HOWTO: Use Linksys WRT54G as a wireless ethernet bridge

[DidlySquat]

well, you could always change the network your client WRT54G connects to by changing the SSID value that it's trying to connect to. While the wrt54g is not a dedicated bridge like the wet54g, it is MUCH more flexible and versatile, especially with the open source firmware versions available, which theoretically allow you to customize it to do pretty much anything that you want. You could even create your own firmware version by modifying the source (warning: this is WAY beyond what most people would do). So if in the future you'd like to use the wrt54g to serve a different purpose in a different network setup, you will be able to do that. Not so with the WET54g is a bridge only - but of course its advantage is that it is easier to set up because it has only one purpose.

 

[smokeyhill]

Originally posted by: mikelish
i am trying to get SMB (samba) networking to work for my xbox using Xbox Media Center. i had it working when my computer and xbox were both hooked up the wrt54g. now I put my computer on the dlink router. I can FTP into it but I can't get SMB to work anymore. maybe I didn't setup something correctly on my xbox.

I have exactly the same problem. I cannot ftp to the xbox however, and I have typed in instruction 10. With my wireless laptop connected to the main router, I can ping a PC on the other side of the bridge, and also my xbox attached to the main router.

When on the PC on the other side of the bridge, I cannot ping the xbox at all.

On another note, I have set up port forwarding for bittorrent (forward from main router to the bridge router, then from the bridge router to the PC) but my light stays yellow and my downloads are a lot slower then I'd expect. Any other notes?

Awesome guide by the way - very helpful and made my network what it is today! ;o)

 

[DidlySquat]

smokeyhill - that is strange: you say you can't ping the xbox from a PC connected to the client router ? can you ping other computers connected to the main router from the PC connected to the client router ? can you ping/connect to internet hosts such as www.wisc.edu from that PC ?

 

[smokeyhill]

didly squat - my setup is currently:


Study:
PC --- WRT54G **wireless ether***

Front room:
xbox -----¦
laptop ----¦----WAG54G


Now, all can access the internet.

Ignoring my previous post (I think it was actually flinging some pings wirelessly as I wired it up to the main router instead of wireless and got different results.)

But no PC, laptop, or xbox can ping each other over the bridge. They can ping each other on the same side. I did complete step 10 (pasted it in, I assume you start from the word "echo"?) but it still doesn't work...

 

[DidlySquat]

that's totally weird....
I understand that the WAG54G is connected to your cable/DSL line and is the gateway for the WRT54G, right ? can you give the address you're using for each router and the output of the "route" command on the WRT54G (after you telnet into it) ?

 

[smokeyhill]

Okay - config is as follows;

Main Router (WAG54G): ip = 192.168.1.1
xbox: ip = 192.168.1.144
subnet: 255.255.255.0

WRT54G: ip = 192.168.1.129
PC: ip = 192.168.1.140
subnet: 255.255.255.128

When typing in the echo command, there is no output. It just brings up another prompt. Should there be some kind of message confirming the change? If so, this may mean it has not been entered (by me!) correctly. Could you confirm from which point on the lin I need to copy and paste? Is it the WHOLE line, or are some of the first characters (ie #) not needed?

I'll get the "route" output to you when i get home.

 

[DidlySquat]

smokeyhill, your mistake is that you xbox (and possibly the laptop) is using an address that ends in a number above 128. All machines connected to the main router need to have addresses below 128 as the guide says after step 3:
"To make sure there is no overlap in the addresses assigned by the two routers, we have to make sure that your main router only assign addresses below 128 to its own clients".

So if you're using DHCP on the main router, you need to change that such that it only assigns addresses in the range 1-127. After you do this and reboot the affected machines, you should be able to ping from the PC connected to the WRT54G to any device connected to the main router. Also hopefully the revese ping will work.

 

[smokeyhill]

Originally posted by: DidlySquat
smokeyhill, your mistake is that you xbox (and possibly the laptop) is using an address that ends in a number above 128. All machines connected to the main router need to have addresses below 128 as the guide says after step 3:
"To make sure there is no overlap in the addresses assigned by the two routers, we have to make sure that your main router only assign addresses below 128 to its own clients".

