Joined: 26 Jun 2006 Posts: 8 Location: Mobjack, VA
Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 13:03 Post subject: Need Help in setting up client bridge, antennas
I'm trying to set up an extension to my wildblue access at the small marina I'm starting. My vision was for there to be 1 WRT54GL attached to the Wildblue connection and serving as router for my home wired network, and one WRT54GL as a bridge at the marina allowing boats to share my internet connection (for free - speed isn't great and no service).
I was told that I could configure the routers to make it work and for antennas I got 2 grid antennas to point at one another and a sector panel antenna with 120 deg. beam for the boats at the marina to "hit". Boat hits "enter" signal received by sector antenna and transmitted via grid to other grid at my home/office. All the gear is ready.
I flashed both routers first with dd-wrt 23 sp1 mini, then upgraded to standard (hoping that would fix my problems). I have named my routers Office Router and Marina Router. I followed a number of sets of directions, and here is where I am now:
Office Router - AP mode, IP is 192.168.1.1, subnet mask is 255.255.255.0, gateway and DNS are all 0's. DHCP is on. WEP is on. STP is off.
Marina Router - IP is 192.168.11, subnet is 255.255.255.0, gateway was all 0's tried 192.168.1.1, DNS is 0's. Client Bridge mode is on. Operating mode was changed from Gateway to RIP2 and the other router mode - left everything else on that page default. WEP same as other router, and SSID set the same. Went to status, wireless, survey and joined SSID successfully.
Wireless laptop 3 feet from Marina router only connects to Office Router (signal is low). Interestingly on WinXP Pro - on the Available networks page my SSID says excellent signal, but the connection icon in the tray says low or very low.
Computer hooked directly into Marina router can access the internet so it seems like something is working.
I can't figure out why the wireless can't see the client and connect to it.
Tried hooking an old D-Link WAP into Marina Router port (disconnecting computer), but can't get access page to come up.
Any help in trying to get this to work would be greatly appreciated.
Then I've got to figure out how to configure the antennas - grids will be 150' apart and pointing at one another, sector panel will have a 120 degree coverage of about 300'.
Thanks,
Keith _________________ 2 Linksys WRT54GL w/ dd-WRT 23 sp1
Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 145 Location: Jackson, TN
Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 13:49 Post subject:
I think what you are wanting is WDS.
In bridged client mode, the client router acts much like a client card in a computer. The wireless is not available as an AP. Computers connected by LAN to the client router get addresses from the main AP.
Joined: 26 Jun 2006 Posts: 8 Location: Mobjack, VA
Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 20:18 Post subject: It's working!!!
I reconfigured everything and used WDS with both routers as AP's and it worked!
Only problem was I finished everything about the time a thunderstorm was rolling through and my satellite connection went to about 45K versus usual of 450K so I thought something was terribly wrong! Working great now.
If anyone has any thoughts on the antenna configuration let me know.
Keith _________________ 2 Linksys WRT54GL w/ dd-WRT 23 sp1
Your antenna setup seems standard. 2 grids pointed at each other, and dedicated bridge units for "backhaul" traffic. Then a separate WRT with a sector for local client service. I'd rotate the dish to horizontal polarization if you haven't already, avoids some of the interference from other AP's which are typically set to vertial.
Joined: 26 Jun 2006 Posts: 8 Location: Mobjack, VA
Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 21:14 Post subject:
Thanks for the info. on the antennas. Do I set both of the antennas on the "client" - Marina Router to automatic. It's like one antenna (sector panel) is a WAP antenna and the grid is a repeater antenna.
Yes I did buy some lightning protection from Hyperlink when I got the antennas.
Thanks,
Keith _________________ 2 Linksys WRT54GL w/ dd-WRT 23 sp1
I'm not sure why you would want automatic? The high-gain antenna should be preferred, and depending on the diversity mechanism to always make the right decision is unreliable. Set TX and RX to the port with the best antenna.
Joined: 26 Jun 2006 Posts: 8 Location: Mobjack, VA
Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:43 Post subject: antennas
Hi Vincent,
Thanks for your help.
I have 2 directional antennas for the Marina Router - one (15dBi grid) to communicate 150 feet with the Office Router (another 15dBi grid) and the second, a 14 dBi 120 deg. beam sector antenna - this will communicate with the boats using laptop antennas and 2 out buildings - max distance is about 300'.
Thanks,
Keith _________________ 2 Linksys WRT54GL w/ dd-WRT 23 sp1
Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 980 Location: Coal Creek Canyon, Colorado
Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 14:17 Post subject:
Keith,
I think you should use auto/auto for antenna settings on the *WDS* router at the marina. _________________ linksys GSv2, Gv4, Gv2, GLv1, G-TM, Buffalo wbr2, whr, whr-hp, whr-g125, wli-tx4-g54hp, Moto wr850gp, Alix.3C2
Joined: 26 Jun 2006 Posts: 8 Location: Mobjack, VA
Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 16:50 Post subject:
Hi Vincent,
Yes the marina router has 2 antennas attached to it - the grid and the sector.
My thinking was that the grid would handle the traffic back to the Office Router and the sector antenna would handle the wireless client traffic.
Keith
P.S. I put the antennas and WRT in the utility shed and have some clients playing with the internet. Want to make sure I have the right configuration before I mount the antennas. _________________ 2 Linksys WRT54GL w/ dd-WRT 23 sp1