How do I connect my Linksys WRT54GL to my Home Hub 2.0?

alexjholland

alexjholland

alexjholland

Associate
Joined
8 Oct 2006
Posts
322
Hey,

I purchased a Linksys WRT54GL on recommendation from this forum, which has worked reasonably well at uni with our Virgin modem.

I've just arrived home and naturally want to get my 360 and PC set up and working. I expected it to plug in to my HomeHub 2.0 and work straight away, but this is not the case.

I called up BT and got put through to an Indian call center, who said I should use PPPOA - which the Linksys does not seem to support.

I then Googled around and found a post on this forum from someone who had the exact same problem (which he never resolved) and he was told to use DHCP - but to turn the DHCP server off.

I have done this and tried it with the cable from the homehub plugged into both the 'internet in' slot on the Linksys, AND a normal LAN slot. Neither worked.

I really would appreciate some help sorting this out ASAP - I'm pretty good on PCs, but a bit of a networking noob. So if you could make the instructions reasonably easy to understand it would be appreciated.

Many Thanks,

Alex
 
The WRT54GL doesn't support PPPoA because it doesn't have an ADSL modem.

Connect the two together by their switch ports, and disable DHCP (preferably on the WRT) and wireless on one. Done.
You might need to change one's IP so they're in the same subnet and/or don't clash.
 
Thanks for the tip - I have DHCP server disabled on the Linksys

What do you mean by 'switch' ports? Is that just a standard one? (Meaning I should NOT use the special 'internet in' port on the Linksys?)

Could you please expand on the IP addresses as well. I'm a little confused!

Much appreciated. Thanks!
 
alexjholland said:
What do you mean by 'switch' ports? Is that just a standard one? (Meaning I should NOT use the special 'internet in' port on the Linksys?)
Click to expand...

The 4 ports marked "LAN" on the WRT54GL, and the 2 ports on the Home Hub. No, don't use the WAN interface.

Could you please expand on the IP addresses as well. I'm a little confused!
Click to expand...

The two routers need to have different IPs. If you want to access the web interfaces of both, they'll need to be in the same subnet as whatever IP range the DHCP server gives out (or you manually configure your machines to use).
 
- I use different IPs to log into my Linksys (192.168.1.1) and BT HomeHub (192.168.1.254). Can you explain this subnet thing and how to set it (I assume on my Home Hub).

- I could log into my Linksys from my desktop PC, as it was connected to it, but not my HomeHub. Now (for reasons unknown) I can not even log into my Linksys! I have pressed reset several times, but I can still not log in - the page for the router info simply doesn't load!

- I can log into my HomeHub from my Laptop, as it is wireless, but obviously not Linksys.

I'm using Tomato firmware and I feel like I am absolutely screwed. I Have a £40 paperweight that I purchased on recommendation from a LOT of people on this board and no one at BT are in the slightest useful.

Please help me not have to bin it and buy a brand new netgear.
 
And at no point has this router appeared ANYWHERE on my HomeHub.

I really don't understand why - when any of the routers I used with my Virgin connection clicked together like Lego - this has to be such a nightmare. I'm just adding a second router?!
 
alexjholland said:
- I use different IPs to log into my Linksys (192.168.1.1) and BT HomeHub (192.168.1.254). Can you explain this subnet thing and how to set it (I assume on my Home Hub).
Click to expand...

If the subnet mask you have set is 255.255.255.0, to be in the same subnet the IPs have to be identical up to the last octet. They already are.

- I could log into my Linksys from my desktop PC, as it was connected to it, but not my HomeHub.
Click to expand...

If they were connected together by their switch ports you should have been able to get to both.

no one at BT are in the slightest useful.
Click to expand...

Well no, they're not going to support a router they didn't supply...

Try disconnecting a machine from everything else, resetting the WRT and connecting it to that machine. The default should have DHCP enabled, so the machine should get an IP from the WRT which'll let you access the web interface.
 
With Virgin you were basically plugging the router into the modem via the WAN port, which is what they were designed to do. What you're trying to do at the minute is connect a modem+router (Homehub) to a router (WRT54GL). I had a similar issue, although it was with a 2wire and not a Homehub, and the 2wire automatically detects if there is another router on the network and configures itself accordingly.

