Multiple router/hub problems

[sneakzilla]

Hello, i just moved into a new apartment, and im having some trouble getting the network set up. I've attached an image i quickly made to help everyone understand my setup.

Computers 1, 2, and 3 can see eachother on the network, but they cant see computer 4, and computer 4 cant see them.

Also, the router is a linksys wrt54g wireless router... My roommates and i have laptops and we need the wireless connection for them.

any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris

[dkahindi]

Does computer 4 operate well through cable. I would doubt that this works, and if so, then I would think its a configuration problem.

[johnwill]

Well, the issue here is you connected one of the computers on the wrong side of the NAT layer of the router, so it's not surprising you can't see it. You need to have ALL the computers on the LAN side of the router if you want file/print sharing to work.

If you do this on the computer next to the modem, and any of the other computers, you'll see that computer 4 is on a totally different subnet.

Start, Run, CMD to open a command prompt:

Type the following command:

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

[sneakzilla]

would swapping the hub and router's positions do anything?

[johnwill]

Yep, that would put them all in one subnet.

[sneakzilla]

cool cool. its a shame, the wireless router looks really cool mounted on the wall!

[johnwill]

Mount it on the wall in the other location.

[sneakzilla]

ok, so my roommate has a spare wireless router, so we set that one up right next to the cable modem, replacing the hub.

Now, what settings do i need to change on the wall mounted linksys router to make it act like a hub? I would have just swapped the hub and router, but the hub would need to be mounted on the wall, and thats not really gonna work...

thanks again for all your help, you are a life saver

[johnwill]

Why not just use the hub? Are you intending on using the wireless in the second location? If so, the following is the recipe for configuring the second router.

Connecting two SOHO broadband routers together.

Configure the IP address of the secondary router to be in the same subnet as the primary router, but out of the range of the DHCP server in the primary router. For instance DHCP server addresses 192.168.0.2 through 192.168.0.100, I'd assign the secondary router 192.168.0.254 as it's IP address.

Disable the DHCP server in the secondary router.

Setup the wireless section just the way you would if it was the primary router.

Connect from the primary router's LAN port to one of the LAN ports on the secondary router. If there is no uplink port and neither of the routers have auto-sensing ports, use a cross-over cable. Leave the WAN port unconnected!

This procedure bypasses the routing function (NAT layer) and configures the router as a switch (or wireless access point for wireless routers).