2 Wireless routers

[MattK]

Okay here is the deal-

I have 2 802.11b routers, one is connected to my cable modem the other is a "Spare". Is it possible for me to take the other router, and use it as a "wireless network card"?

Basically I have a computer in my family room with the router but i have a computer in my bedroom as well. I have the spare wireless router so I wanted to know if that spare one could lease an IP from the one that is currently hooked up.

This would keep me from having to go out and spend $40 on a wireless card for my desktop in my room.

Thanks,
Matt

[David Kelly]

Originally Posted by MattK

Okay here is the deal-

I have 2 802.11b routers, one is connected to my cable modem the other is a "Spare". Is it possible for me to take the other router, and use it as a "wireless network card"?

Basically I have a computer in my family room with the router but i have a computer in my bedroom as well. I have the spare wireless router so I wanted to know if that spare one could lease an IP from the one that is currently hooked up.

This would keep me from having to go out and spend $40 on a wireless card for my desktop in my room.

Thanks,
Matt

What brand of router do you have? I tried to do this and put one on one side of the house and another on the other side. It doesnt work, according to Linksys. I tried lots of different settings and just finally gave up. Linksys said that their model doesnt allow for that setup, but I'm not sure of some of the other brands or the technology can allow for it. I'm not totally sure how 802.11b works....

[Jeff Rodriguez]

I'm almost positive that it won't work. You would have to make the router think the wireless is the WAN port, and I assume that would involve some serious hacking.

Anyway, you can try setting the WAN to a static IP and give it the settings from the other router.

[Scooter]

You may be able to do it if you manually modify the routing tables so that wireless requests are linked to the wan.

-Bill

[Astronouth7303]

Shouldn't this be in 'Technical Discussion' or something else around there?

[Jay H 237]

Originally Posted by Astronouth7303

Shouldn't this be in 'Technical Discussion' or something else around there?

It's kinda a gray area where this thread could fit. The "Technical Discussion" forum is geared towards FIRST related issues. At least in "Chit-Chat" almost anything goes that doesn't have a proper "home".

Actually if Brandon gets bored maybe he could create a subfolder in the "IT/Communications" forum for computer questions and issues. (hint, hint ) Then all these computer, networking and such threads would have a home.

[David Kelly]

Originally Posted by Astronouth7303

Shouldn't this be in 'Technical Discussion' or something else around there?

No, this is the correct forum for this topic.

[DanL]

You can't link two routers like that unless the router is specifically designed to work like that (which most consumer routers aren't).

If, on the other hand, you wanted to use that second router to extend your wireless network coverage - have two wireless routers on your network - that is possible, but you have to wire the two together. In this case, one is acting essentially as a wireless switch or hub. If you were to do this, first of all, you ignore your secondary router's (the one NOT connected to the cable modem) WAN port - connect the two using their LAN ports. Second, enable DHCP only on your primary router (otherwise, you have the two routers fighting for supremecy and you end up with problems). Disable it on your secondary router, and assign it a static ip outside your DHCP range. For example:
primary router (DHCP server): 192.168.0.1
secondary router (DHCP disabled): 192.168.0.2
DHCP range: 192.168.0.100 - 192.168.0.105

Again, this isn't what you're looking for since you have to physically connect the two routers, but if you want to extend your wireless network using the second router as a wireless switch, this is how you do it.

Wireless Security Hints:
1. When using DHCP, don't make the ip range any longer than it needs to be - i.e. if you have two computers at your house, make the DHCP range contain 3 addresses. The logic behind this is its one way to stop the casual wireless network sniffers while leaving some room for expansion (i.e. friend brings his laptop over). And wireless network sniffers aren't an urban-only problem... even in suburbia, bored techies drive around aimlessly looking for open networks (trust me - my brother has successfully done it)
2. Change your router's password from the default - any hacker worth the title knows all manufacter's default passwords
3. Change your wireless configuration's default password (depending on the make, you may not have a seperate password for wireless settings)
4. Enable atleast basic WAP again, to stop the casual network sniffer