Does something like this exist?

kiltman67 · 31 May 2007 at 20:24

I have a wireless network in my house and I'm looking for a way to connect an Xbox 360 to the network in a room on a different floor from the router in a cheaper way then buying the official network adapter.

What I'm looking for is something which can connect to the wireless network and has at least 2 ethernet ports which I can connect the Xbox and another PC to give them access to the network.

I originally thought this was what an Access Point does, but on further investigation it seems I was wrong.

Can anybody help me out?

tolien · 31 May 2007 at 20:27

Wireless AP connected to a switch, or a wireless router with switch built in will both do, as long as they'll work as a wireless client.

kiltman67 · 31 May 2007 at 20:35

tolien said:
Wireless AP connected to a switch, or a wireless router with switch built in will both do, as long as they'll work as a wireless client.

Is there any way to find out if the router will work like that?

My router which is connected to the internet is a Linksys WRT54G and I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 lying around which I could use.

tolien · 31 May 2007 at 22:08

It'll say in the manual. The WRT54G should do it, my v1.1 WRT54GS and WRT54GL do (though they aren't running the official Linksys firmware).

kiltman67 · 31 May 2007 at 22:47

tolien said:
It'll say in the manual. The WRT54G should do it, my v1.1 WRT54GS and WRT54GL do (though they aren't running the official Linksys firmware).

It doesn't appear to say anything about it, but at the same time it doesn't appear to say anything about it in the manual for the WRT54G, which, as you've shown, should be capable of it.

Can you give me an idea of what I'd need to do to set it up, since I have a spare router and I might as well give it a try.

skiba · 31 May 2007 at 22:55

Those lan over mains electric kits will do this fine, quicker than wifi too.

tolien · 31 May 2007 at 23:45

kiltman67 said:
Can you give me an idea of what I'd need to do to set it up, since I have a spare router and I might as well give it a try.

Change the mode to client-bridge, enter the SSID you set on the other wireless device, and that's about it. You'll need to feed it whatever encryption settings you're using.

kiltman67 · 31 May 2007 at 23:47

tolien said:
Change the mode to client-bridge, enter the SSID you set on the other wireless device, and that's about it. You'll need to feed it whatever encryption settings you're using.

I assume I should also change the IP address of the router and disable the firewall and DHCP too?

Edit: Obviously the firmware is different but do you have any suggestions of where I'm likely to find the option to change the mode?

tolien · 1 Jun 2007 at 00:38

kiltman67 said:
I assume I should also change the IP address of the router and disable the firewall and DHCP too?

DHCP yes, changing the IP isn't really necessary unless it clashes with something that's already there.

Edit: Obviously the firmware is different but do you have any suggestions of where I'm likely to find the option to change the mode?

For me it's Wireless tab -> Basic Settings -> Wireless Mode -> AP/Repeater/Client-routed/Client-bridge/Adhoc
I might be wrong on the choice of mode (client-routed might be better, I've no recollection of which works better), so YMMV.

kiltman67 · 1 Jun 2007 at 01:07

Thanks for the instructions. As a backup plan in case I can't find something similar, can you tell me what firmware you're using?

Also, I was thinking, there seems to me to be a possibility of a conflict as presumably the router which is connected to the internet will attempt to assign IP addresses to everything which connects to it, this would include the second router though which requires a static IP so you can access the firmware. Have you had any problems with this?

tolien · 1 Jun 2007 at 01:43

I'm using Sveasoft Talisman/Basic right now.

Also, I was thinking, there seems to me to be a possibility of a conflict as presumably the router which is connected to the internet will attempt to assign IP addresses to everything which connects to it

Only if it asks for an IP address. You can manually set an IP, or if you're only using it as a switch and bridged wireless client, it's not terribly important what it's IP is.

kiltman67 · 1 Jun 2007 at 02:05

Thanks for setting me straight on that one. I'm going to try and set it up tomorrow afternoon and hopefully it'll all work out.