1/25/06

DD-WRT and Network Bridging

I promised a friend I'd post this so:

What is a network bridge?

A network bridge is a bridge that will connect one network segment to another. In this context, I wanted to connect a Linksys router wirelessly to an existing secure wireless network. The example: one router is in the basement and the other two floors away. The reason I want to bridge these routers is because of a file server that resides one the top floor, but is not exposed to the rest of this domicile net.

Getting it done

First thing you need to do is get this awesome firmware upgrade. It's called DD-WRT. This firmware is WAY more configurable and powerful than the default Linksys offering. It offers a wide variety of wicked extra features including wireless signal boosts and a number of added transmit frequencies (i.e. the channel range extends for 1 -14 instead 1 - 11 which comes is really handy if your struggling with signal interference from other wireless devices like wireless phones). Be careful! Firmware upgrades are not for the faint of heart. Play it safe and download and test a working client based firmware upgrade for your Linksys router (i.e. client based means do not rely on the routers “Upgrade Firmware” and download an EXE that will PUSH the firmware on to your router rather than asking the router to PULL the upgrade in, as you might not be able to access the router HTML interface).

A useful tool that I use (especially with my note book when out on the digital town) is Network Stumbler. It uses your wireless card to scan for available wireless networks, determine whether they are secure, give you an idea about signal strength and consistency, the used channels and channel traffic, and more.

Next, read this wiki (I listed the steps below, but read the wiki!): WRT Wiki

Instructions:
1) Install the firmware and log in.

2) I change the router IP to something that won’t conflict with a) the other router IP (i.e. 192.168.1.1) and b) that is not in the range of the DHCP server (i.e. if 192.168.1.1 offers up an DHCP IP range 100 – 150, you could choose 192.168.1.151; just don’t forget ;)

If you want to leave it as 192.168.1.1, you could also set a static IP address of 192.168.1.x network to your client and you can reach the router as 192.168.1.1 by Ethernet.

3) Add WAN MAC-Address of WRT54G to your mac filter list on your base station.

4) Connect to your WRT54G (normally 192.168.1.1) by wire which should act as client bridge.

5) Enable Wireless Security (in Wireless/Wireless Security) as used (i.e. WEP and configure it as used in your local network (same key generator)).

6) In Wireless/Basic Settings choose "Client-Bridged" as Wireless Mode and set SSID, Wireless channel and Network Mode can be set to same values as your Base Station, normally Auto / Mixed.

That’s all. On next wired connect to your router you should get an IP address from your network.


2 Comments:

At January 26, 2006 7:15 PM, Blogger Jenn said...

Showoff!
;)

 
At January 26, 2006 8:35 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

easy stuff ;)

 

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