Networking Question

[Zanchief]

Hey Guys

I figure some of you techies will be able to solve this problem I have in a hurry.

I have a few wi-fi deadspots in my house. I can't figure out why. The neighbours wifi signal is much stronger then mine in my own house (detached home, he's not that close).

I haven't fiddled with channels yet, but I think that could be the problem (thoughts?).

Second, I decided to go ahead and install a second wireless router in by basement since that's where me and my friends are most often using it, and the signal is very weak there. Thing is, it isn't working. I know both routers are configured properly, I know all my Ethernet cables are working. I think it might having something to do with the way it's cabled. I have my main router working fine, and I have a wired connection running to my PS3 in my basement that is working fine. I have plugged in my second router using that cable into the internet port on my router (incoming). I then have a second ethernet cable running from my router to my PS3.

I can connect to the router as it is still emitting a signal, but I can't connect to the internet. Also, my wired ps3 connection through the second router isn't working either. The routers don't have the same IP. I manually changed one. I suppose the problem could be your outgoing ports on my first router? Could that cause a problem?

Merci

[ClakarEQ]

How big is your house / place? last time I had a problem like this it was the radio in the WAP itself and once I replaced it, my wifi radius increased significantly.

To clarify what you've done though, broadband into WAP1, devices on WAP1 can get to internet? Can you ping WAP1 from WAP2 (via the diag session or something)? HOw are you handling the IP's? DHCP? DHCP on both WAPs?

Unless your house is huge or if you've got a ton of metal or water between you and WAP1, you shouldn't really have issues IMO.

[Zanchief]

House is kind of big(2900 sq feet), but I know there's another issue then just size. I've tried both routers and both have a similar problem (in regards to the wifi signal).

Yes, both routers work, and the broadband goes from the modem to the router, to my pc/ps3 (two different cables out of the router). The network works fine with both routers separately, but it's only when I network both together does the second not connect properly to the internet (but I can still connect to the router). My PS3 is in my basement and when wired, it works properly. When I place the router between the PS3, and my first router both wired and wireless connection for the second router fail.

Sorry can't help with some of your other questions (not a network guy and I'm not up on the lingo). Both IPs I assigned manually, and are different. I don't think that's the problem though, because both routers work fine on their own.

Sorry what does WAP1 WAP2 two mean?

[Tossica]

You need a switch, not a router. Plug the cable from the first router in to one of the LAN ports on the back of the router instead of the "internet" port. Plug your PS3 in to one of the other LAN ports.

[Tossica]

If you want both routers to function as wireless access points, you'll want to disable the router function in the 2nd and set it up as an AP only. Make sure both are configured for the same SSID and channel. As far as your first issue goes, try switching the broadcast channel between 1, 6 and 11. The ones in between are useless. If your neighbor is on 1, you want to be on 6 or 11.

[Zanchief]

If you want both routers to function as wireless access points, you'll want to disable the router function in the 2nd and set it up as an AP only.

So they would both be on the same network and the same login? Interesting. Won't the signals conflict with each other?

[ClakarEQ]

Same login? what do you mean, each device will have a different login re: admin and such. Just don't use the internet port on WAP2 unless you can do what Toss is saying and kill the router portion and use the internet port on WAP2 as an uplink to WAP1 (if you don't I could see a crossover cable being required, depends on the smarts of these devices though)

You want your house on a singular network (most often) and you can place any number of network devices in that "space", each device needs to have a unique IP but outside of that, it should all play nice together.

[ClakarEQ]

Toss I don't think they should be on the same channel, they should be different but with the same SSID. If you use the same channel you can have hardware that constantly bounces between the two WAPS. Typically you'd have your WAPS on an auto setting (if it has that option) or two different frequencies, like Toss stated, channel 1, 6, 11. The channels inbetween are too close so you could do say, channel 2, 8 for example, but not channel 2 and 3

[Tossica]

If you want to seamlessly move from room to room in the house and maintain your wireless connection, I think they go on the same channel. It's been a few years since I did a multi AP setup. You may be right.

[Tossica]

It gets complicated. If you're ok just using wired connections, a regular old switch makes more sense in your basement. If you're setting up a second wireless AP, the wireless settings in each need to be identical. Same SSID, same encryption key, etc. Some wireless APs allow you to join an existing wireless network without cabling.

[Zanchief]

So if I give both routers the same SSID and encryption and use the output ports for incoming and outgoing cables (rather then the internet port) then this setup should work? Having two access points for the same wireless profile? This would be ideal. I'll play around with this today.

thank you both.

[Tossica]

1st router hooks up to cable modem or whatever via internet port. Cable runs from LAN port on 1st router to LAN port on 2nd router making the 2nd router basically a switch. Hook up PS3 to another LAN port on 2nd router and verify you are able to connect.

If this works. You'll need to configure the LAN address on the 2nd router to be something other than the 1st one so you can configure it. If your home network is 192.168.1.X, set the 1st router to 192.168.1.1 and the 2nd one to 192.168.1.254 or something in between.

Once you have both configured and accessible via a PC on the network, you can experiment with the wireless meshing without having to unplug shit every time you want to make a change.

[Zanchief]

Sounds good. If switching the channels on the main router doesn't work, I will try this.