Linksys BEFSR41 router problems and an interesting situation

[BigLurch]

I am currently using a Linksys BEFSR41 router connected to a DSL modem. Normally I don't have a problem, since I use the DHCP server and have the IPs assigned automatically. Here comes the interesting part.

There is another network downstairs that has cable internet, but I wanted to find a way to connect both networks to share files and play LAN games, not to share the internet between 2 broadband services, though that would be a nice perk if it can be pulled off. :)

I was able to connect the switch downstairs, a Linksys BEFSW11 to the router up here with a crossover cable. Everything works, but the cable internet connection preempts my DSL, and I can't even get a handle on my router configuration while automatic IP address acquisition is enabled.

When I specify the IP the router assigns, 192.168.1.100, I can access the network, configure the router, etc. but cannot access the Internet. I've tried fidgeting with WINS, setting the default gateway, DNS, etc. No dice. It's either go online with the cable connection, or not at all.

An interesting side note. I have an uplink port on the router, but the crossover cable didn't seem to work in that port. And Linksys documentation says that the Uplink and Port1 are shared, so if I plug something into the uplink, port1 is disabled. While this crossover cable was in the uplink port, I never did check to see if a connection was present even though no lights were active.

Any suggestions, ideas, etc. will be appreciated. Though I do have another network card lying around, I'm not too keen on opening the case unless it's absolutely necessary. :)

[Greenstead]

Thats an interesting problem.

Both routers have the same default LAN address (192.168.1.1) - thats a problem. Both have a DHCP service in them - thats another problem.

One way to solve this is to make both networks a single network on the same subnet. You would connect as you did by LAN ports on the routers (or the uplink port). Change the default LAN address in one router (say change the DSL router to 192.168.2.1 and turn off the DHCP service in that router). For PCs which you want to use the DSL router (i.e. your PCs) you have to manually change their NIC properties for gateway and DNS to 192.168.2.1

All PCs will then be getting an IP address from the wireless router. You will not be able to access your router without manually changing your IP address to an address on its subnet, say 192.168.2.100.

This is not a solution I would use because you are dependent on the other persons equipment.

A better solution would be keep the networks separate (i.e. change your router default as above) and route between the networks, maybe using your spare NIC. I believe that can be done but I never tried it myself. Maybe someone else can advise.

[BigLurch]

I don't hvae a wireless router, actually I just have one router total. The other is a plain switch used as a hub. Perhaps if I diagrammed the setup as such:


My Network Other Network


Broadband ISP 1 Broadband ISP 2
| |
PC1 -+ DSL Modem Cable Modem +-PC1
| | | |
PC2 -+-------- Router ---------------------------- Switch ---------+- PC2
| ^ ^ ^
PC3- + newly added cable


Broadband ISP 2 is the source of the DHCP problems. All of my PCs are given IPs by ISP2's DHCP server. I was wondering how to set up my Linksys router and my NICs to have my PCs connect to my router, and STILL be able to share files with network 2.

I have set my PC's NIC to default gateway 192.168.1.1, and my router's IP is 192.168.1.1, but this doesn't seem to work. I also need help with the DNS settings for both the router and my NICs. I have tried setting my router's DNS to 192.168.1.2, and setting the DNS in my NIC to the same, yet I still got IPs from ISP2, and not the expected 192.168.1.xxx numbers.

Do I need to set the gateway address to a different one other than the default 192.168.1.1 that the router is assigned?

[Greenstead]

I'm confused.

Can you check the model number of the switch downstairs. What is it? A Linksys BEFSW11 should be a wireless router. I don't find this model on the Linksys website.

Do you have multiple IP addresses from ISP1 or ISP2 or a single internet address for each.

I read what you said last post - I just want to be clear.

[BigLurch]

Oh, I'm sorry, I had the wrong model number. I was thinking of the BEFSR11 router for some reason. The actual model number, from the linksys website, is EZXS55W listed under wired switches and hubs.

The router has a single IP shared for my PCs, while ISP2 has purchased dynamic IPs.

[Greenstead]

I don't know how you can do this (I don't think you can).
Maybe someone else knows better.

I think you need a router in place of the switch and use a single IP for each ISP.