RE: [PLUG] wrt54g driving me nuts.

[Doug Crompton <doug@crompton.com>]

Ok here are the final results of this saga.....

The original WRT54G I purchased was apparently bad and also miss-marked.

The outside box SN reflected a V3.0 firmware while the actual unit inside
was a V2.0. While this in itself was not a problem I did see references to
problems with version 2.0 units on the web. It also might have been a
clue, had I known it off the bat, that there might be something wrong with
the unit or i was repackaged

So I took that unit back and with my SN cheat sheet checked the boxes at
another store. I found both V4.0 and 5.0 units. I chose the 4.0 because it
was more likely to run with 3rd party SW if I choose to use it.

As was suggested HERE (there were lots of suggestions) I connected my
existing network to the WAN port, let it DHCP from my main router and
reset the LAN port address to the subnet I am using

I was then able to connect to the internet wirelessly but not to any local
devices on my nrtwork. The local 192.168.0.x net did not pass throught the
WAN port.

After reading the docs I hard reset the wrt54, connected my existing
network to one of the LAN ports (WAN unconnected). Then I went in with my
laptop wireless, with a static IP in the 192.168.1.x range and connected
to the WRT54 on 192.168.1.1 I reset the LAN IP address to and address in
the subnet I use - 192.168.0.x - reset the laptop static IP to one in the
192.168.0.x range, reconnected to the wrt54. Then in advanced settings
changed it from a gateway to a router (yes router!) Then I turned OFF DHCP
in the wrt54.

At this point I went back to DHCP on my laptop, reset the connection. It
aquired IP from my main router DHCP and viola I was on the net. I also
have full connectivity to my local network.

At this point I changed the SSID, setup MAC address filtering, WPA-PSK
security, and changed the router password.

So to summarize to ADD a wireless access point with a WRT54 you want to
use the LAN port(s) only - WAN unconnected, and use ROUTER mode. DHCP off
- assuming you already have it on your network elsewhere.

If I had this box to begin with I probably would have saved hours of time.
Oh well a learning experience.

Now what I want to do it get an amateur radio net going. Anyone in the
Richboro area that would like to try it? Experiments show that you can do
as much as 15 miles LOS point to point. This would be full power with 20
db gain antennas at each end.


****************************
*  Doug Crompton	   *
*  Richboro, PA 18954	   *
*  215-431-6307		   *
*		  	   *
* doug@crompton.com        *
* http://www.crompton.com  *
****************************


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