Author Topic: Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router  (Read 8743 times)

mattack

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Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router
« on: April 14, 2011, 02:56:16 AM »

How can I bridge the Buffalo WCR-GN Wireless N150 that I just bought to a *different brand* of router?

 

I want to use it to connect my Tivos upstairs to my router downstairs (which happens to be an Airlink router).

 

I put it in bridge mode.. and I turn off WPS and WDS.  I now can't figure out how I can tell it about the router to connect to.

(If I have WDS on, it can see my downstairs router, but "fails exchanging keys" because the downstairs router doesn't do WDS.. and WDS seems to require security.)

 

If I can't do this, I guess I'll have to return this.  I had heard about how easy Buffalo routers were to use for this sort of thing.


Jotin

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Re: Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2011, 09:44:08 AM »

Your using another brands router, thats why its not easy. You have to install the professional firmware to this unit and then use it as a WDS AP. 


mattack

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Re: Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2011, 12:57:54 PM »

What "professional firmware" are you talking about?   This router doesn't support dd-wrt from what I can tell.

 

My downstairs router already works, so why should I have to replace both of them?  It was just my upstairs router (used to connect my Tivos) that died, so I wanted to replace it as easily as possible (and hopefully inexpensively).   I had heard about the Buffalo routers having bridge mode built in and supposedly being easy to configure.

 

Any information would be GREATLY appreciated.


Jotin

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Re: Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2011, 01:10:59 PM »

I'm sorry, I pulled up the wrong model number. This is not possible with your router. You would need the professional firmware and it is not available for your unit. 


mattack

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Re: Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router
« Reply #4 on: April 14, 2011, 04:39:39 PM »

So there is NO OTHER WAY I can *manually* enter the information to bridge to another router?

 

If not, I guess I'll strongly consider returning this unit.  What a shame, I thought Buffalo made things that would work together.

 

(I *might* try installing ddwrt on my downstairs router and then using the new Buffalo router as the new downstairs router.. but that's a lot of work for something that I thought would "just work".)


Madnick

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Re: Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router
« Reply #5 on: April 14, 2011, 05:04:08 PM »

WDS is the only way to link two AP routers together. That requires support on both routers. Nothing special about that.

You want a wireless client (a wireless ethernet converter) in your upstairs now, not a wireless AP.

 

DD-WRT has a wireless client mode, so alternatively you can install that in your downstairs router and move it upstairs, or buy a wireless client.


davo

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Re: Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router
« Reply #6 on: April 15, 2011, 06:02:55 AM »
This router has a slave(EC) mode so it should be able to connect to any existing wireless network. Let me know the IP range if your existing wireless network and the type if wireless encryption it uses then I should be able to send you step by step instructions.
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mattack

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Re: Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2011, 04:48:49 PM »

Can't you just post it here?  How can I put it into 'slave' mode?

 

I have no idea about the IP range of my existing wireless network.. I just know the name (of course), and the downstairs router does MAC filtering.


mattack

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Re: Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router
« Reply #8 on: April 15, 2011, 04:51:06 PM »

>DD-WRT has a wireless client mode, so alternatively you can install that in your downstairs router and move it upstairs, or buy a wireless client.

 

Is there a "wireless client" that is in the same price range as this one?  I honestly have thought about just swapping routers and installing ddwrt on the (currently) downstairs one.. but apparently it's actually tough to install the first time (I had someone else do it on my now-dead one).

 

I need the multiple ethernet ports of course too..


Madnick

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Re: Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router
« Reply #9 on: April 15, 2011, 06:34:54 PM »

Buffalo has this:

http://www.buffalo-technology.com/products/wireless/wireless-n-nfiniti-dual-band/wlae-ag300n-airstation-nfiniti-dual-band-wireless-n-ethernet-converter-access-point-and-bridge/

and this:

http://www.buffalo-technology.com/products/wireless/wireless-n-nfiniti-dual-band/wli-tx4-ag300n-wireless-n-nfiniti-dual-band-ethernet-converter/

 

Not too expensive...

But since your router has the "WDS slave EC" mode, that should also work as Davo stated. It's more or less a normal client mode.

 

Then again like Jotin here told, these new devices can't talk to each other very good, so if you want a rock solid connection and a device that actually work, then it's this one:

http://www.buffalo-technology.com/products/wireless/wireless-g-mimo-performance/wli-tx4-g54hp-wireless-g-mimo-performance-ethernet-converter/


mattack

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Re: Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router
« Reply #10 on: April 15, 2011, 07:39:34 PM »

The manual has absolutely no reference to the word 'slave' in it... and WDS seems to require it exchange keys between it and the other device...

 

So can you PLEASE give me EXACT details about what page in the web-based configuration I can make it connect to my other router?

 

Remember, this is the WCR-GN N150.


mattack

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Re: Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router
« Reply #11 on: April 15, 2011, 07:44:20 PM »

BTW, the  WLI-TX4-AG300N is $65 at Fry's (at least frys.com).  The other one mentioned shows up at $75 at the lowest from froogle.com.

 

Those are all multiple times what my original router cost that I installed ddwrt on.  (Yeah, I admit, one of them died.. I don't think I have the receipt for that one, and it's probably out of warranty anyway.)

 

The strange thing is that the *old* Buffalo routers that had bridging technology (but maybe they had this requirement that they only connected to other Buffalo routers too) were about $50.  This is before the Buffalo routers went away for a few years.


Madnick

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Re: Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router
« Reply #12 on: April 16, 2011, 12:26:57 AM »

I must say I'm not familiar with your new router, I just trusted on Devo here, he knows a thing or two...

Install DD-WRT to your old router then, cheaper than that it won't get. ;-)

 

In general on Buffalo routers the WDS thing goes like this:

1. Log in to your routers GUI, by default that's on http://192.168.11.1  username "root" and no password.

2. Go to "Wireless config" then "WDS" and tick it on.

3. Select the mode from a dropdown menu (Slave EC in this case).

4. SSID is your downstairs routers wireless network name.

5. Wireless authentication is your downstairs routers wireless encryption mode.

6. Wireless encryption is your downstairs routers wireless encryption type.

7. Key is your downstairs routers wireless password.

8. MAC address you don't need in slave EC mode.

 

 


doughonea

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Re: Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router
« Reply #13 on: July 27, 2011, 01:40:21 PM »

Set the device in bridge mode

Go to Wireless, WDS, choose manual, and enter the info for the AP you want to connect to.

Go to diagnostics and scroll to the bottom and see if you successfully connected.


ThomasJ

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Re: Bridge WCR-GN Wireless N150 to *other brand* router
« Reply #14 on: November 07, 2011, 12:39:44 PM »

Although this thread is fairly old, I thought I'd post a solution anyway for others like me that are in search of an answer. I see a lot of  "please e-mail me the how-to or step-by-step" which leaves the rest of us still searching.

 

I had the same problem; How to set this unit up in BRIDGE mode so that distant devices can connect to my wireless network?

 

After reading this thread, I was finally pointed to the key bit of information, what WDS is. I re-initialized my WCR-GN to factory defaults, set it to BRIDGE mode, then turned on WDS. Whew! There it was, the setups I was looking for. I selected manual setup, set it to WPAPSK w/TKIP and entered my Key Number. All of a sudden, my laptop connected to the wireless network through the ethernet cable connected and the server I also had connected to the WCR-GN via ethernet cable instantly showed up registered in my WiFi router connected to Verizon Cellular.

 

This may not be a fix-all but it was an enlightenment for me. I hope this helps any that travel through these Help-Me threads of knowledge.

 

Good luck and good hunting,

ThomasJ