Wired network with Linksys hub. Got a wireless notebook... (1 Viewer)

[nijhal]

Okay I have 7 computers on my network. Its all a wired network. I just bought a laptop with a wireless wifi card.

Is there anything I can buy to plugin into my router (cat5) that will make just one port wireless? I dunno like a sattilite or something?

Or am I stuck having to change my whole network to wireless? Like an all or nothing its either wireless or not, cant have both?

I really dont want to go out and buy another router and 7 more wireless cards if I can buy an antenna or somethign to plug into my existing router.

Any help appriciated.

 

[Talerian]

You can get a wireless router that also has ports in the back for a wired network and have a combination of wired and wireless computers.

 

[RaidNazi]

Is there anything I can buy to plugin into my router (cat5) that will make just one port wireless? I dunno like a sattilite or something?

Yep.. Its called a WAP (Wireless Access Point)
An example cheap one is
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2050410335+4025&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=335

Or am I stuck having to change my whole network to wireless? Like an all or nothing its either wireless or not, cant have both?

Most certainly can have both.

One of the biggest things you need to do, is make sure you secure the WAP. Heaps of people leave them on the default settings, and that means anyone nearby with a wireless laptop can connect to your network / internet connection.

 

[RaidNazi]

Cos I'm bored at work, I made you a pretty little picture to show how your network should look :-)

 

[nijhal]

Thanks for the pic dude you rock. Thats exactly what I wanted.

Although, the access point seems to cost almost as much as a regular wireless router. Couldent I just buy a wireless router and then uplink it to my current router?

 

[Sum1]

You mean sort of "chain" them together so you get 3+4 wired ports? ... sort of like people who think they're clever and plug a 2nd surge protector into a slot in the 1st surge protector (and raise their chances of dieing in an electrical fire by about 10000000 times)?

Not sure about that. Someone more experienced may have a better handle on whether or not that's possible, but if I had to guess right now I'd say it's not. Maybe a conflict with ports and IPs and all?

 

[nijhal]

No I mean keep my wired router hooked up. Buy a wireless and run a wire from the output on the wired router to the wan input on the wireless.

 

[nijhal]

Oh and people tapping into my wireless network. That will never happen I live out in the sticks. I mean REALLY in the sticks. it is a 20 minute drive just to make it to town which consists for Kroger, two fast food places a resturante a gas station and thats it. And thats driving 60 mph just to get there.

Anyone who gets on my wireless network can surf all they want if it will even make it to them. But, thanks for the heads up.

 

[Ccomp5950]

DWL-810+ (Game adapters) would be an option as well, D-link quit making them because they were being used as Ethernet bridges (rather cheap Ethernet Bridges with removable antennas which could run through an amplifier and have a directional antenna setup to shoot a signal 500 meters up the street.).

D-link doesn't make them anymore because people were using them like I described, when I first started working here they had this chain of D-links all with home brew Power over Ethernet (5 volt voltage regulators and all) and it was highly unreliable for the business it was used for so I switched them over to a Trango bridge and haven't had to touch it since.

one D-link 810 would be fine for what your doing you can probably get one on ebay for cheap cheap. The 820 model has a built in mac address filter, first mac address it see's it allows traffic to pass through, any thing besides that gets dropped. Makes it what it was meant to do, be a 1 unit game adapter.

To be completely honest we still have one DWL-810+ in service bridging 2 buildings in a hotel we have T1 service for...I'm going to have to go find a solution for that (love unused copper wires left over from the phone system.)

But me personally, I would use a WAP and just to it like this:

[Wired Router Lan Port] <---[Straight Cable]---> [WAP Wan Port]

Be sure and turn off DHCP on the WAP and if you do turn on WEP you are cutting your performance in half and it's really not all that good protection anywho, average joe won't beat it but anyone who know's anything about wireless networking can get a sniffer and figure out the private key after a few packets using many available programs. You could also get a wireless router and do do it like this:

[Wired Router Lan Port] <---[Cross Over Cable] ---> [Wireless Router Lan port]

Again turn off DHCP on the wireless router(you will fuck up your network if not) and have the router on a static IP address outside of your DHCP pool. The above basically makes your Wireless Router a WAP and has the benefit of not blocking you from seeing stuff on your wired network where as if you went...

