wired and wireless sharing through router and switch

[typhoon52x]

Hi

I have a DSL connection using a BT Voyager 200 router, i wish to have this connection shared on 3 wired computers and 1 wireless laptop. I wish to know if the following solution will work. I will add a wireless router with built in four port switch (D-link 614+), hard wire the 3 computers on the switch and install wireless PCMCIA cards in the laptop. I will use the BT router as a 'modem' only. Will this cause conflict with 2 routers connected in this way? The bt router will be connected to d-link router via one of the ports on the integral switch, it has autouplink i believe.

Finally would using XP ICS be the best way of setting this all up
I think i require it to be set up as DHCP??? And assign addresses to all clients.
Hope all the above makes sense.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[bcastner]

You should be able to make this work. See:

http://www4.tomshardware.com/network/20030716/index.html

 

[typhoon52x]

thanks bcastner but im not sure if that is my exact scenario. will try and show it below

(A) (B)
[BTModem/Router]-----[D-link Router/Switch/WAP]---CLient 1
| |
| |
Client3 Client 2
(laptop
wireless)

As you can hopefully see the BT router/modem i am hoping o use as a modem only? (To avoid the added cost of a modem or a Dlink all in one package of modem/router/switch/WAP)
Will router A cause conflict with router B?
The Bt router (A) has limited setup (done via browser) is there anyway of making it just a modem?
ie if i ask clients to find addresses via DHCP i dont want both routers issueing IP's.
Many thanks for any further advice anyone can give

 

[mweinstock]

Just buy a wireless access point and attach it to your network and a card for your laptop. No need to get another router.

--
How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?

 

[typhoon52x]

sorry forgot to mention the current bt router only has one ethernet port and one USB and i require 3 wired clients (all via ethernet).

 

[mclarko]

Hello typhoon. Did you ever find a solution? I have a voyager 200 and without questioning went out and bought a linksys wireless router w/ 4 wired ether ports. I had imagined i would feed the Linksys router via the one ether LAN port on the V200. Linksys says it detects Internet, but im not sure how to configure anything really.


Malc

 

[ronspree]

Typhoon, if you didn't buy the second router yet, i suggest you get a switch, and an access point separately. Saves you the trouble of configuration. Connect your BT router to the switch. Connect all wired LAN computers to this same switch. Connect your access point to the switch. Your BT router should have its DHCP enabled.

Mclarko, since you already have the linksys router with 4 LAN ports, you may use it this way: Connect your BT router to one of the LAN ports of your Linksys. Connect the other three LAN computers to the remaining LAN ports of the Linksys. Do not use the WAN port of the Linksys. Disable the DHCP function of your Linksys. Your linksys will now function as a switch with built-in access point. DHCP should be handled by the BT router.

 

[ronspree]

mclarko, if you really want to use the WAN port of the Linksys router, do the following:

Enable your V200 router's LAN DHCP.
Set V200 management IP to 192.168.1.1 Mask 255.255.255.0
Set V200 DHCP range to 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254

Connect your Linksys router via its WAN port to the V200 router's LAN port.

Set your Linksys WAN connection to Dynamic IP. This will get an IP address assignment from the V200 automatically. Most likely, it will be given the address 192.168.1.2 since this will be the first available IP address. Take note that this is the WAN IP address of the Linksys router.

Enable your Linksys LAN DHCP.
Set Linksys management IP to 192.168.2.1 Mask 255.255.255.0
Set Linksys DHCP range to 192.168.2.2 to 192.168.2.254
Set Linksys Gateway to 192.168.1.1
Set Linksys DNS to 192.168.1.1
Enable Linksys NAT and FIREWALL

All client computers will connect to the Linksys router, i.e., wired and wireless. Connect all wired client computers to the Linksys LAN ports. They will be dynamically assigned an IP address in the range of 192.168.2.2 thru 192.168.2.254.
Client computer's DNS should be automatically set to 192.168.1.1
Client computer's Gateway should be automatically set to 192.168.1.1

Notes: This configuration is composed of 2 LAN segments that are cascaded. The Linksys's WAN is the LAN of the V200, and the V200's WAN is the internet.

Be aware that you have two FIREWALLs in effect. One in the V200 (does the V200 have a firewall?) and another in the Linksys. If you have to make "holes" in the firewall, you have to make the hole on both routers.

Yes, its so complicated that you may just opt not to use the Linksys WAN port unless you have a good reason to (like, you have exactly four wired client computers, or the V200 does not have a firewall).

 

[mclarko]

Thats really useful info thanks. Yes the v200 does have a firewall. Its either on or off and i dont kow how it behaves when it is on. At least with linksys it tells you what its going to block.

SO, i have a 2 cascaded LAN segments

Malc

 

[typhoon52x]

hi i havent bought a router yet, after looking at all the options think ill opt for a switch and access point. With all wired clients connected to the switch and the AP and router, connected to the switch will i be able to use MS File Sharing between wired and wireless clients??

