Adding an additional router?

billybag · 15 Apr 2015

Basically my room is separate from the main house and the WiFi barely reaches me. It has to pass through many walls, and there is also the distance. My phone is usually on the lucky side and i don't have as much of a problem; however, my laptop has a hard time connecting and keeping a connection. My PS3 as well. Fortunately i do have an ethernet outlet in my wall and that is what my PC is connected to and it is my main source of internet.

For a while now, i have been trying to connect a spare Linksys Wireless-G 2.4GHz WRT54GL router running Tomatoes 1.28 into the wall and using this as my own personal router. i have tried various tutorials on the internet, but have had no success in actually connecting to the internet. The working router that is in the house and the one i am trying to extend is a Netgear WNDR4300SW running V1.0.0.6SW firmware.

Now i am not looking to extend the wifi by connecting the two routers wirelessly, i doubt that i would benefit much from that. i simply want to connect my linksys into the ethernet port in my wall and have it work.

If someone can point me in the right direction or possibly expand on a tutorial that they are already familiar with, that would be awesome.

Windows Sniper · 15 Apr 2015

You should be able to stick the router in Access Point mode, which will effectively turn it into a switch and wifi extender.
#
Not sure on tutorials for your specific model however, but it should be under general management or setup?

billybag · 15 Apr 2015

Yeah i remember seeing that option. i think i did try it, but i couldn't even log back into the router afterwards to change/view other settings. You make it sound like it shouldn't be too difficult, so it probably is just a matter of toying with certain settings. I will keep playing around with the router then.

Windows Sniper · 16 Apr 2015

billybag said:

Yeah i remember seeing that option. i think i did try it, but i couldn't even log back into the router afterwards to change/view other settings. You make it sound like it shouldn't be too difficult, so it probably is just a matter of toying with certain settings. I will keep playing around with the router then.

The reason you couldn't log back in is that when you set it to AP mode, it will then grab an IP from the DHCP server and become another device on the network. You will then need to log into the new IP for that device.

So on the DHCP server, you should be able to see what the IP assigned to the AP would be.

To save headache however, if you setup the wireless network to mirror your current one, then set router to access point mode, it will remember the wireless settings and won't need any more configuration :)

I hope this helps some!

billybag · 17 Apr 2015

Thanks! It was because i was disabling DHCP Server. i read that that was what i was supposed to do; however, i left that unchecked and now Wifi works!

My PC on the other-hand, can't seem to find the new router (via wired connection)

im going to restart and see if that fixes it...

In Misc. section of Tomatoes, there is a secton called MODE and in its dropdown menu, you can choose Gateway or Router. i have it at Gateway, but i am wondering if it should be switched to router?

Fixed it. My IP was static. I let the router choose a new one for me. Everything works now. Hopefully i can make it static again, though

Windows Sniper · 18 Apr 2015

Good to hear that its working for you!

If you stick the static IP through the primary DHCP server, then it will stay static.

As for the MISC section, I am unsure to the differences, so some background research would be a good idea!

Anyway, glad this has resolved your issue :)