[Wired Router Lan Port] <---[Straight Cable]---> [Wireless Router WAN Port]

You would be on your own network with the router performing NAT and you would not be able to see the other network.

Just some thoughts.

 

[RaidNazi]

Thanks for the pic dude you rock. Thats exactly what I wanted.

Although, the access point seems to cost almost as much as a regular wireless router. Couldent I just buy a wireless router and then uplink it to my current router?

You certainly can do that.

The downside is that if you have a second router rather than a bridge, you either have everything hanging off it on a diffrent subnet, or you have to modify both routers so they have diffrent dhcp scopes.

For example if your current router gives out DHCP addresses from 192.168.0.100 thru 192.168.0.254, your new router either needs to be configured to give out 192.168.1.100-254, or else you configure box 1 to give out 192.168.0.100-199, and the 2nd box 192.168.0.200-254.

Its "nicer" IMHO if you have a box setup that just bridges the connections so that any wireless device gets a 192.168.0.* from the first router.

That being said my home network has a 2nd router giving out a 2nd IP range.. I could make it nicer but I just cant be fucked lol.. It works but some of the stuff doesnt work properly (like my internal DNS server on the main network cant serve wireless clients for some reason). It'll get fixed one day (tm) probably right after the EQ servers get switched off and I have a life again.

 

[RaidNazi]

I'm note entirely certain, but I sort of gather that cost isnt a major limiting factor for you, If so it might well be worthwhile talking to a networking company and having someone come out and do it.. That way you'll get the best solution.

 

[Pugs]

No I mean keep my wired router hooked up. Buy a wireless and run a wire from the output on the wired router to the wan input on the wireless.

Yeah you could do that I would recommend going the other way Wireless into WAN and wired into a port on the wireless router. That way you have NAT and the extra fire wall to protect you.

Anyone who gets on my wireless network can surf all they want if it will even make it to them. But, thanks for the heads up.

If any one gets on your network you are liable for what they do so if they surf child port or hack from your network your the one who gets the balls busted. Just keep that in mind in case you ever move into town.

 

[Ccomp5950]

If any one gets on your network you are liable for what they do so if they surf child port or hack from your network your the one who gets the balls busted. Just keep that in mind in case you ever move into town.

Not really, maybe according to a user agreement signed by you to your ISP but any criminal activity that was performed by someone jumping on your network does not go to you. You will be questioned about it but if you did not perform the activity and you are found clean then you will be clear. Your contract with your ISP does not extend to the government or 3rd party's, that is something the RIAA has mistaken and been shot down in court.

Worst thing that can happen from other people doing any activity is they shut you down. Depending on your user agreement of course.

 

[RaidNazi]

Not really, maybe according to a user agreement signed by you to your ISP but any criminal activity that was performed by someone jumping on your network does not go to you. You will be questioned about it but if you did not perform the activity and you are found clean then you will be clear. Your contract with your ISP does not extend to the government or 3rd party's, that is something the RIAA has mistaken and been shot down in court.

Worst thing that can happen from other people doing any activity is they shut you down. Depending on your user agreement of course.

Yes but the lawyers bills to PROVE it wasnt his pc that was using his router and his connection could make securing it in the first place alot easier :-)

 

[nijhal]

So basicly plug the D-Link 810 into my port on my router and Im good to go?

Meaning THIS item on ebay?

 

[Ccomp5950]

Yes but the lawyers bills to PROVE it wasnt his pc that was using his router and his connection could make securing it in the first place alot easier :-)

If I was put in that position I would opt for a public defender. When you are really innocent, truth is on your side, you could have a shit bag for a lawyer and still come out ok, and you don't have to prove that it wasn't your router. They have to prove it was your computer, good luck with that. Innocent until proven guilty in criminal court and burden of proof is on them, and if someone just jumps on and does something once, it's not going to be that big a deal, typically the big stings and take downs are on people that host it for downloads.

Nijal,
That 810 you linked is exactly what I'm talking about.

But like I said, I would honestly go with a [Lan to Wan]WAP or a wireless router [Lan to Lan] if I were you.

As for configuring it:
Here is a link to the emulator for it which shows you what the admin page looks like.

http://support.dlink.com/emulators/dwl810+/

You would want to set it up in Ad Hoc and have your laptop connect using the same settings you put in there.