Unless anyone can recommend a modem/router/WAP/switch? Have looked at reviews on many sites and all seem to have probs with them resetting themselves and wireless networking constantly disconnecting!

 

[ronspree]

Yes, with the setup you're planning, all wired and wireless clients will be able to use MS file sharing. All clients will be visible to one another seemlessly as if they are on a single network (they are in a single network).

I personally use a Dlink DES-1008D Switch (8-ports) and a Dlink DWL-AP2000+ Access Point. Have had no problems with them. Have three wired clients and two wireless clients. All WinXP Pro except for one wired client using Win98SE.

I used to have a LinkSys BEFW11S4 wireless router with 4-port switch but had problems with it regarding wireless clients disconnecting and/or disappearing from the network. I was very disappointed with that product since I had high hopes with that brand. I eventually exchanged it for a Dlink access point.

 

[typhoon52x]

mclarko, you can see what the firewall settings are for the V200 if you go into firewall and click 'View default firewall policies for each level' it gives a simple 'in or out' allowed or blocked.

There is a custom option, and my question is can anyone tell me what the different options should be set to (allow/block) for incoming and outgoing?? Below are all the options in the V200 firewall, any help greatly appreciated, the high setting allows the first 9 outgoing and blocks everything incoming would this still allow full web browsing and email functionality? I use ftp software to update my website would this be blocked? I think a custom configuration would be best but im unsure of what all of the below should be set to.

HTTP (tcp) 80
DNS (udp) 53
FTP (tcp) 21
Telnet (tcp) 23
ICMP N/A
SMTP (tcp) 25
POP3 (tcp) 110
Lotus Note (tcp/udp) 1352
HTTP-SSL (tcp) 443
News-NNTP (tcp) 119
Internet Locator Server (tcp) 389
User Location Server (tcp) 522
T.120 (tcp) 1503
H.323 call setup (tcp) 1720
Audio call control (tcp) 1731
MSN Messager File Transfer (tcp) 6891-6900
Remote Messenger Remote Assistance (tcp) 3389
MSN Messenger Messaging (tcp) 1863
MSN Messenger Voice Comm (tcp/udp) 6901
Yahoo! Messenger Webcam (tcp) 5100
mIRC Client (tcp) 6667
CuSeeMe (tcp) 7648
CuSeeMe (udp) 7648
RealAudio/Video (tcp/udp) 554
RealAudio/Video (tcp) 7070-7071
RealAudio/Video (udp) 6770-7170
MS Media Player (tcp/udp) 1755
PPTP (tcp/udp) 1723
GRE (47) N/A
ESP (50) N/A
AH (51) N/A
IKE (udp) 500
ICQ (tcp) 5190

 

[typhoon52x]

ronspree, i now have an 8 port swithc hooked upto the voyager 200 router/modem, i have left the wireless side of things for now.

But im having problems hav run xp networking wizard on all machines, and selected "this computet connects directly to the internet or through a network hub" on all clients, it then came up with a warning that it is not a recomended network configuration? It said firewall was enabled for the connection and i may have trouble using MS file and print sharing AND I DO!!!!!!

How do i enable the computers to see each other and still stay secure? (as mentioned above the router has its own firewall, and all clients have third party firewall software)

 

[mclarko]

typhoon, :O oh! I'll take a closer look at that. Thanks.

 

[mclarko]

typhoon, or anybody else. IWS that two computers i used to share files with on a simple peer to peer network, are still sharing files over the wireless router. Should i be worried about hackers gaining access, or is a private network like 192... usually ok. Im quite honestly totally clueless. :S


Rgds

Malc

 

[bcastner]

Typhoon,

Forget about the Networking Wizard.
See:

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp/filesharing.htm

 

[bcastner]

mclarko,

. install a firewall product on each workstation. There are excellent freeware ones, including if you are using XP the Service Pack 2 upgrade;

. Secure your router. See:

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/support/wireless_secure.htm

Note: they recommend using Netbui instead of TCP/IP. This is not very good advice. The rest of the article is spot on.

 

[mclarko]

bcastner, yes i have Norton Int Sec 2005. Hmmm...their argument for using Netbui instead of TCP/IP comes top of their list of things to do to secure a wireless LAN. Mind you, i do recall being told Netbui is insecure :? Why are they so wrong i wonder?

Anyway, the two computers that share files are RJ45 ~wired~ to the wireless router. I mean, certainly my NOrton software does not stand between this box(router) and the internet, what is the danger of hackers catching my files as they fly through the router?


Malcolm

 

[bcastner]

The reason that Netbui should not be used:

. Its use is not supported by Microsoft
. It works terribly on wireless. See these comments by Scott Finney, who went all Netbui and then went back to TCP/IP with Netbios:

http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/40.htm#tipadaweek

. The advantage of Netbui is that it does not route, so no traffic would go over the internet. Any reasonable firewall, including all the free ones I have seen, will block Netbios traffic over the firewall. You do not need an unroutable profile to be secure, you need a properly configured firewall.

The weakness in your router is that it possibly can be open on the wireless side for a connection.