So if you're using DHCP on the main router, you need to change that such that it only assigns addresses in the range 1-127. After you do this and reboot the affected machines, you should be able to ping from the PC connected to the WRT54G to any device connected to the main router. Also hopefully the revese ping will work.

DidlySquat, come over here for a great big hug... I have tears of joy in my eye!! ;o)

My assumption was that "making sure there was no overlap" merely meant no chance of an ip conflict - not that they must be 128 and below and 129 and up. Wonderful! All working!!

Now - any chance of helping with my bittorrent download speeds? ;o)

Currently, 192.168.1.1 (WAG54G) router is forwarding all BT ports to 192.168.1.129 (WRT54G). 192.168.1.129 is then forwarding all BT ports to 192.168.1.140 (PC which has BT running). But the light stays yellow and downloads are nowhere near as fast as they should be. Any suggestions at all? I tried Port triggering, but didn't make any difference and thought I might just be confusing the issue.

 

[Thraxen]

Hey all,

I've got Xbox problems using this guide too. I followed the guide almost exactly, the only difference being the IP ranges. My main router (D-Link DGL-4300) assigns IPs up to 192 and the client WRT54G assigns IPs starting at 200. My XBox is the only client on the client router and drawing an IP of 192.168.0.200. Most of the features work great. XBMC (which is my dash) says the XBox is not connected to the internet, but it is. The RSS feeds, weather, internet related python scripts, etc... work just fine. I can also FTP to my XBox just fine. But I can't get the SMB shares to work. That is a major hang-up for me since I rely on the SMB shares to stream media from my PC to my entertainment system via the XBox. This feature works just fine when both my PC and XBox are attached to the same router. I have seen a couple of other people post here with the same issue. So has anyone figured out the SMB shares yet?

[edit] Nevermind, I figured it out just a few minutes after posting. I had my SMB shares set-up in the XBMC XML file using my PC's name... I forgot that I needed to change this to the IP instead (just as the instructions from the OP state). Works fine now.

 

[DidlySquat]

smokyhill, glad to hear you got that working !!!!

regarding the BT issues, I'm not sure if the slowdown is caused by the client router setup. I've heard of similar BT slowdowns when a personal firewall software (e.g. windows firewall or zone alarm, etc) is used and configured improperly. So I suggest you check the firewall on the BT machine itself. Try turning it off and see if that helps.

 

[DidlySquat]

Originally posted by: Thraxen
Hey all,

I've got Xbox problems using this guide too. I followed the guide almost exactly, the only difference being the IP ranges. My main router (D-Link DGL-4300) assigns IPs up to 192 and the client WRT54G assigns IPs starting at 200. My XBox is the only client on the client router and drawing an IP of 192.168.0.200. Most of the features work great. XBMC (which is my dash) says the XBox is not connected to the internet, but it is. The RSS feeds, weather, internet related python scripts, etc... work just fine. I can also FTP to my XBox just fine. But I can't get the SMB shares to work. That is a major hang-up for me since I rely on the SMB shares to stream media from my PC to my entertainment system via the XBox. This feature works just fine when both my PC and XBox are attached to the same router. I have seen a couple of other people post here with the same issue. So has anyone figured out the SMB shares yet?

[edit] Nevermind, I figured it out just a few minutes after posting. I had my SMB shares set-up in the XBMC XML file using my PC's name... I forgot that I needed to change this to the IP instead (just as the instructions from the OP state). Works fine now.

Great !!! just one comment regarding the IP ranges - the clients attached to the main router NEED to have IP ending in number below 128. So you need to change your main router to assign IP up to 127 (instead of 192). If you read smokyhill's posts just before yours you'll see that devices attached to the main router which have addresses above 128 will cause mucho problemo.......

 

[smokeyhill]

Originally posted by: DidlySquat
smokyhill, glad to hear you got that working !!!!

regarding the BT issues, I'm not sure if the slowdown is caused by the client router setup. I've heard of similar BT slowdowns when a personal firewall software (e.g. windows firewall or zone alarm, etc) is used and configured improperly. So I suggest you check the firewall on the BT machine itself. Try turning it off and see if that helps.

