Wireless AP help

[Thinktank]

Setting your router as an Access Point

In Access Point (AP) mode, the Router will need to be configured with an IP address that is in the same subnet as the rest of the network that you will bridge to.

1. Enable the AP mode by selecting “Enable” in the “Use as Access Point only” page. When you select this option, you will be able to change the IP settings.

2. Set your IP settings to match your network. Click “Apply Changes”.

3. Connect a cable from the WAN port on the Router to your existing network.

This is what the Belkin manual says for performing this procedure. They don’t make it sound all that incredibly involved
I’ve already called Belkin- many times and forgive my tone,
but they’re Indian and they are idiots.

I can read an instruction manual just as well as anybody, it’s the quotient of understanding that differs from person to person and in this case I, the one with the questions had a better understanding!

Moving on- Here’s what I understand. I understand that I need two compatible routers, in this case by the same maker: Belkin (check).

I understand that since one is a Wireless G and the other is a N1 router that only the “g” frequency will be extended if I am successful.

I understand that the WAN port is the port that would normally be used to connect the broadband modem. (check)

What I think I understand is that the “subnet” is referring to the “subnet mask” and that they should be identical (they currently are the same by default).(um,check?)

And finally step 2, from the manual quoted above is very ambiguous.

I can’t obviously set my IP address for the AP to be the same as the Primary router because if I did this, then I would not be able to access the configuration page for this specific unit vs the primary routers configuration page.
Which leads me to believe that only the subnet mask address needs to be configured. The manual is not very specific about this aspect of the setup.

For example, if the subnet mask address was 192.192.192.0, would I be leaving this the same on the 2nd unit or would I be changing the last octet to a number higher than 0 ( 1-255)? Say, 192.192.192.50?

How’m I doing? Because at this point, the internet works through the hardwired ports of the AP, but I have no real evidence that the wireless signal is any stronger than it was without the AP’s involvement at all -very disappointed since I’ve been at this awhile.

help… help please… approaching critical mass…

[Thinktank]

Addtionally, I have since noticed I now have another Wireless presence available- I was really hoping to have my AP be “invisible”.

In other words, when a person would use the “View available wireless networks” option that only my primary router would show-up.

I don’t want to make a second “door” for hackers and theives to use to get to me; I just want to extend the orginal wireless network so it is strong on both sides of the house.

Any ideas on this folks?

[Mangetout]

@Thinktank

How’m I doing?

It sounds like you’ve more or less got it, although the example IP addresses you mentioned are a little unconventional.

The device used as an access point needs to be configured as a node on your existing wired network. - so yes, if you’re using 192.168.1.x with a subnet mask 255.255.255.0, then it’s the last byte that you can change. You might need to tell the router to reserve whatever address you set the AP to as a static entry.

I don’t know whether the new access point will then provide DHCP services to its clients, or just pass them through to the existing router - probably the latter.

…I have no real evidence that the wireless signal is any stronger than it was without the AP’s involvement at all

-If it’s a wired connection from the AP to the router, then you could try turning off the built-in AP in the router to confirm that the new AP is actually working.

[Juggler]

About the network showing up in “View wireless networks” my advice is to not worry about it. Hackers and thieves out to get your aren’t going to find the network that way. They use software that can see the networks and sniff them even if they are invisible (Doesn’t broadcast its SSID)

[Mangetout]

Agreed. Disabling SSID broadcasting (and MAC address filtering, for that matter) increases inconvenience for the intended user, but doesn’t significantly increase security - as Juggler says - determined hackers can work around both of these measures quite trivially.
Decent encryption will defeat casual and determined hackers.

Security measures that are worthwhile include:
-Use WPA2 encryption with a long passphrase
-Change the name of your network so that it doesn’t identify your hardware(because there may be hardware-specific vulnerabilities) - choose a name that also doesn’t identify your physical location.
-Change the administrative login password from the default

[Thinktank]

@Mangetout

Agreed. Disabling SSID broadcasting (and MAC address filtering, for that matter) increases inconvenience for the intended user, but doesn’t significantly increase security

I am using the MAC address filtering feature and have found that it prevents me from logging on to the network if I’m not on “the list”.
It’s the least I can do at this point to prevent the neighbors from stealing bandwidth; most people just want a free ride, not a full on inspection of your life savings- but no worries as soon as I get WPA working it will be included. I am having some mixed results with compatibility; I had assumed XP could handle this with no problems- not so.

WPA seems simple enough as I went through the steps in the manual before, but some computers took it like a champ and others wouldn’t recognize the “universal key” I had created on the first machine.

Is there something in particular in the properties that I am looking for to make sure is present before I assume that the given XP home-loaded computer can work with WPA?

Well, I learned something today- but I still wish I could make both routers be shown as one in the “View available wireless networks” I guess if not for the sake of security than for mere convenience of not re-connecting to the strongest signal depending on which side of the house I am on. =/

Alot of my issues yesterday were just related to a stupid oversite of mine, primarily that my access point made it’s own connection and being that this is my first experience with this type of networking I had assumed that the access point would only act as an extension of the primary router’s signal.

Btw- for the sake of clarity, the last number in the string of the subnet mask was changed to a number higher than 0 by me yesterday.
If I understand correctly this is important for both routers to not have the same number in the last place of the subnet mask.
It was never directly said in the responses so I thought I’d emphasize this area of my previous question.