[ShadowProwler420]

A while back, I used this guide to turn my old Linksys WRT54G router into a makeshift wireless adapter for my Xbox360 (after all, why let M$ suck more money out of me when I can duplicate the same functionality with hardware I already have sitting around? ).

Everything has been working fine and dandy except for one minor thing that I have been trying to do recently. That being accessing my computers (for media sharing) via my Xbox360.

Can anyone give me some insight on how to go about setting this up? Although it being basic, I do have some networking experience under my belt (entry-level networking courses as part of my Computer Systems Administration degree), so I'm not totally green to the whole networking thing. Here is some background info on my network(s).....

Primary network: 192.168.X.X (using a 2wire gateway (modem/router combo) from at&t)

Secondary network: 192.168.2.2 (using the WRT54G with my Xbox360)

Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks in advance!

[JohnWill]

To start, does the media sharing work with a wired connection to the XBOX? The fact that it's connected wirelessly shouldn't really have any bearing here.

[TerryNet]

I don't understand your use of two networks, but don't expect it to be easy to access devices on different networks. You have another router in play that you failed to mention?

[ShadowProwler420]

@ JohnWill: Honestly, I can't answer yes or no to that. Simply because it isn't very feasible. My primary network is on a different floor than where my Xbox360 is set up. I concur with you, though, that the connection type (wired vs wireless) should not have any bearing.

@ TerryNet: The reason for the second network is because I found a way to use an old Linksys WRT54G router that I had sitting around as a wireless adapter/access point for my Xbox360 instead of trying to find an extra $100 for one from Microsoft. And in order for the router to function as the wireless adapter/AP, the router had to be configured with different network info than my primary. In the end, there is essentially a wireless bridge between the two networks. The second 'network' is actually only set up in order to obtain internet access on my game console. Other than that, there is no real need for the second network.

And no, there is no other router in the mix besides the one on the house network (a wireless modem/router gateway) and the one connected to my Xbox360 as a makeshift wireless adapter/AP.

[ShadowProwler420]

Getting right down to it, what I am trying to accomplish (the reason for this post/thread to begin with) is to allow the media sharing over the wireless 'bridge' that is set up between my primary network and my 360.

[TerryNet]

My idea of a wireless bridge, and the way I use one to connect a camera, is that it is a device that connects to a wireless network and provides an ethernet port (the inverse of a wireless access point). For ease of access and testing it is given a static IP address in the subnet of the network to which it is connecting (but outside the Dhcp server's address range). The device which connects to its ethernet port either obtains a dynamic IP configuration from the Dhcp server or is given an appropriate static IP address (in the same IP address range). If multiple ethernet devices are to be connected this way an ethernet switch is inserted between the wireless bridge and the devices. I understood your first paragraph in your initial post to mean that you were using a Linksys router configured as a wireless bridge, which would give you a built-in 4 port ethernet switch instead of a single port.

I still don't understand the second network.

[ShadowProwler420]

Honestly, neither do I. I just followed the guide I found (linked in my original post) and it works (for what the author intended for it). Maybe I used the wrong terminology when referring to a 'wireless bridge' that is between the two, but that is (in my mind, the way I understand the concept) what is essentially going on.

[dlsayremn]

JohnWill, TerryNet could the steps in red be the problem? Wouldn't he just want to turn off DHCP on the Client Router?

From instructions on setting up Client Router:
8.Change Internet Connection Type.Connection Type to Static IP
9.Change Internet Connection Type.Internet IP Address to 192.168.1.2 (or any IP between Host’s Local IP (192.168.1.1) and Host’s Staring IP Address (usually 192.168.1.100))
10.Change Internet Connection Type.Subnet Mask to value from step 3 above (usually 255.255.255.0)
11.Change Internet Connection Type.Gateway to Host router’s Local IP from step 3 above (usually 192.168.1.1)
12. Change Internet Connection Type.Static DNS 1 to Host router’s Local IP from step 3 above (usually 192.168.1.1)
13.Change Internet Connection Type.Static DNS 2 to DNS 1 value from step 6 above
15.Change Internet Connection Type.Static DNS 3 to DNS 2 value from step 6 above
16.Change Router IP.Local IP Address to 192.169.2.2
17.Change Router IP.Subnet Mask to 255.255.255.0
18.Change Router IP.Gateway to 192.168.2.2
19.Change Router IP.Local DNS to Host router’s Local IP from step 3 above (usually 192.168.1.1)
Press the Save Settings button, you will get Settings are successful screen, then press the Close button
Go to Start->Run, then type cmd, and press Enter

[ShadowProwler420]

Just for the record, when initially doing the configuration of the router, I chalked the IP address listed in step 16 up as a typo and actually configured it with 192.168.2.2

[TerryNet]

Yes, I agree that the red steps are a problem, or a symptom of the problem. I had assumed that the setup was a "normal" wireless bridge (or AP client) one. But those steps, which I had not read before, seem to keep the router function but change the WAN connection to be the wireless.

So, for a normal router there is a WAN ethernet port and the LAN consists of 4 ethernet ports and wireless; after those steps the WAN ethernet port is ignored, the WAN is the wireless, and the LAN consists of only the 4 ethernet ports.

In effect you have cascaded routers, the same logically as if you had connected a LAN port of the first to the WAN port of the second.

The last paragraph on that link is

If you have a modded Xbox running Xbox Media Center (XBMC) connected to the Client router and wish to connect to a shared folder on a PC connected to the Host router, you may have to connect by entering the IP address of the PC sharing the folder rather than browsing to the PC.

I would add that a computer connected to the primary/host router will not be able to access a device connected to the second router without, at least, the use of port forwarding or DMZ.

Sorry, ShadowProwler420, that I assumed the setup w/o reading your link; and thanks dlsayremn for waking me up.

[dlsayremn]

TeryNet, you are welcome. What I know about routers, I have learned here primarily from reading your and JohnWill's posts. Only have a modem/router with wireless myself.

Possibly dumb question, but what would happen if he changed the router's local IP address to 192.168.1.3, turned off DHCP for the router, and gave the Xbox 360 a static IP of say 192.168.1.4? Would he be able to get any connection that way?