I have my home network setup kind of awkwardly, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Right now its not working. Its a family setup so the main router, a Linksys WRT54-GS, is down the stairs next to the cable modem. I have a crossover cable coming up the stairs to my room to give a wired internet for all my devices. To act as a hub for my devices I have 2 routers, A Linksys WRT54-G and a D-link Dl-604. I always plug the crossover cable into the 1 port on all of these routers. My routers plug into my computer, modded original xbox, and xbox 360. I occasionally get ip conflict errors and sometimes it just doesn't connect. Its not just on my end either, anyone that tries to connect to the wireless down stairs cant reach the internet either. I've tried all sorts of different configurations and i always get the same problems at one point or another. I've tried reseting all the routers and the modem. All of the wires in the entire configuration are straight thru except for the 1 crossover going up stairs. What am I doing wrong? Any help appreciated.
If you are brave and are confident in flashing firmware you could replace the crappy Linksys firmware on the WRT54GS and the WRT54G (nice routers btw) with dd-wrt firmware. Then you could (for instance) use 'WDS' to link the 2 Linksys's together. I say for instance as there's various ways to connect wireless routers, but in this case your setup sounds similar to mine, hence my suggestion of WDS. I have a similar setup, except my 2 main wireless routers are Buffalo's. There's another 2 Linksys's (both are WRT54G's) added to the mix now and then to extend wireless coverage. One Buffalo is downstairs hanging off the Cable modem, this Buffalo provides internet/LAN access for any downstairs machines, both wired and wireless (though this setup means i don't need to use wireless at all - thus the only required wireless connection is between the upstairs and downstairs Buffalo's - no wires going up and downstairs or between rooms. The 2 Linksys's are switched on if coverage is needed in the rooms that have spotty coverage). There's another Buffalo upstairs, linked to the downstairs Buffalo via 'WDS' - this basically extends the reach of the internet to the upstairs (better coverage than the downstairs Buffalo could manage on it's lonesome). All upstairs pc's, half a dozen old type xboxes and an xbox 360 are connected (via ethernet) to the Buffalo with a couple of network switches in the mix. DD-WRT requires some confidence for the actual flashing process, but setup and configuration aren't too difficult, and you'd have a totally stable connection throughout the house. Linksys firmware is ok, but not very stable, and WDS isn't supported in Linksys firmware. edit- sorry for the long post, am just detailing what's running in my setup to show how versatile DD-WRT is - Downstairs - Cable modem -> Buffalo WHR-G54S wireless router running DD-WRT firmware. WPA2 over 'WDS' (Wireless Distribution System) the following hangs off this Buffalo - Dell Optiplex 745 SFF 2 ancient pc's, both running DSL (Damn Small) Linux. These 2 are just emergency 'surfing' machines Upstairs - Buffalo WHR-G54S wireless router running DD-WRT firmware. Again, WPA2 over 'WDS' - this allows all upstairs equipment to run off the downstairs internet connection Linksys 16-port switch plus a D-Link 5-port switch hanging off this Buffalo, the following run off this Buffalo - (All upstairs kit connected via ethernet, though a Netbook and 1 laptop hop between ethernet and wireless depending on my mood). Xbox 360 Elite 5x old type xboxes, all running the awesome XBMC, providing media throughout the upstairs of the house. Acer Aspire One netbook Quad Core Q6600 4x Dell Optiplex 745 SFF's AMD Athlon 2800 Dell GX-150 (P3 1GHz, 512MB ram). Solaris 9 HP Pavilion laptop, AMD Turion64 Dell P4 laptop. A few old Compaq P2 and P3 machines, just emergency 'surfing' machines. 3 spare Linksys wireless routers, all using DD-WRT firmware. 2 of these (WRT54G v5 and a WRT54G v2) are frequently connected to the 2 Buffalo's wirelessly via WDS, to give wireless coverage to 2 hard-to reach corners of the house. The 3rd router (WRT54GS v6) is spare for now. edit- forgot to mention, i use Static DHCP on all routers, this allows every connected device to always have the same IP address. edited for spelling
why do you have a crossover cable from 1 router to the other as should be a straight thru cable. i have 2 routers with 1 down in the basement with the modem & a wireless router on the 2nd floor with a straight thru cable connecting the 2 with no problems. crossover cable is to be used if don't have a router & the pc has 2 netcards connecting another pc or game console to the net.
Hey there ddp. Yeah, the OP could always use a proper cable, i just like converting people to the joys of DD-WRT plus the OP won't need to trail a cable down the stairs
Thanks for all the help! If I every get wireless antaneas for the WRT54-G again I'll have to give that a shot (My friend literally ate them off the router when I let him borrow it). I got everything fixed and its working great. Thanks for all the help. @ddp > If the router doesn't have some for of auto MDI for the cabling then you need to run a crossover cable from router to router, this has become less of a concern since most routers have it by default now however my WRT54-G is an old v2 model and doesn't have it.
my router done in the basement is an old linksys single port version so i have to connect a hub to it to do more then 1 pc & it uses a straight thru cable between router & hub.
yes, but a router and hub/switch are 2 different types of devices so they will communicate fine with a straight thru