From my somewhat hazy memory of setting this up, what I did was the following:
Installed Tomato on the WRT54GL
Ensured the DHCP range on the 2wire was well above 192.168.1.1 to avoid any conflictions (Both routers are already on the same subnets since their IP address are 192.168.1.x)
Went into the WRT54GL, turned off DHCP, and (this step is optional) configured my wireless settings to match up to the 2wires (same wireless channel, wireless key and SSID, this screenshot might help you if you use Tomato)
Connect up the two routers via ethernet ports.
This was basically all I had to do, as when I plugged in my computers to the Linksys they received IP addresses from the 2wire, and all was well with the world.

Of course, your experience with the Homehub might not be quite as simple as this as it is (a) gash for anything other than basic internet connectivity, and (b) certainly not made for bridging connections (if this is the correct term).

Good luck :)
 
Last edited:
I did another reset, plugged my Macbook in and can now access the interface (on all my machines). Which is a good start.

So, I have followed the instructions given, but to no avail!

Here is a screenshot of the 'basic' page of the Tomato. If you need screenshots of any other part of the tomato or the Home Hub I'll have them up in a jiffy.



I appreciate the help you guys have given so far, please do your best to get this going - I really can't afford to buy a new router!
 
So how have you got the two routers connected now and what doesn't work?

It should just be a case of connecting them together by the switch ports on both routers and you're done.
 
No, I have internet on my Macbook - as I can connect directly to the HomeHub wireless (and access its manager).

But the Linksys in my bedroom, which has my Desktop PC and 360 wired to it cannot connect to the internet, and does not appear to be on the HomeHub's list of devices. I cannot load the HomeHub manager from these PCs either.

I have the Linksys connected through its standard LAN port (no. 1) to the LAN output of the HomeHub (no.1). (Not using the WAN-in on my Linksys.)
 
It probably won't show it in devices, or anywhere in the Homehub for that matter unless it shows up under IP addresses. I think you can ping out from the Linksys; see if you can ping 192.168.1.254 to see if there actually is any communication between the two routers.
 
If you connect to the WRT54GL's wireless, can you still only see the router (or more likely don't get an IP and so nothing works)?

It sounds like something's wrong with the connection between the WRT54GL and the HomeHub.
 
The only computer I have that can access or connect to the HomeHub is my Macbook (via wireless), so if I connect to the WRT54GL's wireless then I have nothing to access the HomeHub terminal.

Here is a guy with the same problem, that despite similar advice, was never resolved:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=12348836

I'm just trying to connect the most widely recommended router on this forum, to the standard router provided by the UK's biggest broadband provider. I can't believe it should be this tricky.

Which company should I hold responsible? I have a big plastic brick I paid £40 for and that is NOT acceptable.

If I call Linksys, I bet they'll tell me that because it has Tomato firmware, they will do nothing to help. The only thing I can think of is loading the standard firmware, then asking for help - I bet they'll blame it on BT though (who are beyond useless).

Any more advice on setting this router up, or on who to contact, would be really appreciated.

Many Thanks, Alex
 
Why do you need to access the "HomeHub terminal"? Being able to ping either a host on the internet or the HomeHub itself would be a plenty good test.

It works fine for me, and it's worked fine for others. It should just be a case of hooking the two up and you're done. I'd be more inclined to believe it's the HomeHub (especially given it's a rebadged Thompson) screwing around than the WRT54GL, but this isn't the main use case for a cable router.

If you enable DHCP on the WRT54GL, connecting machines to it (either using wireless or a cable) should mean that those machines get an IP. Can they then ping the HomeHub?
 
I gave up and stuck the old HomeHub 1.5 in, keeping the 'No DHCP' on the Linksys and it seems to be working fine.

For the sake of slightly faster N wireless (which I only use for Youtube, as almost all my things are wired), I'd rather stick with something reliable. We've had intermittent signal even when the HomeHub 2.0 works - it's been a big let down.

I've got all my port openings (EG torrents) and tweaks (EG 360 in a DMZ) in my HomeHub, am I presuming I do nothing to my Linksys? I noticed there is only one device in my Linksys device list, does turning off DHCP server on here (but keeping it activated on the Home Hub) effectively mean that my Linksys is 'slaved' to my Home Hub?

Also Pennywise, regarding you setting up the same SSID, key and channel, does this mean that the two wireless networks effectively merge into one? Or do they just appear as two identical networks? What are the implications of this?

Thanks for your help guys - looks like the 2.0 is going on ebay!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom