[Rynofasho]

Hello all. I'm having some issues in setting up a secondary router as a WAP. Here is my exact setup:

I have AT&T Uverse, with my Main 2Wire Router (Router1) downstairs.
IP ------------ 192.168.1.254
Subnet ----- 255.255.255.0
Gateway -- 192.168.1.254
IP Pool ----- .64 - .253

Upstairs router (Router2) is a Linksys WRT310N.
IP ------------ 192.168.1.1
Subnet ----- 255.255.255.0

On the second router, DHCP is turned off, as is UPnP and as you can see the IP is outside the IP Pool range of the main router.

Both setups have their own SSID but use the same network password.

I am wiring Router1 from the ethernet port to a wireless bridge that plugs into the wall. The second wireless bridge is upstairs and wired to an Ethernet port of Router2. At first I could not get this to work, but I brought down the main network on Router1, let it come back up, then powered up Router2, and voila, Router2 was connecting and assigning IPs via router 1 (so I would have to believe since DHCP is off) and everything on Router2 is fine and I get internet in my sunroom and patio.

Now, however, I cannot get Router1 to assign out it's own IPs. I can physically connect to the router, it just gets stuck in Acquiring Network Address and it can never find an IP, not even a 169. It just stays at 0.

Can someone help me out? I'm able to take screenshots and talk as needed but I'd really like to get this completely sorted out today or tomorrow so I can have trouble free internet everywhere on my property. Thank you!

[JohnWill]

Well, you should not have to change anything on the primary router to get it to work, so if it stopped issuing DHCP addresses, that probably has nothing to do with the other router serving as a WAP.

Are you SURE the secondary router DHCP server is disabled? Does this work if you disconnect the secondary router?

[Rynofasho]

100% sure DHCP is off. If a computer was still initially connected to Router1 (as I just tested on a different laptop), it is able to maintain and use that connection on Router1. It is only when I switch to Router2 and then go try reconnect to Router1 that it cannot acquire an IP. I pinged both Router IPs and they both responded, and if I manually assign out IPs (which is what I just did), I can use the net on Router1 and Router2, however I would prefer to not have to manually assign IPs to all devices (pcs, laptops, wiis, iphones, ps3, yada).

Even with the manual IP, I had to repair my connection once as it was timing out.

[JohnWill]

I got lost in the footwork!

Are you saying that after connecting to router 1 wirelessly, then trying to connect to router 2 wirelessly, you have a problem? That should be seamless, though you'll lose the connection briefly when you transition between routers.

I have three routers here, and I have them configured as follows.

1. All of the routers have the same SSID.
2. All of the routers have the same encryption key (important!)
3. Each router is on a different channel, I'm using 1, 6, and 11 here.
4. The primary router has the DHCP server enabled.
5. The secondary routers have the DHCP server disabled.
6. The secondary routers have a connection to the primary router on one of the LAN ports, the WAN port is unused and open.

I've configured a number of networks this way, and we've advised a ton of people here in the same configuration. With this configuration, the networks all appear as one network, and it will pick the strongest network as you move between wireless access points.

[Rynofasho]

What happened is I was originally connected to Router1, changed SSID to Router2 and got an IP fine, but when I tried to change BACK to the SSID Router1, I could not acquire an IP.

That being said, I do have different SSIDs for the two. My whole manual assigning of IPs was only giving intermittent connectivity anyhow.

I guess it would be a good idea then to try changing router 2 to the same SSID? Encryption type is the same, and encryption key is the same so that sounds like the only variable.

I read something http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/15...nt/index3.html there that says to give it a different SSID so I did that and was just flipping between the two as needed.

I'm changing back to auto-obtaining addresses.

One last caveat is that I don't have the ability to hardwire from router to router because they are on opposite ends of the house, so I am doing it with wireless bridges. So Router1 goes Ethernet-->Bridge-->Wall and Router2 gets its signal from the wall to the bridge to the ethernet port.

[JohnWill]

The wireless bridge shouldn't affect it, the connections should be the same. If the bridge is working properly, it should be transparent and act like a wire.

[Rynofasho]

So how would it determine which router it actually connects to? IE right now, I am sitting in front of Router1 downstairs and it says my signal is low. Also, my iPhone now keeps asking me for the network password, I input the right one, and it just says incorrect network password? I went back in to both routers to make sure passwords and SSIDs were the exact same.

Within your TCP/IP properties, do you have to disable some of the autoconnect stuff, like if it finds a signal?

[Rynofasho]

Also, more specifically, how would the router know to flip the signal from one to another? For example if I am using my iPhone downstairs and am connected to Router1, but then I go upstairs and outside and need to flip to Router2, how do I start that or what needs to be in place to get that to happen and also keep it from not trying to keep switching signals if you are in between ranges?

[JohnWill]

If you have it setup as I described, it'll choose the strongest network. As for keeping it from flipping when it's in between, I don't know of any way to avoid that. It's never been a problem here, so I've never thought much about it.

[Rynofasho]

Yep, now upstairs here, it is trying to assign my iPhone a 169 IP. It' can't get the address when it is trying to connect through the upstairs router

[JohnWill]

Something appears to be misconfigured in that case.

Can you connect to one of the wired ports on the router and get a connection? Can you connect directly to the wireless bridge with a cable and get a connection?