I want to wirelessly connect a laptop to the existing wired network. I have an old wireless NIC for the laptop (D-Link DWL 650), and an old wireless router (D-Link DI-713P). Both of the older wireless devices used to work with each other many moons ago.
The basics of the current setup are:
From a D-Link DI-804HV router:[ul][li]PC[/li][li]Vonage box[/li][li]Network Attached Storage device [/li][li]Netgear hub[/li][/ul]
From the hub:[ul][li]Mac[/li][li]Print server[/li][li]2 open ports[/li][/ul]
I figure I have three options:
[ul]
[li]I could replace the existing router with a new (modern) wireless device, and install wireless NICs in all machines. This is the most expensive option, and probably the most difficult (I’m fairly certain the above setup isn’t optimal, but everything finally worked). [/li][li]I could repurpose just the NIC in the laptop, and install a … a … a I have no idea what to get, but I’m assuming there is something that will pop into the hub, communicate with the NIC, and I’d be all set. [/li][li]The genesis for the OP — I could plug the old router into the hub, connect wirelessly to it, and from there get to the Internet and the NAS. [/ul][/li]Just trying my luck, I plugged the old router into a spare port on the hub. The laptop can see the old router (wirelessly), but nothing past that. I’ve turned the DHCP server off on the old router, and changed the old router’s IP address to 192.168.0.200, so that it was different than the main router and different from anything in the DHCP range. The main router can even see the old router in the DHCP client list – I see it has a different IP address (.197), but the MAC address matches the old router.
So… before I spend half the day futzing with things I don’t know much about, can someone let me know if the third option is even possible?
If I can’t simply repurpose all of the old equipment, can I get away with just adding a doohickey to the hub and having it connect to the laptop’s NIC? Is there a technical name for the doohickey?
Clearly I don’t know much about networking.
Thank you for saving my sanity.
Rhythm
It should work. Have you tried pulling power on everything and replugging from the modem on down? What brand/model is the old router?
Ah, that “should” word. Maddening hope.
The old router is a D-Link DI-713P
The new (in use) router is a D-Link DI-804HV
I rebooted (software-wise) the two routers, but following your suggestions, I’m unplugging everything. If I don’t make it back online in a few minutes, well, things went worse than they should.
What you want to do is convert your wireless router into a wireless access point. I’ve been doing this for the last five years or so since I switched to using a Linux router.
First, plug into one of the ports on the DI-713P with your laptop using a wired connection. Nothing else should be plugged into the old router.
Change the internal IP address (not the WAN facing IP) on the DI-713P to be one that’s not on the DHCP scope of the DI-804HV (I usually reserve the first 10 IP addresses for static devices, then allow .50 to .100 to be DHCP). 192.168.0.2 should be fine, assuming you didn’t give that address to any other device.
Then turn off DHCP on the DI-713P, as you want the DI-804HV to be serving IP addresses to your network.
If you have an uplink port (not the WAN facing port) on the router, connect it to one of the empty ports on the hub. Otherwise you may need a crossover cable to interconnect them.
Connect wirelessly, and you should get an IP address from the DI-804HV through the DI-713P. Now you should be able to use the Internet.
Nothing should be plugged into the WAN port.
Want to give it a shot and let us know how it goes?
Edited to add that yoyodyne is not correct. Since it has IP addresses on the same subnet on both the inside and out, it can’t route traffic properly. The key is to not use the routing capability of the router, and just use it as a dumb hub and WAP. Disabling DHCP on the DI-713P prevents it from giving its own IP out as the default gateway, and since the DI-804HV is giving out the addresses, wireless clients will use the new router as the gateway.
Heh… “should”
I’m starting to wonder if, given the age of the NIC and router (circa 2001), and that I’m hoping to stream music files from the 'net and the NAS, I might be better off with a more modern NIC and … and … and what, access point? If for no other reason than the fact that despite the wireless router sitting three feet from the laptop, I keep loosing the connection.
Ok, I’m pretty sure I can make it through everything else in your post, but one thing I don’t have is a crossover cable. The old router does not have an uplink port that I know of … that is, it has a port labeled WAN (I assume this is the WAN-facing port), and ports numbered 1 - 3. I also just did a search on a PDF of the manual, and found no occurrences of uplink.
So, I’m off to a box store to see if they have the right cable to try (and hope they’ll take it back if it doesn’t work).
Before you run away, check your new router and hub. Do either of them have uplink ports? That may be how they are currently connected. What’s the model of your hub? Maybe it has auto-uplink ports?
So much for knowing my equipment.
It’s not a hub. It’s a Netgear Fast Ethernet Switch FS605 V.2
Double checking the 804, I see nothing but the Wan and numbered ports, and a serial port.
Well, then you don’t need a special cable. The switch has auto-uplinks, according to a google search. Give it a shot.
It will work fine, Rhythmdvl, I’ve had this setup myself.
You’re almost there already - the only problem is that both routers default to the same IP-range for their LAN side: 192.168.0.0/24.
Don’t touch the main router (DI-804HV).
On the Wi-Fi router (DI-713P) do as follows:
[list=a]
[li]Log in to web admin interface as you did before[/li][li]At the screen Setup make sure WAN Type is Dynamic IP Address (you want the main router to supply this router’s outside IP adress - It’ll probably be 192.168.0.197 as before)[/li][li]At the same screen change LAN IP Adress to 192.168.3.1 - you wan’t to start a brand new subnet downstream from this router.[/li][/list]
Save the settings, but don’t reboot. If the changes are applied at this point you’ll have to connect to the web configuration at the new address (192.168.3.1), but you shouldn’t have to just yet.
[list=a]
[li]Enable the WiFi-router’s DHCP Server again - it will not mess with the other router’s DHCP server, since this server only works downstream.[/li][li]Save settings[/li][li]Connect the WiFi-router’s WAN port to a LAN port at the main router[/li][li]Reboot the WiFi-router[/li][li]Reconnect laptop wirelessly using DHCP (assign IP autmatically) and remember that the WiFi-router’s web config is at 192.168.3.1 now, but do check 192.168.0.1 anyway - it should now be the web config of the main router.[/li][/list]
My reading comprehension sucks. Aestivalis’ setup is better and should be preferred. Use mine if your Wifi router’s LAN-ports suddenly cease to exist 
.