I have an extra old win10 desktop with no wifi card.
I have an old netgear wrt54g version 8.1 & ethernet cord.

How can I connect that desktop with that router to my home router?

On Mon, 4 Oct 2021 09:57:40 -0700, Jerry <Jerry@JerryThinks.com> wrote:

>I have an extra old win10 desktop with no wifi card.
>I have an old netgear wrt54g version 8.1 & ethernet cord.

All of my old WRT54G routers have been Linksys, but no matter.

>How can I connect that desktop with that router to my home router?

The router needs to be placed into 'client' mode, and if your firmware is
like every stock WRT54G firmware that I've seen, there is no client mode
available. My recommendation is to check whether dd-wrt firmware, for
example*, is compatible with your particular hardware version. If so,
install dd-wrt and then you'll have access to client mode and you can
connect to your wireless LAN, assuming everything else is compatible and
working properly.

*dd-wrt, openWRT, possibly Tomato, etc.

Jerry <Jerry@JerryThinks.com> wrote:

> I have an extra old win10 desktop with no wifi card.
> I have an old netgear wrt54g version 8.1 & ethernet cord.
>
> How can I connect that desktop with that router to my home router?

Does the "home router" have RJ-45 Ethernet ports? If so, connect the
WAN-side port from your Netgear router to any of the RJ-45 ports on your
"home router".

Presumably "home router" means whatever you got from your ISP.

That gives you 2 subnets: the one for the Ethernet connected hosts to
the "home router", and its wifi radio (if it has wifi support), and
another subnet under your Netgear router. If you keep the subnetting,
probably best to configure your Netgear router to have its DHCP server
assign IP address that are not in the same range as for the "home
router"; i.e., use 2 different APIPA address ranges for each intranet
subnet. Else, check if your old Netgear router can be configured as a
switch (no IP assignments from it), so intranet hosts connected to the
Netgear router will be on the same subnet as intranet hosts connected to
the "home router". The "home router" DHCP server will assign IP
addresses to those connected to it along with assigning IP addresses to
the hosts connected to the Netgear router.

You can have some of your intranet hosts downstream to the "home
router", and some some hosts downstream of your Netgear router (with its
WAN port connected to an Ethernet port on the "home router"). You could
have all your hosts downstream of just the Netgear router: connect all
your hosts to the Netgear router, and the WAN port of the Netgear router
connected to any of the RJ-45 ports on the "home router", as shown in
the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eSvYPw8yug

However you connect your intranet hosts, the IP address of the Netgear
router must be different than the IP address of the "home router".
Don't cause conflict by having both using the same IP address.

The way the video instructs has your hosts on a subnet managed by the
Netgear router instead of disabling its DHCP server to let your hosts
get their IP addresses from the home router's DHCP server. In this
setup, your hosts are on one subnet managed by the Netgear router while
the Netgear router is on a different subnet under the "home router".

If you want all your hosts managed by the "home router" DHCP server,
convert the Netgear router to just a switch. See:

https://www.howtogeek.com/174419/how-to-reuse-your-old-wi-fi-router-as-a-network-switch/

Seems overly complicated. I suspect all you have to do is ensure the
Netgear router is assigned a gateway IP address different than for the
"home router" (but within the IP address range managed by the "home
router"), and disable the DHCP server in the Netgear router.

I suspect the article goes into disabling wifi on the Netgear, because
the Netgear is old and won't support the faster wifi protocols that your
"home router" can support. That is, don't bother using the slower wifi
of the Netgear, and instead have your wifi devices connect to the faster
"home router" wifi radio. The following article on changing from router
to switch is at:

https://dfarq.homeip.net/how-to-use-a-router-as-a-switch/

Personally I wouldn't bother making any changes to the Netgear router
(other than ensuring it uses a different LAN-side IP address than the
LAN-side IP address of the "home router", and change the DHCP range for
the Netgear to be different than for the "home router"), and instead
have 2 subnets: one under the Netgear router, and another under the
"home router". Routers can be chained. You only want to change them
into a switch device if you want all your hosts to be within a single
subnet (the switch is transparent).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_network

That lists the private IP ranges for the DHCP servers in your "home
router" and Netgear router. I don't know if automatic setup in the
Netgear will pick a different IP range for its DHCP server from that for
the DHCP server in the "home router".

In article <14754jikbbbtu.dlg@v.nguard.lh>, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH>
wrote:

>
> > I have an extra old win10 desktop with no wifi card.
> > I have an old netgear wrt54g version 8.1 & ethernet cord.
> >
> > How can I connect that desktop with that router to my home router?
>
> Does the "home router" have RJ-45 Ethernet ports? If so, connect the
> WAN-side port from your Netgear router to any of the RJ-45 ports on your
> "home router".

that won't work since his pc has no wifi.

what he wants to do is use the old router as a makeshift wifi card, and
to do that requires client mode, which requires a third party firmware.

rest of your response snipped since it has nothing to do with his
question.

On Mon, 04 Oct 2021 16:25:32 -0500, Char Jackson wrote:
> All of my old WRT54G routers have been Linksys, but no matter.

My mistake.

The spare router is the Linksys wrt54g version 8.1 router that I wish to
attach by Ethernet cord to the desktop to establish a wireless connection to
the old home Netgear N router.

>>How can I connect that desktop with that router to my home router?
>
> The router needs to be placed into 'client' mode, and if your firmware is
> like every stock WRT54G firmware that I've seen, there is no client mode
> available.

Using those terms I googled and got confused between "client" and "bridge"
and then "repeater", all of which came up in my search using those terms.

This converts the Linksys WRT54Gv4 into a "bridge" wired to the desktop.
https://nerdbacon.com/convert-router-to-bridge-v4/
https://www.techsupportforum.com/threads/solved-how-to-bridge-wrt54g-v8-to-fios.455257/
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/howto-use-linksys-wrt54g-as-a-wireless-ethernet-bridge.1115/
https://forums.overclockers.com.au/threads/cant-get-linksys-wrt54g-working-with-modem-in-bridge-mode.896821/

This converts the Linksys WRT54Gv4 into a "client" wired to the desktop.
https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/890590

This converts the Linksys WRT54G into a "repeater" wired to the desktop.
https://www.linksys.com/us/support-article?articleNum=133029

> My recommendation is to check whether dd-wrt firmware, for
> example*, is compatible with your particular hardware version.

Googling for those keywords comes up with this dd-wrt wiki page.
https://dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Linksys_WRT54G_v8.1
"The WRT54Gv8.1 router already has a Linux CFE in the flash. There is no
need for running any prep or killer file before the initial flash.

This model also has a 128K compressed CFE so it will load micro_plus and
micro_plus_ssh directly. Initial flashing of this model requires a modified
file with the proper header. You can obtain this file here. After this file
is loaded you can then upgrade to any micro_generic.bin file....or one of
the micro_plus, micro_plus_ssh mentioned above."

Looking up "CFE" shows it's a "Common Firmware Environment" I think.
https://www.linux-mips.org/wiki/Common_Firmware_Environment

> If so,
> install dd-wrt and then you'll have access to client mode and you can
> connect to your wireless LAN, assuming everything else is compatible and
> working properly.
>
> *dd-wrt, openWRT, possibly Tomato, etc.

This may be too complicated for me to change the operating system of the
spare router but I may try that if the bridge/client/repeater mode doesn't
work.

Are they all the same?

On Mon, 4 Oct 2021 16:38:02 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:
> Does the "home router" have RJ-45 Ethernet ports? If so, connect the
> WAN-side port from your Netgear router to any of the RJ-45 ports on your
> "home router".

I made a mistake when I described my setup.
I have an ISP provided modem which connects to my old Netgear N router.
That router is what I called the "home router."

The spare router is the Linksys WRT54g v8.1 which is currently unused.
The desktop is an old Windows 10 machine that has no WiFi but has Ethernet.

The home router has 4 Ethernet ports but it's too far away by cord.
Besides, the ISP's modem connects to the Netgear N router via the WAN port.

> Presumably "home router" means whatever you got from your ISP.

The ISP gave me a modem. But my Netgear N router is mine not theirs.
The ISP's modem connects to the Netgear N router via the WAN port.

> That gives you 2 subnets: the one for the Ethernet connected hosts to
> the "home router", and its wifi radio (if it has wifi support), and
> another subnet under your Netgear router. If you keep the subnetting,
> probably best to configure your Netgear router to have its DHCP server
> assign IP address that are not in the same range as for the "home
> router"; i.e., use 2 different APIPA address ranges for each intranet
> subnet. Else, check if your old Netgear router can be configured as a
> switch (no IP assignments from it), so intranet hosts connected to the
> Netgear router will be on the same subnet as intranet hosts connected to
> the "home router". The "home router" DHCP server will assign IP
> addresses to those connected to it along with assigning IP addresses to
> the hosts connected to the Netgear router.

I do not understand this idea but I like the idea of having two subnets for
the same ISP connection. Can you first tell me clearly how the wires go?

1. The ISP comes in through a modem which has one output Ethernet port.
2. The home Netgear N router has only one WAN input Ethernet port.
3. The spare Linksys WRT54gv8.1 router has one WAN input & 4 LAN outputs.

What setup are you striving for? You didn't mention if the "home
router" (ISP cable modem) is just corded, or includes wifi.

Note: Some diagrams are long lines, so you may wish to turn off
line-wrap in your client. My client was configured not to wrap lines
for the diagrams, so they can be long.

Using just Ethernet (cords), you could have:

modem (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) Netgear N (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) some hosts
|
|__ (RJ45) Netgear WRT (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) some hosts
|
|__ (RJ45) some hosts

Or, with just cable, and you chain the WRT after the N, then maybe:

modem (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) Netgear N (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) Netgear WRT (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) some hosts
| |
| |__ (RJ45) some hosts
|
|__ (RJ45) some hosts

You said "too far away by cord", but not for the Netgear N which
connects to the modem using its WAN port (RJ-45) to the cable modem.
So, maybe this setup that mixes Ethernet (RJ-45) with wifi for the
hosts, if the Netgear WRT is close enough for cord (RJ45) to the modem?

modem (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) Netgear N (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) some hosts
: | :
: | (wifi) ~~~~~ (wifi) some hosts
: |
: |__ (RJ45) Netgear WRT (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) some hosts
: :
: (wifi) ~~~~~ (wifi) some hosts
:
(wifi) ~~~~~ (wifi) some hosts

Or the Netgear WRT will be too far away from the modem for cable but not
for wifi, as in:

modem (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) Netgear N (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) some hosts
: :
: (wifi) ~~~~~ (wifi) some hosts
:
(wifi) ~~~~~ (wifi) Netgear WRT (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) some hosts
~ :
~ (wifi) ~~~~~ (wifi) some hosts
~
~~~ (wifi) some hosts

Or you want to chain the Netgear routers using cable between them, and
include both cable and wifi elsewhere, as in:

modem (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) Netgear N (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) Netgear WRT (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) some hosts
: : :
: : (wifi) ~~~~~ (wifi) some hosts
: :
: (wifi) ~~~~~ (wifi) some hosts
:
(wifi) ~~~~~ (wifi) some hosts

Or you want to chain the routers, but the WRT will be too far away from
the N to use cords, so you'll use wifi between the routers, as in:

modem (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) Netgear N (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) some hosts
: :
: (wifi) ~~~~~ (wifi) Netgear WRT (RJ45) _____ (RJ45) some host
: ~ :
: ~ (wifi) ~~~~~ (wifi) some hosts
: ~
: ~
: ~~~ (wifi) some hosts
:
(wifi) ~~~~~ (wifi) some hosts

With 2 connection modes from the modem (RJ45 and wifi), 2 from the
Netgear N (RJ45 and wifi), and 2 from the Netgear WRT (RJ45 and wifi),
and different ways to chain the modem and routers, I've missed some.

There are probably a couple configs I've missed. Which one above are
you trying to achieve? If not one of those, then show what config you
want. Note that not all connections are necesary. For example, with
you may not want just the Netgear N connected to the cable modem, where
I show hosts connected to the cable modem won't exist. Same for each
router: you might only one connection type to its downstream devices
instead of both.

In addition, the WRT could be used as a router, or as a switch depending
if you want devices and hosts under the WRT to be in the same or
different subnet than those under the N.

In article <j40hgpwohjhn.dlg@v.nguard.lh>, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH>
wrote:

> What setup are you striving for?

he explained that.

> You didn't mention if the "home
> router" (ISP cable modem) is just corded, or includes wifi.

he did mention that.

On Mon, 4 Oct 2021 15:05:41 -0700, Jerry <Jerry@JerryThinks.com> wrote:

>On Mon, 04 Oct 2021 16:25:32 -0500, Char Jackson wrote:
>> All of my old WRT54G routers have been Linksys, but no matter.
>
>My mistake.
>
>The spare router is the Linksys wrt54g version 8.1 router that I wish to
>attach by Ethernet cord to the desktop to establish a wireless connection to
>the old home Netgear N router.

That's what I expected and assumed.

>>>How can I connect that desktop with that router to my home router?
>>
>> The router needs to be placed into 'client' mode, and if your firmware is
>> like every stock WRT54G firmware that I've seen, there is no client mode
>> available.
>
>Using those terms I googled and got confused between "client" and "bridge"
>and then "repeater", all of which came up in my search using those terms.
>
>This converts the Linksys WRT54Gv4 into a "bridge" wired to the desktop.
>https://nerdbacon.com/convert-router-to-bridge-v4/
>https://www.techsupportforum.com/threads/solved-how-to-bridge-wrt54g-v8-to-fios.455257/
>https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/howto-use-linksys-wrt54g-as-a-wireless-ethernet-bridge.1115/
>https://forums.overclockers.com.au/threads/cant-get-linksys-wrt54g-working-with-modem-in-bridge-mode.896821/
>
>This converts the Linksys WRT54Gv4 into a "client" wired to the desktop.
>https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/890590
>
>This converts the Linksys WRT54G into a "repeater" wired to the desktop.
>https://www.linksys.com/us/support-article?articleNum=133029
>
>> My recommendation is to check whether dd-wrt firmware, for
>> example*, is compatible with your particular hardware version.
>
>Googling for those keywords comes up with this dd-wrt wiki page.
>https://dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Linksys_WRT54G_v8.1
>"The WRT54Gv8.1 router already has a Linux CFE in the flash. There is no
>need for running any prep or killer file before the initial flash.
>
>This model also has a 128K compressed CFE so it will load micro_plus and
>micro_plus_ssh directly. Initial flashing of this model requires a modified
>file with the proper header. You can obtain this file here. After this file
>is loaded you can then upgrade to any micro_generic.bin file....or one of
>the micro_plus, micro_plus_ssh mentioned above."
>
>Looking up "CFE" shows it's a "Common Firmware Environment" I think.
>https://www.linux-mips.org/wiki/Common_Firmware_Environment
>
>> If so,
>> install dd-wrt and then you'll have access to client mode and you can
>> connect to your wireless LAN, assuming everything else is compatible and
>> working properly.
>>
>> *dd-wrt, openWRT, possibly Tomato, etc.
>
>This may be too complicated for me to change the operating system of the
>spare router but I may try that if the bridge/client/repeater mode doesn't
>work.
>
>Are they all the same?

No, they're each different. A repeater isn't appropriate, so disregard that
option. Next, decide if the desktop should be part of your existing LAN
subnet, or should it be on a separate subnet. Normally, you'd want it to be
on the existing subnet. In that case, you want 'client bridge' and not
'client', if we use the terms as they're described at your whirlpool.net
link.
https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/890590

--
Stefan

On 10/4/2021 12:57 PM, Jerry wrote:
> I have an extra old win10 desktop with no wifi card.
> I have an old netgear wrt54g version 8.1 & ethernet cord.
>
> How can I connect that desktop with that router to my home router?

"...with no wifi card"

For $10, you could do a basic Wifi connection to the desktop.
Using this sort of thing, you don't have to open the desktop
or even power it off or anything.

https://www.newegg.com/tp-link-tl-wn725n-usb-2-0/p/N82E16833704141

Drop down to your local computer store and pick one up.

When I used that format of hardware, to get Bluetooth working
on the Test Machine, one of the problems was lack of
control of the radio signal. I grabbed an "extension cable"
that came with a motherboard, has USB on one end and a 2x5
pin header connector on the other end, to get a USB socket
that "peers from behind the PC" so the signal gets out. I did
that so I wouldn't have to drive off, just to get an extender
in town. At the time, I never imagined line-of-sight would
make that much difference, but it helps to be able to
position your new toy. These little toys don't always cooperate.

Paul

Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

> On 10/4/2021 12:57 PM, Jerry wrote:
>> I have an extra old win10 desktop with no wifi card.
>> I have an old netgear wrt54g version 8.1 & ethernet cord.
>>
>> How can I connect that desktop with that router to my home router?
>
> "...with no wifi card"
>
> For $10, you could do a basic Wifi connection to the desktop.
> Using this sort of thing, you don't have to open the desktop
> or even power it off or anything.
>
> https://www.newegg.com/tp-link-tl-wn725n-usb-2-0/p/N82E16833704141
>
> Drop down to your local computer store and pick one up.
>
> When I used that format of hardware, to get Bluetooth working
> on the Test Machine, one of the problems was lack of
> control of the radio signal. I grabbed an "extension cable"
> that came with a motherboard, has USB on one end and a 2x5
> pin header connector on the other end, to get a USB socket
> that "peers from behind the PC" so the signal gets out. I did
> that so I wouldn't have to drive off, just to get an extender
> in town. At the time, I never imagined line-of-sight would
> make that much difference, but it helps to be able to
> position your new toy. These little toys don't always cooperate.
>
> Paul

You don't have front-panel or top-of-case USB ports, or a shorty USB
extender cable (male to female USB-A), like Newegg's offering at
https://c1.neweggimages.com/ProductImageCompressAll1280/A6RA_1_201611191473118650.jpg,
to get the transceiver dongle out from behind the metal computer case?
A powered USB hub would work, too (powered to reduce concern over
plugging multiple USB devices into the hub).

I always get a case with front or top USB ports; else, use a shorty USB
extender cable. I hate having to reach behind the case, usually having
to move it forward to reach behind, to plug and unplug USB devices into
the backpanel USB ports.

On Mon, 04 Oct 2021 20:33:22 -0500, Char Jackson wrote:
> decide if the desktop should be part of your existing LAN
> subnet, or should it be on a separate subnet. Normally, you'd want it to be
> on the existing subnet. In that case, you want 'client bridge' and not
> 'client', if we use the terms as they're described at your whirlpool.net
> https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/890590

Thank you for the advice to flash dd-wrt onto my Linksys WRT54Gv8.1 router.

I flashed the Linksys WRT54Gv8.1 router with the correct "bin" file
"dd-wrt.v24-9330_micro_wrt54gv81.bin" which I downloaded from here.
http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/download.php?id=4470

To answer your question, I didn't see any reason I would not want the
non-wifi desktop on the same subnet as the rest of the house which means I
followed your advice to choose "client bridge" and not "client" mode.

I followed the instructions exactly at the Whirlpool page.
https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/890590

Everything worked exactly as it was documented except that I can't ping the
home router which is my gateway (192.168.1.1) or get on the Internet.

I established the WPA-PSK by clicking JOIN on the SITE SURVEY in the "DD-WRT
v24 RC-7 (03/19/08) micro" firmware and connected to the home router access
point SSID (adding the correct passphrase to connect).

Even though the DD-WRT "status > wireless" shows I'm connected, from the
Linksys to the Netgear, from the PC I can only ping the Linksys router
(192.168.1.200) which is set to the same subnet (192.168.1.100).

I'll write back when I figure out what step I'm missing still.

On Thu, 14 Oct 2021 15:37:42 -0700, Jerry <Jerry@JerryThinks.com> wrote:

>On Mon, 04 Oct 2021 20:33:22 -0500, Char Jackson wrote:
>> decide if the desktop should be part of your existing LAN
>> subnet, or should it be on a separate subnet. Normally, you'd want it to be
>> on the existing subnet. In that case, you want 'client bridge' and not
>> 'client', if we use the terms as they're described at your whirlpool.net
>> https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/890590
>
>Thank you for the advice to flash dd-wrt onto my Linksys WRT54Gv8.1 router.
>
>I flashed the Linksys WRT54Gv8.1 router with the correct "bin" file
>"dd-wrt.v24-9330_micro_wrt54gv81.bin" which I downloaded from here.
>http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/download.php?id=4470
>
>To answer your question, I didn't see any reason I would not want the
>non-wifi desktop on the same subnet as the rest of the house which means I
>followed your advice to choose "client bridge" and not "client" mode.
>
>I followed the instructions exactly at the Whirlpool page.
>https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/890590
>
>Everything worked exactly as it was documented except that I can't ping the
>home router which is my gateway (192.168.1.1) or get on the Internet.
>
>I established the WPA-PSK by clicking JOIN on the SITE SURVEY in the "DD-WRT
>v24 RC-7 (03/19/08) micro" firmware and connected to the home router access
>point SSID (adding the correct passphrase to connect).
>
>Even though the DD-WRT "status > wireless" shows I'm connected, from the
>Linksys to the Netgear, from the PC I can only ping the Linksys router
>(192.168.1.200) which is set to the same subnet (192.168.1.100).
>
>I'll write back when I figure out what step I'm missing still.

Be sure you haven't accidentally used the WAN port on the Linksys router.
Your PC needs to be connected to one of its LAN ports. The WAN port will be
unused in client bridge mode.

Be sure the Linksys doesn't have a DHCP server enabled. I don't think it
will, as long as you're using the client bridge mode, but it's worth
checking. If your PC is getting its IP info via DHCP, all of that should be
coming from your Netgear, not the Linksys. If you've manually assigned the
IP info on that PC, check that you've done it correctly. If manual, you'll
need to assign not only the IP address, but also the subnet, the default
gateway address, and one or two DNS addresses. Be sure you haven't assigned
an IP address that's already in use.

On Fri, 15 Oct 2021 00:46:47 -0500, Char Jackson wrote:
> Be sure you haven't accidentally used the WAN port on the Linksys router.
> Your PC needs to be connected to one of its LAN ports. The WAN port will be
> unused in client bridge mode.

I got the WRT54gv8.1 working on Ethernet by repeating all the steps again.
https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/89059

Someone somewhere said "dashes" don't work with dd-wrt so I changed the
router name from dd-wrt to just ddwrt (but I don't know if it was that).

Also I put a piece of tape over the WAN port but I don't think it was that.
Regarding the choice of "client bridge" and "client" mode, with client mode
you said that would mean the PC and router would be on a different subnet.

What does "a different subnet" mean in terms of anything that matters?

What advantage would it be for me at home to have a computer on 192.168.2.x
instead of 192.168.1.x like the rest of the house (and home router) is?

> Be sure the Linksys doesn't have a DHCP server enabled. I don't think it
> will, as long as you're using the client bridge mode, but it's worth
> checking. If your PC is getting its IP info via DHCP, all of that should be
> coming from your Netgear, not the Linksys. If you've manually assigned the
> IP info on that PC, check that you've done it correctly. If manual, you'll
> need to assign not only the IP address, but also the subnet, the default
> gateway address, and one or two DNS addresses. Be sure you haven't assigned
> an IP address that's already in use.

I don't know what 24 means but that's what I had the "IPv4 subnet prefix
length" set to on the Windows 10 desktop (which has a manually assigned IP
address). The Linksys WRT54gv8.1 router is assigned IP address 192.168.1.200
Win10 PC IP assignment is Manual
IPv4 address: 192.168.1.201
Ipv4 subnet prefix length: 24
iPv4 gateway: 192.168.1.1
iPv4 DNS servers: 8.8.8.8, 4.4.4.2

What does the 24 mean? (somehow it is 255.255.255.0 of course)

On Fri, 15 Oct 2021 18:28:40 -0700, Jerry <Jerry@JerryThinks.com> wrote:

>On Fri, 15 Oct 2021 00:46:47 -0500, Char Jackson wrote:
>> Be sure you haven't accidentally used the WAN port on the Linksys router.
>> Your PC needs to be connected to one of its LAN ports. The WAN port will be
>> unused in client bridge mode.
>
>I got the WRT54gv8.1 working on Ethernet by repeating all the steps again.
>https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/89059

Good to hear that it's working, but it would be nice (for you) if you knew
what the issue was. Possibly just a typo the first time around.

>Someone somewhere said "dashes" don't work with dd-wrt so I changed the
>router name from dd-wrt to just ddwrt (but I don't know if it was that).

Either way, that shouldn't affect networking.

>Also I put a piece of tape over the WAN port but I don't think it was that.
>
>Regarding the choice of "client bridge" and "client" mode, with client mode
>you said that would mean the PC and router would be on a different subnet.
>
>What does "a different subnet" mean in terms of anything that matters?
>
>What advantage would it be for me at home to have a computer on 192.168.2.x
>instead of 192.168.1.x like the rest of the house (and home router) is?

It means there would be two different/separate networks, joined together by
the Linksys router in your case. Besides needing to number the two networks
differently, the stateful firewall in the router usually means that your PC
can transparently access the other network and the Internet, but computers
and other devices on the other network can't access the computer on the
second (new) network. There's a valid use case for that, but it's an extra
level of complexity that most people probably don't need.

>> Be sure the Linksys doesn't have a DHCP server enabled. I don't think it
>> will, as long as you're using the client bridge mode, but it's worth
>> checking. If your PC is getting its IP info via DHCP, all of that should be
>> coming from your Netgear, not the Linksys. If you've manually assigned the
>> IP info on that PC, check that you've done it correctly. If manual, you'll
>> need to assign not only the IP address, but also the subnet, the default
>> gateway address, and one or two DNS addresses. Be sure you haven't assigned
>> an IP address that's already in use.
>
>I don't know what 24 means but that's what I had the "IPv4 subnet prefix
>length" set to on the Windows 10 desktop (which has a manually assigned IP
>address). The Linksys WRT54gv8.1 router is assigned IP address 192.168.1.200
> Win10 PC IP assignment is Manual
> IPv4 address: 192.168.1.201
> Ipv4 subnet prefix length: 24
> iPv4 gateway: 192.168.1.1
> iPv4 DNS servers: 8.8.8.8, 4.4.4.2
>
>What does the 24 mean? (somehow it is 255.255.255.0 of course)

The netmask (subnet mask, subnet prefix, etc.) is used on all outgoing
traffic to determine whether the destination is local or remote; meaning
whether the destination is on the local LAN or does it need to go to the
default gateway and get forwarded from there.

An IPv4 address is 32 bits in length, so a /24 netmask tells the local PC
that the first 24 bits of the IP address define the local network, with the
remaining 8 bits being used for hosts on that network. 8 bits give you 256
addresses, but .0 is reserved to mean 'this network', .255 is reserved as
the broadcast address, and one other address will be needed for the default
gateway. The gateway could be .1, but it can be any valid address from .1
to .254. That leaves 253 available addresses for hosts. The netmask can be
almost any value, but /24 is very common. All of the PCs and other devices
on a common LAN should normally use the same subnet value.

As you pointed out, /24 is just another way of saying 255.255.255.0. For
each octet of an IPv4 address, a value of 255 means each of the 8 bits in
that octet is a '1', while the 0 value of the 4th octet indicates that all
of the 8 bits in that octet are zero. From right to left, the 8 bits in an
octet have decimal values of 1-2-4-8-16-32-64-128. By flipping the various
bits from 0 to 1, you can make any value between 0 and 255.

On Sat, 16 Oct 2021 01:17:28 -0500, Char Jackson wrote:
>>I got the WRT54gv8.1 working on Ethernet by repeating all the steps again.
>>https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/89059
>
> Good to hear that it's working, but it would be nice (for you) if you knew
> what the issue was. Possibly just a typo the first time around.

Funny you mention a typo, as I was wondering myself what's was different.
I think the first time I ran through the steps I was robotically mechanical.

While I was debugging more methodically, I realized the problem was perhaps
most likely in the last step that paired the two MAC addresses of each
respective router. This step "appeared" to work, but the ping proved it
didn't actually establish a full connection (even though Wi-Fi pairing
appeared to have been established).

Only in hindsight after I googled and read descriptions (it was hard to find
help on the exact router & exact DD-WRT version though) did I realize that
most times people seem to manually type in the MAC address when they paired
the two routers.

I suddenly realized that I had never typed in any MAC addresses, so I looked
more closely at the click-click-click steps I had previously mechanically
performed without thinking of what I was doing that actually did that
MAC-to-MAC address pairing procedure for me (the pairing was all done
without me having to even know what the respective MAC addresses were).

While looking more closely at that MAC-to-MAC pairing step in this second
pass is where I changed the name of the WRT54gv8.1 router (now set up as a
client bridge) from "dd-wrt" to "ddwrt" (which I have since reverted back).

At the same time I changed the security protocol from "WPA-PSK [TKIP] +
WPA2-PSK" to "[AES]WPA2-PSK [AES]" (after doublechecking on the main
router).

Immediately I saw the Windows desktop taskbar showing that I was connected
to the Internet which leads me to believe the mistake was in guessing what
the protocol was instead of in checking for sure to match the main router.

>>Someone somewhere said "dashes" don't work with dd-wrt so I changed the
>>router name from dd-wrt to just ddwrt (but I don't know if it was that).
>
> Either way, that shouldn't affect networking.

While I was writing this up, I agreed with you, so I reset it back to the
original name with dashes, and rebooted the router and you were correct.

>>What advantage would it be for me at home to have a computer on 192.168.2.x
>>instead of 192.168.1.x like the rest of the house (and home router) is?
>
> It means there would be two different/separate networks, joined together by
> the Linksys router in your case. Besides needing to number the two networks
> differently, the stateful firewall in the router usually means that your PC
> can transparently access the other network and the Internet, but computers
> and other devices on the other network can't access the computer on the
> second (new) network. There's a valid use case for that, but it's an extra
> level of complexity that most people probably don't need.

Thank you for the explanation that having the desktop on a different subnet
than the rest of the house would allow my Ethernet desktop to access the
other computers in the house but not the other way around.

Truth be told, I never access any computer from any other computer in the
house so I guess it wouldn't make much difference but it's an added
complexity in the 192.168.{1,2}.x numbering system that I don't need.

>>What does the 24 mean? (somehow it is 255.255.255.0 of course)

> An IPv4 address is 32 bits in length, so a /24 netmask tells the local PC
> that the first 24 bits of the IP address define the local network, with the
> remaining 8 bits being used for hosts on that network.

That makes sense. Thank you for that explanation of the "/24" in the Windows
IP address manual setup. I knew /24 meant 255.255.255.0 but I didn't know
how until you explained it just now.

Some things for others to consider.
[1] I enabled the Windows tftp client but I never needed to use it because I
uploaded the DD-WRT firmware to the WRT54Gv8.1 router (using a javascript
enabled web browser) over a CAT5 cable (which was connected from the Windows
desktop Ethernet port to a LAN port on the Linksys WRT54Gv8.1 router).

[2] I downloaded a "killer" file (not even knowing what it really does) but
I never needed it (because the "DD-WRT v24 RC-7 (03/19/08) micro" firmware
itself was all I needed to put the WRT54Gv8.1 into "Client Bridge" mode).
Apparently that's because the Linksys WRT54Gv8.1 already has Linux & CFE
(according to https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=29049).

[3] I probably still need to change the DD-WRT DNS settings to use the home
router's DNS but I really don't understand what it means to set the DD-WRT
"Local DNS" on the WRT54Gv81 to 8.8.8.8 versus setting it to 192.168.1.1
instead.

[4] I was surprised there is no obvious setting inside of the DD-WRT
software interface to tell DD-WRT to get the IP address of either the
WRT54Gv8.1 router or of the Windows desktop dynamically. So that's why I set
up the PC with a manual static IP address.