[mustardxx]

Hi--

I'm trying to set up a home network where files/printer on my desktop can be shared over a wireless network. Here's how it's set up:

Desktop is connected to the internet via usb CDMA, which is my only internet connection. All laptops at home connect to the internet through the desktop's CDMA internet connection via a Linksys Wireless Router. there are no problems connecting to the internet, simply 'sharing' the CDMA modem's connection to the local area network.

CDMA modem-desktop-wireless router (via LAN)-laptops (wireless)

Now, I've set up file and printer sharing on the desktop, but since the router get an IP address from the desktop, at the same time giving IP addresses to the wirelessly connected laptops, I cannot 'see' the desktop computer from my laptop.

Now my question is: Is there a way to make all the computers visible to each other using this setup? the key is access to internet, which is only possible via usb (which is why I can't connect the router directly to the modem).

Any help on this will be greatly appreciated

[JohnWill]

Yep, you'll have to change the configuration of the router. This will eliminate the NAT layer and allow all the computers to be on the same subnet.


Connecting two (or more) SOHO broadband routers together.

Note: The "primary" router can be an actual router, a software gateway like Microsoft Internet Connection Sharing, or a server connection that has the capability to supply more than one IP address using DHCP server capability. No changes are made to the primary "router" configuration.

Configure the IP address of the secondary router(s) to be in the same subnet as the primary router, but out of the range of the DHCP server in the primary router. For instance DHCP server addresses 192.168.0.2 through 192.168.0.100, I'd assign the secondary router 192.168.0.254 as it's IP address, 192.168.0.253 for another router, etc.

Note: Do this first, as you will have to reboot the computer to connect to the router again for the remaining changes.

Disable the DHCP server in the secondary router.

Setup the wireless section just the way you would if it was the primary router, channels, encryption, etc.

Connect from the primary router's LAN port to one of the LAN ports on the secondary router. If there is no uplink port and neither of the routers have auto-sensing ports, use a cross-over cable. Leave the WAN port unconnected!

This procedure bypasses the routing function (NAT layer) and configures the router as a switch (or wireless access point for wireless routers).

For reference, here's a link to a Typical example config using a Netgear router

[mustardxx]

Hi John--

thanks a bunch for your reply. I've followed the steps you mentioned and now I am able to access from my laptop files/printer on the desktop!

Unfortunately, I've lost connectivity to the internet on my laptop... I'm not sure why that's the case considering I can 'see' the host (primary) computer from my laptop.

FYI, I'm using a WRT300N, now with NAT and DHCP both disabled (I just realized there's a 'disable NAT' option directly from the router. crossover cable is connected from primary's LAN to a LAN port (not WAN) on secondary router.

Any tips on how to proceed from here? I've tried to find a replacement for Windows ICS since it's so inflexible (and highly annoying), but all I could find is WinGate which costs more than 75$ for a license.

[JohnWill]

Well, I'm not sure there is a replacement for ICS with that environment. The way I'd have done this is not using the existing router, but rather a 3G router that would connect the CDMA connection directly and share it with all the systems.

I don't see why you've lost the Internet on the laptop, but maybe there's something different about that router. If you're using the "disable NAT" feature, you probably should be connecting to the WAN port of the router. Most routers don't have that feature, which is why we connect to the LAN port.


Let's see this from the laptop with the problem.


Try these simple tests.

Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD (COMMAND for W98/WME) to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands one at a time, followed by the Enter key:

NOTE: For the items below in red surrounded with < >, see comments below for the actual information content, they are value substitutions from the previous IPCONFIG command output! Do NOT type <computer_IP_address> into the command, that won't work. Also, the < and > in the text is to identify the parameters, they are also NOT used in the actual commands.

Do NOT include the <> either, they're just to identify the values for substitution.

IPCONFIG /ALL

PING <computer_IP_address>

PING <default_gateway_address>

PING <dns_servers>

PING 74.125.45.100

PING yahoo.com

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter to copy the contents to the clipboard.
Paste the results in a message here.

<computer_IP_address> - The IP Address of your computer, obtained from the IPCONFIG command above. (For Vista/Win7, the IPv4 Address)

<default_gateway_address> - The IP address of the Default Gateway, obtained from the IPCONFIG command above.

<dns_servers> - The IP address of the first (or only) address for DNS Servers, obtained from the IPCONFIG command above.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

[mustardxx]

Originally Posted by JohnWill

Well, I'm not sure there is a replacement for ICS with that environment. The way I'd have done this is not using the existing router, but rather a 3G router that would connect the CDMA connection directly and share it with all the systems.

That would have also been my ideal setup, but I am nearly-literally in the middle of nowhere with no easy access to luxuries such as 3G routers

I managed to make it work now- disabling NAT, DHCP but enabling dynamic routing (RIP). Given how tempremental ICS is in assigning the host computer an IP address, I went ahead and assigned it a static IP address (192.168.0.1), with the same DNS and default gateway. I tried leaving it on 'auto detect' but that never gave me anything but a headache.

So now the secondary router gets an automatic 'internet' IP address of 192.168.0.104, and everything seems going dandy! now let's just hope the electricity doesn't go off for me to have to repeat all that...

Thanks a lot for your help- now I understand how the routing works.

Happy holidays!

[JohnWill]

Glad it worked out.