Adding an access point - Belkin routers

[brisray]

I have two Belkin F5D7231-4 routers which I'm very pleased with.

What I'd like to do is set up one of these High speed Mode Wireless G Routers as an Access Point but am unsure how to do this. I've tried to follow the instructions in the manual and all I did was manage to crash my small network.

Here's what I want to do...

Leave one these routers as my main router, with DHCP server etc. It works well for that and I have a mixed network of Mac, Linux and Windows computers attached to it, either through cable or wireless. These computers access the internet through this router.

I'll be placing the second router in another part of my premises and I want the this router to act as an Access Point to the first. I'll be connecting several computers to this second one using cable and wireless and want them to connect to the internet through the first. It's this part that I'm unsure how to set up.

I cannot seem to get either of the routers to recognise eachother.

Ray

 

[wolluf]

Does the router say it can function as an access point? (it would be unusual if this is the case).

Your intended network sound like you need a repeater (to pick up the wireless signal from the router and broadcast to adjacent wireless clients, plus a switch (which can supply the repeated signal to adjacent wired clients).

 

[brisray]

Sorry for not replying earlier but other things happened that prevented me from messing around with this. Thank you for your reply and yes, those routers can act as an Access Point as well as an Internet Bridge - in fact they are very configurable.

I emailed Belkin asking for specific instructions on how to do this as the method given in their instruction booklet does not cover this very well.

This is what they said...

Make sure you convert one of the router as access point and then configure the wireless bridging between the router. Follow the steps below to convert the router as an access point.

- Connect a computer to Belkin router using an ethernet cable.
- Reset the router to factory defaults. The reset button can be found at the botton of it. The reset procedure is given below
- Make sure the router is switched ON.
- Locate the reset button(inside a hole) at the back of the router.
- Use a paper clip, push the reset button and hold it for 30 seconds then release the reset button.
- Unplug the Power cable from back of the router and plug it back again and wait for another 30 seconds.
- Log on to router setup page by typing 192.168.2.1 in the address bar of the browser.
- On the left under wireless click on the option Use as Access Point.
- Select Enable and specify the IP address as 192.168.2.254 and subnet mask as 255.255.255.0 and click on apply changes.

Now follow the steps below to configure the wireless bridging between the two.

- Log on to the router web interface at

http://192.168.2.1

- By default, the password is blank.
- Click on Wireless Bridging.
- Give a check mark for Enable Wireless Bridging.
- Give a check mark for Enable ONLY specific Access Points to connect.
- Enter the WLAN MAC address of the second router, which is converted as access point.
- Click on Apply changes.
- Please open the Access point setup page(Second router). Its IP address by default is 192.168.2.254 and the password is blank by default.
- Click on Wireless Bridging.
- Give a check mark for Enable Wireless Bridging.
- Give a check mark for Enable ONLY specific Access Points to connect.
- Enter the WLAN MAC address of the first router.
- Click on Apply changes.

Now switch off both first and second router. Switch ON your first router and wait for 30 seconds. Power ON your second router next and wait for another 30 seconds.

I'll post back here with the results of doing this later.

Ray

 

[brisray]

The method above does extend the range of the wireless nework. The problem I've got now is that computers connected to the router being used as an Access Point using cable can't connect to the internet. The lights on the AP show a solid yellow and I can't ping any of the other computers or the router or the AP itself.

Ray

 

[wolluf]

ray - do you mean you're getting a wireless signal on these 'extended to access point' machines, but no network connectivity? (ie, if you run ipconfig on them, they don't have an ip address). If so, I'm not sure I can help. I did have something similar (trying to set up a 'repeater' to broadcast wireless signal from router a further distance). I followed similar steps to you - and got the same problem. But it turned out to be the fault of the access point/repeater I'd bought - a Buffalo one, which would only work with a Buffalo router (mine was Dlink) But as you're using 2 Belkin devices....

Have you spoken to Belkin support about this (or do they have a support forum) - its odds on someone else has tried and had similar problems.

 

[bygeek]

You might try changing the SSID of the access point to something different than the router. Then see if you can see the SSID and connect.