No firewall software running on the client PC at all currently...

I have a couple of things to try, I'll come back if I'm still stumped, but any ideas in the meantime would be welcome!

Thanks again...

 

[DidlySquat]

I see.....reading your message again about the double port forwarding I remember that it's not necessary, and in fact it may in fact be causing the slowdown. You should be able to port forward directly from your main router to the IP of your BT machine (which is connected to the client router). The proxy arp setting is what enables that, and hopefully that will perform better then the double forwarding.

 

[wirelessjoe]

Thanks for Opening my eys, user1234 your original method work well, but I had some problem with connection to some host in my network

so

I install DD-WRT pre5 firmware on both of my Linksys WRT54G-v3 routers
1-wrt configure as normal AP local_sub_net-192.168.1.0/24
2-wrt configure as client local_sub_net 192.168.2.0/24

what I did to my client wrt is remove WLAN(eth1) from the bridge - under vlan configuration

then configure both routers WPA-PSK
reboot both wrts

everything works, no need to do any proxy_arp stuff

Note: what happend is client's wrt is getting ip address of 192.168.1.0/24 via dhcp server cool ! so this is not a True Client Bridge, but it is a True-Client-Routing-Bridge and that is what I like about this, Now I can attach as many routers and client pcs behind the Client-WRT with out any proxy_arp or mac_nat

:-hope my notes will help someone out there

Thanks

WJ

 

[smokeyhill]

DidlySquat, you've done it again.

Straight away my downloads jumped from 20k to around 180k.

Ta v muchly!!

 

[DidlySquat]

Originally posted by: wirelessjoe
Thanks for Opening my eys, user1234 your original method work well, but I had some problem with connection to some host in my network

so

I install DD-WRT pre5 firmware on both of my Linksys WRT54G-v3 routers
1-wrt configure as normal AP local_sub_net-192.168.1.0/24
2-wrt configure as client local_sub_net 192.168.2.0/24

what I did to my client wrt is remove WLAN(eth1) from the bridge - under vlan configuration

then configure both routers WPA-PSK
reboot both wrts

everything works, no need to do any proxy_arp stuff

Note: what happend is client's wrt is getting ip address of 192.168.1.0/24 via dhcp server cool ! so this is not a True Client Bridge, but it is a True-Client-Routing-Bridge and that is what I like about this, Now I can attach as many routers and client pcs behind the Client-WRT with out any proxy_arp or mac_nat

:-hope my notes will help someone out there

Thanks

WJ

ummm.....yeah, great but it's just that not everyone has two WRT54G routers. Most people already have some kind of wireless router, and this guide let's them connect devices, that have no wifi capability and are too far from the main router to be attached with a cable, to their network by adding a WRT54G as a client router. There is no need to change any of the settings on the main router, let alone replace it with another WRT54G. btw, if you have two or more WRT54G you can opt for WDS mode operation where wireless clients can roam between them and automatically connect to the strongest signal.

 

[majmera]

Hi Guys,

I have a question:
My apt community provides wireless internet. I have desktop that is not wireless capable (so I probably need a bridge). I also need a NAT capable router to be able to connect to my company's VPN.
Can I use a WRT54G with the modded firmware to perform the bridge function and connect to my VPN without having to buy another router?

thanks
Mayank

 

[DidlySquat]

The short answer is YES !

The long answer is YOU BET !

 

[xboxtrauma]

my stuff.

AP router: Netgear
client router: WRT54 GS v2.0
Either firmware: Freeman 1.04, WRT 22 Final

Originally posted by: Nutdotnet
My question is, and after reading this thread seems possible, but how exactly does one go about allowing PC1 and PC2 to speak to each other?

I have a modded Xbox that I am able to FTP into. The problem is, and why I'm currently not using the 54g in client mode, is that the DI-624 sees the WRT54g (192.168.0.112) but does not have a specific IP for the Xbox,

If you're using the Avalaunch dash on XBox with DHCP enabled you should see the IP address of your XBox in the lower left.

