I noticed an odd thing when I fired up my computer today, to wit the fact that the little networking icon on the taskbar seemed to indicate that I was not connected to a network, much less the internet, and this despite the fact that using a browser I could surf just fine. Also, the networking icon seemed to be disabled; clicking on it or hovering the mouse over it did nothing.
So I went to the Control Panel and displayed the network map, which I can do because I kicked Windows 8 to the curb and installed Windows Server 2008 in its place. And I got the map you see linked to above. Before I go on, I need to explain that the router labeled CDGxxxxx is the primary router that provides Internet access, and is situated in the master bedroom where I’m sitting now. The computer WIN-xxxxxxxxxx is my primary computer that I use most of the time, and from which I generated the network map. The other router, **2WIRE### **sits in the next room and is connected to the first one via an Ethernet cable. It’s there for a couple of reasons, one of which is simply to provide more reliable network access from the living room or second bedroom, which is two rooms away from the CDG router.
So what’s odd here? First of all, note that the computer I’m on,** WIN-xxxx **connected by default to the 2WIRExxx, in the next room, even though the CDGxxxxx router is right here in the same room with me. Possibly I overlooked a setting concerned with which router it defaults to, but what’s the big “Unknown” displayed on the map? You might say it’s a great big question mark, which, in fact, the map says it is.
Really!
Should I be concerned about this? Has someone hacked into my network? Both routers should be secure; you need a passcode to access either one unless your computer is already known to the routers.
My guess is that you used a regular ethernet cable between both routers instead of a crossover cable, so you actually have “two” networks. Extending your network with routers isn’t as simple as plugging them in to each other. One needs to be set up as a bridge or switch, while the other is the primary router.
You don’t need a crossover cable to connect two routers.
If it works don’t worry about it.
If you want to check your installation:
-Connect/configure the first router like you normally would.
-plug a straight cat5/5e/6 cable into one of the (typically 4) LAN ports, and the other side into one of the second routers LAN ports (not the WAN port).
-disable DHCP on the second router.
And then make sure that they are both within the same subnet. (They probably are, since the network works. But that step was left out.) Routers are generally not designed to check DHCP to get a dynamic IP.
Oh, I know it’s two networks; each router has its own WEP code and they show up separately on radar. I did use a regular ethernet cable as well, and it’s been that way for months. In fact, it’s because it is a plain vanilla ethernet cable that I’m surprised to see this additional object on the map, right in the middle of it as it were.
All Windows knows is that there is an IP network between 2WIRE and CGD. Thus the question mark. You can verify that there’s nothing between the two using “tracert” from a cmd window (DOS). Trace a route to any IP address and pay attention to the first couple hops. You’ll need to know the IP addresses for your two routers. Given you have them connected by a cable, this isn’t really necessary.
As long as you know what Jim-PC is, I wouldn’t worry.
Regarding which wireless router you’re connected to, you can control that by logging into the one you want. Once it connects to one, it’ll stay connected to that one until it loses the connection. It won’t automatically switch to the best at any given time, if I understand it correctly. That’s distinct from the case where you have wireless repeaters extending a single wireless LAN; I don’t know much about that case, but I know it works (at least, it happens where I work).
Most wireless routers, the ones I’ve owned anyway, can “bridge” your wlan; effectively using the second one as a repeater. (this doesn’t make your network better, it does stop the two routers competing for free channels and is more convienient as you only have to configure one wifi-network on your devices)
You really should use WPA2 instead of WEP. WEP is trivially easy to hack. Practically all routers sold today have WPA installed as do most wifi-capable devices.
