Set Up of WDS broke WinXP network printing.

[railserv]

   

WHR-HP-G54 Ver.1.40 (1.0.37-1.08-1.04)   X2

 

Set up 2 G54's as WDS pair as per instructions in manual.

 

The 1st G54 with WAN connection has hard coded IP of 192.168.11.137.

The other paired 2nd G54 has hard coded IP of 192.168.11.100.

 

The 1st G54 with WAN connection has a WinXP box connected to it via Cat5.

It prints to another WinXP box with a shared printer connected to a Netgear router which is connected to the DSL modem. 

 

The Netgear router hands out IP's in the 10.0.0.1-50 range via DHCP. I reserved 10.0.0.10 for the 1st G54.

 

Network printing from the WinXP box connected to the 1st G54 via Cat5 WORKED before I paired it to the second G54. After pairing, network printing was broken, that same WinXP box connected directly to the above Netgear router would print, just to check to see if network printing was broken in the WinXP box alone.

 

The 1st G54 with the WAN hands out IP's in the 192.168.11.2-64 range. There are two computers being served IP's by this G54, one in question plugged directly into the router and another from the 2nd paired G54. Have not tried to network print from the second computer.

 

At the moment have solved problem by plugging a 5-port switch into the WAN line and plugging the problem WinXP into that switch and also plugging 1 G54 into switch. But would not solve the problem of computer connected to 2nd G54 paired wirelessly to 1st G54.

 

Pleased with bridging was able to reach out 400ft to parts department. Network novice, please advise. 

[kevin]

Im sorry, 3 routers and 2 sending dhcp can get confusing...

Please correct what is wrong:

 

G54-1 (router) ==> connecting WDS ==> G54-2 (AP, bridged) ==> connected wired (through switch?) ==> Netgear (router)

 

G54-1 has an IP of 192.68.11.137, Sending out DHCP 192.168.11.(2-64)

G54-2 has an IP of 192.168.11.100, AP/Bridge

NTGR  has an IP of ?,                   and is sending you DHCP 10.0.0.(1-50)

 

What does it mean when you say that the NTGR reserves an address (10.0.0.10) for G54-1 if it has a 192.168.11.137?

 

Two (but total amount) computers from G54-1 cannot access a device (printer) that is connected to the NTGR!

One  (but total amount) computer on the G54-2 does not connect to the printer 

One (total amoutn) computer on the  NTGR does connect

 

Again, correct whatever is wrong!

 

Since I am slighty confused, this is a guess, but at the same time I am willing to bet that the issue lies in your IP addressing, especially if the last part I wrote is correct!

Unless your running supernets or vlans with trunking, you probably will not be able to access things on such different subnets (192.168.11.x and 10.0.0.x).

The best way to go about things is to have ONE router doing all the routing so that everything is on the same network. Though I do not know your situation and/or needs!

 

 Also, you want to plug ALL your devices into the LAN ports, except the modem goes into WAN!

Message Edited by kevin on 07-09-2009 03:35 AM

[railserv]

   

Close 2 routers and 1 AP, with 2 serving DHCP. Original Config with broken WinXP

network printing. 

 

WAN(DSL Modem)<------->Netgear IP 10.0.0.1 (DHCP 10.0.0.2-50)<----------> 

1st G54 IP 192.168.11.137(DHCP 192.168.11.2-64) <<<<<----WDS--->>>>>>

2nd G54 IP 192.168.11.100(AP switch to Bridge)

 

<-------------> wired    <<<<<<---->>>>>> wireless 

 

When you poll the NTGR about attached devices, it says the 1st G54 has an IP of 10.0.0.10 for the G54's internal MAC address.

 

The 1st G54 would hand out IPs to the one WinXP wired directly to it and the 2nd WinXP box connected wireless to the 2nd G54. The 2nd G54 is in the window of a metal building, which broadcasts into the building to a small wireless USB dongle that can't otherwise get the signal from the 1st G54.

 

Yes I think the problem is the boxes connected to the G54's cannot see the 1st range of 10.0.0.1-50 IP's. The wireless signal is too weak from the NTGR to the 1st G54 that is why it is wired.

 

Is there a way to associate the NTGR to 1st G54 put into bridge mode via wired connection so that the NTGR is handing out all the IP's in the network? So that I'm not working with 2 ranges of IP's.

 

I can sit logged into either G54 via web interface and log into the NTGR via web interface, so I sorta thought I should be able to reach all the devices connected to the NTGR too. Haven't tested that though, I should try to see if I can PING the box (10.0.0.3) with the networked printer on Monday.

 

This is the config at present to get network printing  . . .

 

WAN(DSL Modem)<------->Netgear IP 10.0.0.1 (DHCP 10.0.0.2-50)<---------->

Switch <--------------> 1st G54 IP 192.168.11.137(DHCP 192.168.11.2-64) <<<<<----WDS--->>>>>>2nd G54 IP 192.168.11.100(AP switch to Bridge)

 

WinXP box is also plugged into switch for network printing, would like to remove switch, plug WinXP box to G54 to get network printing from both WinXP boxes connected into G54's.

 

Thanks for your time and concern with this dilemma. 

 

[kevin]

railserv wrote:

Is there a way to associate the NTGR to 1st G54 put into bridge mode via wired connection so that the NTGR is handing out all the IP's in the network? So that I'm not working with 2 ranges of IP's.

Yes, The bottom/side of the router is a switch, set that to BRI (bridge) and make sure the NTGR is in a LAN port. When doing this the G54 automatically assigns an IP to itself (192.168.11.100), so if both G54s are set to BRI and you have not changed the IP of either, will get an IP conflict (if they are connected) and at that point you will probably want to set an IP of 10.0.0.x on both G54s. 

Then you will only have one DHCP server (Netgear) and the G54s will act like a switch and everything will (at least should) have an IP of 10.0.0.x and can connect to each other.

[railserv]

   

So here's the final config.

 

WAN(DSL Modem)<------->Netgear IP 10.0.0.1 (DHCP 10.0.0.2-50)<----------> 

1st G54 IP 10.0.0.10 (AP switch to Bridge) <<<<<----WDS--->>>>>>

2nd G54 IP 10.0.0.20 (AP switch to Bridge) 

 

So starting with the 2nd G54, logged into the web interface and hard coded the IP to 10.0.0.20 and left unplugged.

 

Next went to 1st G54, logged in and changed IP to 10.0.0.10 and left unplugged. And then disconnected from switch and plugged both WinXP box and LINE FROM Netgear Router into LAN ports, this was one of my sticking points. I found a diagram on the Netgear website about AP's using only LAN ports to build the AP chain. I had the line from the Netgear plugged into the WAN port.

 

Went to Netgear router web interface and reserved 10.0.0.10 and 10.0.0.20 IP's. Unplugged Router, then plugged it back up, then plugged in 1st G54 and finally 2nd G54. Checked to see if I could PING the WinXP box (10.0.0.3) with shared network printer from both computers connected to G54's. Yes. Then tested network printing from WinXP boxes attached to 1st and 2nd G54's. Success!

 

Oddly enough in my original configuration I could log in wirelessly to either G54 from my laptop and PING the WinXP box with the network printer and get a reply. I checked before I set up the above configuration. And I could see the network neighborhood from the add printer browser dialog, but not the printer attached to the computer. Windows networking must not be as robust as IP networking.

 

Also when looking at "Attached Devices" in the Netgear router web interface, neither G54 shows up. But I remembered from an earlier conversation with Netgear tech support that the "Attached Devices" command was a bit sketchy and not always reliable when reported all devices connected to the router.

 

Thanks many times for your help and patience. 

 

[kevin]

Glad you got that working