 

[Nightmare327]

Yes you can chain routers together, though it does make it difficult if they have the same 'internal' IP schemes, ie, your main router gives you a 192.168.1.2 address while the second router also gives out those same range of addresses. that will make it basically not work. What you will have to do is change the range of IP addresses the second router gives out from the default to something like 192.168.2.2. That will make it where it can actually route the main network from the secondary network you have just set up. So it isn't as easy as plug an play, but it might work with a little setup. It will definitely help to know what your doing with networking though to make it work.

***Edit***
Oops, had written this yesterday but forgotten to submit it till i got back to work this morning Questions already answered very well by others.

 

[Alatyami]

Im jumping in this thread late, but hey I finally get to put this CCNA certification to work.

Are you actually running a HUB or a SWITCH? If you are using a HUB get rid of it asap as it gives you only one collision domain and all of you ports share the same bandwidth. A switch has a collision domain per port and gives each port 100Mbs.

I would get a LinkSys Wifi Router and put your hub/switch behind it.

DSL Modem -> Wifi Router -> Hub/Switch

I actaully have DSL Modem -> Wifi Router -> Wifi Router

The second router is setup as a dummy gateway and gets it MAC/ARP tables from the first Router.

FYI, Keep your brands the same, you'll have less problems.

Here's my latest purchase: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000D941A/002-7513310-1584818

 

[Sum1]

24 ports?! Jesus christ...

Your ISP must love the bandwidth usage!

 

[nijhal]

Just wondering, couldent I just get a wireless card for one of my main tower pc's and transmit internet from there?

 

[Ccomp5950]

Yep

 

[nijhal]

shit im just gonna do that then. Just configure that connection to share right?

 

[Ccomp5950]

A new icon will show up in your control panal if using windows, called Wireless network config, go through it. But yes.

 

[RaidNazi]

Cos I'm bored at work, I made you a pretty little picture to show how your network should look :-)

Apparently someone objected to me being bored at work.. I got a negative red cent for that post!

 

[Roguish]

Apparently someone objected to me being bored at work.. I got a negative red cent for that post!

Ha ha, probably your boss!

I'm coming into this post late but I just wanted to mention that I had the same question a while ago and I know why that initial question was asked. ALL the routers in all the stores are labeled wireless, but that just means they have the antenna and can communicate with wireless devices, they still come with the 4 or whatever number of Ethernet ports as they always did, wireless doesn't mean that they no longer support using Ethernet cables.

I am not very familiar with the expansion slot route you are going to try but it sounds like a good one, let us know how it works out. But, next time, don't hesitate to grab that wireless router.

That bridge you linked from e-bay though is not what you'd be looking for. That is something that hooks into your X-box or in your case could be attached to your laptop IF your laptop was NOT 801.11b capable and you DID HAVE a wireless connection on your network that it could connect to, hence, a bridge, and just the opposite of what you're looking for.

 

[Jinx]

I was in the same position a year or so ago. I had a Linksys 4 port router with 3 pc's, a Backup Harddrive, TiVo and 2 wireless laptop so I decided it was time to get a wireless router. I went with a Linksys router that also had 4 ports so I used 3 ports on the wireless router and pluged my old router into the wireless router to add 4 more ports. With the 2 wireless laptops. I simply had too many problems locking up. Worked on and off. Linksys Tech Support told me this just really would be buggy. Anyway I got tired of the problems and bought a new Linksys Wireless N system that showed "With Storage Link" on the box. I don't know if I was simply overloading my old system or if the Storage unit was causing problems. I had Geek Squad come and check out the system and make any changes they suggested and it has been working perfect for over a year now. It was well worth it to me to get rid of the buggy system I had before. As a matter of fact I just sold my old router and my old wireless router on Ebay and got most of my money back. So my suggestion would be to sell you old system and upgrade if you can. If not and a buggy system is not going to drive you crazy then go the other route. Good Luck and hope this helped.

 

[Bladee]

You do understand that this thread is one year old and he already got help for looong time ago?.. -.-
Fail to see point in bumping this..

 

[Jinx]

LOL sorry didn't even look at the date. Delete it if you want i guess