Wireless routing woes

[BlackGarden]

I posted a few days ago about this, and I thought I'd fixed it (somehow), but as with most things which you fix without really knowing how, the problem has recurred!
To clarify things a little, I've attached a lovely diagram to this post.

Router A is connected to a cable modem, which is connected to the Internet. This is a wireless router broadcasting on channel 6. It is able to respond to pings.
Its IP is 192.168.1.1, and its subnet mask is 255.255.255.0.
Connected to router A is the desktop, which has full Internet access.

Router B is connected to router A. Here are a few of the settings which I've put in which I believe to be relevant:
SSID: Same as other router. The two routers are out of range of one another.
Channel: 11
DHCP: disabled
RIP: disabled
NAT: open
WEP settings: identical to those of the other router.
IP: 192.168.1.99
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
UPnP (whatever that is) is enabled.

Laptop A can successfully ping both routers with latency of < 0ms. Laptop B can ping laptop A with latency of < 10ms, but laptop A cannot ping laptop B.

Laptop B is able to connect to the Internet for very short periods of time, usually after resetting the wireless card. A similar laptop (same operating system, also with a static IP, but different wireless card) behaves in the same way. After losing their ability to access the Internet, both laptops can ping router B, but not router A.

I suspect that I may need to set up some static routes in one router or the other, but have no idea how to do this.
Running ipconfig on any connected machine shows the assigned static IP, the correct subnet mask, and the gateway of 192.168.1.1. DNS settings are all correct.

If you have any random ideas of anything I could try, please say, and if you need more info or want me to try something, just tell me what to do.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, I set up the network with the help of the ideas in this article on the Netgear knowledgebase. Router B is a Netgear WGR614, so the instructions were very helpful.

 

[JohnWill]

I suggest the following configuration for the two routers.

Connecting two SOHO broadband routers together.

Configure the IP address of the secondary router 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.

Disable the DHCP server in the secondary router.

Setup the wireless section just the way you would if it was the primary router.

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!

 

[BlackGarden]

Thanks for the response.

The IP of the secondary router is 192.168.1.99, and the DHCP for the primary router has the range 192.168.1.2 - 192.168.1.98. The IP of the primary router is 192.168.1.1. I have assigned all static IPs in the range 192.168.1.101 and over. (All these values suggested on the Netgear knowledgebase.)
DHCP is disabled on the secondary router.
One of the LAN ports from the primary router is connected to one of the LAN ports on the secondary router. This is the part that I thought was a bit odd on the Netgear knowledgebase, but it's nice to have confirmation that that's a "normal" thing to do in this situation! The WAN port is unconnected.

I'm pretty sure all the cabling must be ok, because this computer which I'm using now (laptop A on the diagram) is connected via a cable to the secondary router, and is able to access the Internet fine.

 

[JohnWill]

Why not use dynamic IP addresses on those machines? If it's connected as you describe, you should be seeing the DHCP server on the primary router.

I'd like to see this for the non-working laptop.

Start, Run, CMD to open a command prompt:

Type the following command:

IPCONFIG /ALL

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

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.

 

[BlackGarden]

Right, the awkward laptop is currently deciding to work, so I'm not sure how useful this will be. Anyway, here's the ipconfig from it using its static IP:

C:\Users\Admin>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : HLAPTOP
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11g Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0E-9B-D1-6C-8E
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::6d66:c694:72ab:fe9b%10(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.104(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 10 July 2007 13:55:25
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 17 July 2007 13:55:24
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 167775899
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8169/8110 Family PCI Gigabit E
thernet NIC (NDIS 6.0)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0A-E4-E1-BA-F3
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5efe:192.168.1.104%14(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{77440638-A591-4F57-9CC1-8B6B0AA11
ADD}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 10:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4136:e378:34ba:3bea:3f57:fe97(Pref
erred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::34ba:3bea:3f57:fe97%12(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

And here's the ipconfig after I disabled its static IP, disconnected, and reconnected:

C:\Users\Admin>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : HLAPTOP
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11g Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0E-9B-D1-6C-8E
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::6d66:c694:72ab:fe9b%10(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.3(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 10 July 2007 13:59:21
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 17 July 2007 13:59:21
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 167775899
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8169/8110 Family PCI Gigabit E
thernet NIC (NDIS 6.0)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0A-E4-E1-BA-F3
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5efe:192.168.1.3%14(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{77440638-A591-4F57-9CC1-8B6B0AA11
ADD}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 10:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4136:e38e:30b6:ae9:3f57:fefc(Prefe
rred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::30b6:ae9:3f57:fefc%12(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

C:\Users\Admin>

 

[JohnWill]

Right, the awkward laptop is currently deciding to work, so I'm not sure how useful this will be. Anyway, here's the ipconfig from it using its static IP:

... snip ...

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

You'll have to explain that one to me, I see DHCP enabled on this machine.

 

[BlackGarden]

That is strange... I'll have a poke through my adapter settings and find out what on earth it thinks it's up to!

Ok I think I figured this out. Right, if I go onto TCP/IP properties, and have it set as obtain IP and DNS automatically, then click advanced, then in the top box it says DHCP enabled, meaning that it is allowing DHCP to assign its IP address. If I set its IP and DNS in there, rather than allowing it to get them automatically, then click advanced again, the DHCP enabled message disappears.

Going to try using a static address at router end, and entering this into my adapter properties, but last time I tried this things went horribly horribly wrong!

Edit again: Well the internet's still working on the dodgy laptop, but as the problem was intermittent to start with, I'll leave a little while for things to go wrong before I draw any conclusions. Thanks for the help

 

[JohnWill]

No problem. When you decided it's fixed...

You can mark your own threads solved using the thread tools at the top of the page in the upper right corner.©

 

[BlackGarden]

Unfortunately I can't mark this as solved just yet I thought the thing was fixed because it worked all day yesterday, but I turned the laptop on this morning and lo and behold it connected to the network but could not connect to the Internet. Now if I use "diagnose and repair" and follow whatever advice it comes up with, I get the Internet for all of a minute before it stops working again.
Any other ideas? Is it anything to do with having to set up a static route so each router knows the other exists or am I barking up the wrong tree entirely?

I've also tried plugging in a different wireless adapter using the PCMCIA slot, but this just resulted in being connected to the network through two separate wireless adapters, without Internet access.

 

[JohnWill]

Do not start playing with routing, it'll drive you nuts, and it's not required.

Try these simple tests.

Start, Run, CMD to open a command prompt:

PING 216.109.112.135

Tell us the results.

PING yahoo.com

Tell us the results.



Start, Run, CMD to open a command prompt:

Type the following command:

IPCONFIG /ALL

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

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.

 

[BlackGarden]

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6000]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Heather>ping 216.109.112.135

Pinging 216.109.112.135 with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 216.109.112.135:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

C:\Users\Heather>ping yahoo.com
Ping request could not find host yahoo.com. Please check the name and try again.


C:\Users\Heather>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : HLAPTOP
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11g Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0E-9B-D1-6C-8E
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::6d66:c694:72ab:fe9b%10(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.104(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
192.168.1.99
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5efe:192.168.1.104%20(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
192.168.1.99
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 10:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4136:e37a:282f:1517:3f57:fe97(Pref
erred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::282f:1517:3f57:fe97%12(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

C:\Users\Heather>

... nada. Also tried with dynamic IP assigned by DHCP, but nothing there either

 

[JohnWill]

Boot in safe mode with networking and see if it connects properly that way. It's starting to look like some program that's running is blocking the Internet access.

 

[BlackGarden]

I have trouble with connecting in safe mode with networking. It doesn't detect any networks. I think that safe mode doesn't enable the driver for my wireless card properly, perhaps.

 

[bearone2]

why 2 routers, how many machines?

 

[BlackGarden]

Two routers are necessary due to a chimney in the centre of the house preventing wireless signal from being available all around the house from just one router (no matter where it's placed, somebody will find they won't get signal). Wireless access is required all around the house. We had an existing Ethernet cable run from one side of the house to the other to provide Internet access to a laptop on the opposite side of the house to the router, but now there are 3 laptops and some other wireless devices which need to use the Internet on this side of the house.
I wouldn't set up two wireless routers and go through all this trouble if it weren't necessary.
All the machines using the network are:
1 desktop on XP (wired to primary router)
1 laptop on XP (wired to secondary router), 2 on Vista (wireless)
2 Nintendo DS's (wireless)
1 Nintendo Wii (wired to secondary router)
and occassionally 1 mobile phone/PDA (wireless)