long standing wireless issue

[Wilster]

i will try and lay this out as simply as possible!!

my house is setup as such:

Blueyonder modem -> *directly connected via cat5 to -> Belkin wireless cable/dsl gateway router 802.11g (Product ID: F5D7230-4) -> *sends out wireless downstairs* -> 1 desktop pc (this one, XP media edition and a netgear WG311v3 802.11g wireless PCI adapter) + 1 Laptop (sony running Vista + intel pro wireless card) -> AND ALSO Belkin Wireless G range extender/access point (F5D7130 (older version)) *it is located upstairs -> 1 laptop and 1 desktop both running XP SP2.


If you can manage to get through that, well done, but the best is yet to come.

Ok so, about 2 years ago i got my brother to sort the house out. The setup ended up as, the downstairs desktop and laptop both connected to the router fine (which is approx. 1 arms length away from the the desktop pc), and upstairs the laptop and desktop would connect to the extender/access point (the laptop connected wirelessly, the desktop connected via a CAT5).

All was dandy, signal stregnths were ok until lately, had a power outage which made whole house circuit go off! i have spent many an hour labouring over the network and i have got about 1/2 way there but there are some issues, both old and new which are annoying me.

You need to know that to get the access point/extender to work again, I had to go into the main router located downstairs and put in the MAC address of the AP in order for it to connect. In the 2/3 years I have owned the AP, I have not once been able to connect to it, everytime I have tried 192.168.2.1 in browser it just takes me to the main router over the wireless, even if I have a cat5 connected to the AP from a pc/laptop! PS. On belkin site, it says this AP only works with the router that I have

The first issue is that I need to be able to connect to the AP to check firmware etc.. I have searched for so long but only thing I can find is to alter the subnet mask that has been assigned to the PC I am trying to connect to the AP from?????

Secondly, this PC located 1 arms length away from the main router, was , in the past connecting fine to it with Very good/excellent signal. Now, it is trying to connect to the AP upstairs (I verified this using NetStumbler) and so i get Very Low to No signal at all!

I went on the laptop which is connecting to the AP upstairs and netstumbler told me there is a wireless connection next door with a WEP which is running on channel 11, the same as my AP, as well as telling me the main router is running on channel 12... all the more reason to be able to access this AP!

Furthermore, the laptop about 5 metres away in the other half of the room connects fine to the main router with very strong/excellent signal! I need to be able to:

A. Connect this desktop to the router right next to it, wirelessly
B. Be able to access my AP upstairs


If you can manage to get anything out of that then I am very grateful for taking the time to read it all and suggest some stuff for me, I just dont trust belkin customer support because I know they will have no idea what I am on about.

[Wilster]

anyone feel like helping!?