Topic: Trouble Adding a Linksys Wireless Access Point to the Networ

[Steve MacGregor]

I am having some trouble setting up the linksys wireless access point and 4 port switch I just got. The hub is a standard Netgear 4 Port Hub. The Access Point is a Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless Access Point Router with 4-Port Switch.

Original Network Configuration:
DSL Connection --> SME Server v5.5 --> 4 Port Hub --> Workstations (Windows and Linux)

Proposed Network Configuration:
DSL Connection --> SME Server v5.5 --> #1 and #2 below:
#1. 4 Port Hub --> Desktop Workstations
#2. Linksys Wireless Access Point (with 4 Port Switch) --> Laptops

Now, I am not sure if I am looking at this the right way, but it seems like I have two options on the basic networking of this setup. The first option is to run a line from the hub to the access point, and serve the wifi love to the world. Unfortunately I have had no luck here and can not seem to get the access point to be recognized on the network. The second option is to create a secondary local network from the server-manager and configure the access point as it's own internal network. This seems to be the most secure way to go. I am not so sure about the settings it requires, but I am sure I can figure those out within 10 minutes.

Now maybe the biggest problem is the most obvious. Where do I plug in the line to the access point. I can run a line from the hub to the port marked "WAN" or I can run a line from the hub to one of the switch ports on the access point. Another issue is whether I would need to Uplink from the hub to the access point or just run it through as I would another client. Is there a secure way to eliminate the hub altogether? That would seem like it would cut down on the nuber of cables, but I would rather have the security.

If anyone could help me out with this I would be most grateful.

Thanks in advance,

Steve

[Bill Talcott]

To connect two hubs directly, you need a crossover cable. An uplink port is a backwards jack, so it can be connected to another hub with a regular straight-through cable.

If you use the WAN port of the AP, you'll be adding in whatever features the AP has, like DHCP server, firewall, etc. This may cause problems. I'm using a D-Link router as a switch by disabling all those features, and running the PCs and a crossover cable to the regular ports.

Here's how I would do it...

DSL
|
SME
|
| (Cossover cable to regular switch port.)
|
Disabled AP ------- Wireless
|
Hub (If necessary. Straight cable to uplink port or crossover to regular port.)
|
Wired PCs

You'll want to make sure all the extra AP features are disabled so that it doesn't provide conflicting DHCP info or block traffic that you want to allow.

[Warren Agin]

I have a Netgear wireless router and set it up as follows:

Internet => Wireless Router (WAN side) => computers, including SME Server.

The router acts as the firewall.

Set up the router, not the SME, to handle DHCP, and reconfigure SME so it is no longer in Gateway mode.

You will have to give the SME server a static IP address, and configure the router so it supports a range of static IP addresses (the SME address should be in that range) and a range of dynamic addresses - for everyone else.

Assuming the router has port forwarding, make sure the relevant ports are forwarded to the SME machines IP address.

Finally, the router would point to the gateway for your DSL provider, while the SME points to the router as its gateway.

This works just fine for me. The only caveat is that the Neatgear router does not support port forwarding from inside the network so if I want to reach an address on the SME server I have to do so by reference to its IP address (IE http://182.126.0.2/user) instead of using the domain name.

[Bill Talcott]

Warren Agin wrote:
>
> I have a Netgear wireless router and set it up as follows:
>
> Internet => Wireless Router (WAN side) => computers,
> including SME Server.
>
> The router acts as the firewall.
>
> Set up the router, not the SME, to handle DHCP, and
> reconfigure SME so it is no longer in Gateway mode.

In this setup, the SME is acting only as a server. If you want to do things that way, it's fine, but you need to understand that the SME is no longer directly between your LAN and the internet.


> This works just fine for me. The only caveat is that the
> Neatgear router does not support port forwarding from inside
> the network so if I want to reach an address on the SME
> server I have to do so by reference to its IP address (IE
> http://182.126.0.2/user) instead of using the domain name.

This is quite common. Most routers (including SME) will only forward from the external interface, not the internal side.