Strange setup partially working

[dixonge]

I've had a Linksys WGA54G connecting my HR20 sattelite box to my 2wire router working for some time now. Recently I decided to add a home-made NAS to the mix and have been experimenting with setup options.

Last night the setup that caused the largest number of devices to show up as being connected to the 2wire was something like this....

2wire -- cat5 -- WGA54G ~~802.11~~ Netgear WGR614v5 --cat5-- FreeNAS box

This seems to be using both the WGA54G and the Netgear wireless router in the exact reverse configuration from what they were intended. It seems like every time I unplug the WGA54G the FreeNAS box drops off the network. But it's hard to tell because the connectivity has been sporadic in general.

I did managed to connect to the FreeNAS WebGUI and setup one hard drive, but that's all so far.

Can someone explain why this worked at all, and if I can even use these wireless routers/adapters like they are currently configured? Better yet, if you have any ideas on connecting my HR20 satellite box and my FreeNAS PC (OLD PC) to my 2wire wirelessly I'm all ears...

 

[thiggins]

Sporadic connection could just be due to low signal level. Or if you left the NETGEAR's DHCP server on, clients could be getting an IP from it instead of the DHCP server in the 2wire.

I would convert the NETGEAR to an access point, then connect it to the 2wire. Then use the WGA54G (connected to a switch if you need more Ethernet ports) to wirelessly extend the network.

 

[dixonge]

The 2wire is on an outside wall and it's almost impossible to run an ethernet down that wall to connect to the 2wire. So I either run a CAT5 through the house on the floor or connect to it wirelessly. Thus, the WGA54G.

I was basically attempting to use the Netgear as a dumb hub and after spending several hours on it this morning I don't think there is any way of making that work. So I'm going to grab a cheap hub from Best Buy and hang it off the WGA54G and see if that works.

 

[dixonge]

Now that I've ditched the Netgear box, I have the WGA54G (game adapter) connecting to the 2wire router wirelessly. When I connect the FreeNAS box to the WGA54G it gets an ip via dhcp. I can ping the gateway (192.168.1.254) from the FreeNAS box. This also works if I connect a switch in-between the WGA54G and the FreeNAS PC. But in either setup I am unable to connect to the FreeNAS web gui interface via IP in my browser. Not sure if this is a FreeNAS issue or a problem with port 80 on the WGA54G.

 

[dixonge]

ok, all working now. Evidently when I dropped the WPA-TKIP security some devices were still trying to use it to connect. Reset the WGA54G and Airport Express and that seems to have fixed the issues.

Now to see if I can enable MAC address filtering without losing anything.