that happen when using the WAN port. When you connect LAN devices via the WAN port, the routers firewall/NAT comes into play and causes havoc when trying to use LAN applications, like Windows File Sharing.

3. If you were to connect a WRT54G LAN port to another devices LAN port, it should work. If you were to do a connection from a LAN port on the switch to a LAN port on the BEFSR41 it would likely not work.

The WRT54G has auto MDI/MIDX (auto uplink) ports making any port on the WRT54G turn into an uplink port, if it detects being connected to another device (switch/router/hub). My guess would be the Linksys switch and BEFSR41 do not support this since they have uplink ports. If a device does not have an uplink port, like the WRT54G, it's likely to support MDI/MIDX.

Edit: Yes, you need to disable the DHCP server on the WRT54G. The BEFSR41 will act as the DHCP server for the entire network. As you also said, you need to change the IP of the WRT54G to something different than the BEFSR41, but still within the same network (IP range) as the BEFSR41.