Currently I'm able to FTP into the xbox from a PC wirelessly connected to the AP, though I'm using my 54GS v2.0 in client mode per these instructions:

http://forum.bsr-clan.de/ftopic694.html


However this requires that your AP be able to create static routes.

 

[DidlySquat]

the instructions you linked above are almost the same as the initial version of the instructions in this thread, before the proxy_arp setup was added. The proxy_arp setting makes it a lot eaiser to allow communication between devices attached to either router. The method described in the linked thread to set up static routes is a lot less flexible and cumbersome.

 

[kkennedy070790]

Originally posted by: DidlySquat
the instructions you linked above are almost the same as the initial version of the instructions in this thread, before the proxy_arp setup was added. The proxy_arp setting makes it a lot eaiser to allow communication between devices attached to either router. The method described in the linked thread to set up static routes is a lot less flexible and cumbersome.

There is an easier and less confusing way:
follow these instructions on older DD-WRT, Sveasoft,Freeman firmware:

http://forum.bsr-clan.de/viewtopic.php?t=1750&highlight=bridge

Or, if you are willing to try-out Alpha software, try DD-WRT v23-Alpha:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/sneaks/dd-wrt.v23-alpha.zip

These are true layer-2 bridging - not a "pseudo-bridge" - no routing table adjustments or proxy arp needed. Works with any type of main AP. My AP is a DLink 524.

Kenny

 

[tjwenger]

Originally posted by: kkennedy070790
turn WRT54G into WET54G:
You need a firmware that has telnet ( I use DD-WRT ).

Starting w/factory defaults..
On the Basic setup page, disable STP
under Router IP, set the local ip to something not on your network (admin IP)
disable the DHCP server
click Wireless setup tab - basic settings
Wireless Mode: AP, Mixed, ssid does not matter (yet), set correct channel,ssid broadcast does not matter either..
click administration tab - Telnet enable
reboot the router..
set your ethernet card to static (temporarily) give it an ip address on the network of the admin IP (see above)
telnet to the admin IP
login as root (admin password)

~ # wl ap 0 (this puts the wireless card out of Access Point mode and into 'Ad-hoc')
~ # wl wet 1 (this puts the wireless card into bridging..)
~ # wl join netWork (join your network.. SSID goes here, if you are using WEP just do wl join by itself for options..)
~ # wl status
SSID: "netWork"
Mode: Managed RSSI: -37 dBm noise: -97 dBm Channel: 7
BSSID: 00:11:95:34:E8:8B Capability: ESS ShortPre ShortSlot
Supported Rates: [ 1(b) 2(b) 5.5(b) 6 9 11(b) 12 18 24 36 48 54 ]


~ #

thats it - now set your local network card back to dhcp, the main routers dhcp server will give you a new address.

I have no idea how to "save" this config, if the WRT54G is rebooted, you will need to telnet in again re-do the above commands...

Kenny

This worked phenominally on Freeman. Anyway we can somehow figure out to Save Telnet settings?

 

[kkennedy070790]

on DD-WRT you can save it to nvram like this

~ # nvram set rc_startup="wl ap 0;wl wet 1;wl join <SSID> <mykey>"
~ # nvram commit

I don't know of a way to save it in Freeman (I don't use it)

The alpha version of DD-WRT has it as a selectable option - see my post above for a link to it.

Kenny

 

[tjwenger]

nvram worked. Thanks KKennedy. You have no idea how cool this is for me! heh.

 

[MeatPoPsiclez]

Have you tried to see if any firewalling will work on the client wrt54g when in transparent mode?

I have a special application where I need the benefits of a subnet, without any of the traversal problems. Like others here I have xbox's on both ends that I want to use system link on. However, unlike others I do not want to share internet with the other side, and I don't much like the idea of having to enter all my ip and gateway info in statically on one side of the network. My solution is to insert a firewall blocking port 67 and 68 (dhcp/bootp) between the bridge and network b. I can then have a dhcp server on each side, as long as they don't pass out the same addresses, with 0 traversal problems. I'd really like to have the dhcp filtering on the bridge wrt54g itself. Can anybody try this out and see if my 'theory' works?

If somebody can give me a heads up on inserting firewall rules into iptables on dd-wrt I'll experiment myself.