Two Modems, One DSL Connection

[rjbinney]

I'm thinking of setting up a connection so I can watch streaming video on my teevee; trouble is, that is the farthest point from where my wireless modem/router is, so I get a weak signal.

Moving that isn't an option.

I was wondering if I bought a second DSL modem, could I plug that in in the other room? And use both modems simultaneously?

Thanks.

[Quantos]

You would have to talk to your ISP, many will not support multiple modems.
Have you thought about either running an RJ-45 cable or using a high gain antenna?

[Rob Pomeroy]

Powerline adapters are an excellent, interference-free option.  They can be pricy, but they are almost completely trouble-free, which is more than I can say for wifi.

[Quantos]

Good catch Rob.

[TechGeek]

If you want 2 modems you will need 2 phone lines; so you have to pay extra.

[rjbinney]

So I'm thinking of trying out this powerline setup.

Here's what I'm thinking:

Currently I have DSL=>Modem=>Wireless Router

The signal isn't strong enough to reach upstairs.

So what if I plugged in a powerline adapter like this one and connected it to the modem... Then, upstairs, plugged in a powerline router and connected THAT to an additional wireless router... There's no reason that shouldn't work, right? Giving me two wireless networks off of one connection?

[joshuasabat2]

Two modems is not a good solution, because you have to pay extra money for that, but as my point of view there is no other alternative so you may buy two modems.

[rjbinney]

That's one modem, two wireless routers...

[Geek-9pm]

Use a second Wireless router as a relay. You find a location in the house where the second wireless can deliver good signal to both upstairs and downstairs. The configure it as a wireless bridge.

[rjbinney]

Wait-wha?

Skip the Powerline converter entirely? Does your basic wireless router have bridging capability?

Is this so simple that I've become a mouth breathing moron?

[Geek-9pm]

Here are the general rules.
The primary router is the one that connects to the internet. In my case it is a Two-Wire wireless router with DSL modem all in one unit.

The second (and third router) do not do DHCP. Each additional router has to have a base address the is a little different that the primary router, but in the same sub-group.

All rooters should use different wireless channels best results. Avoid adjacent frequencies.

In a bridge configuration the routers all use the same SID and secure and passwords.

If any ruter does not have the wireless bridge feature, it must have a direct Ethernet cable,.

So you need to chose devices  have that ability if you can not tie them with cable.

It takes a little experimentation to find a location for a  secondary router can bother get a signal from the primary and deliver coverage to remote computers.

I have found a good link yet, maybe somebody else has a odd guide. The eHow site has an article that does not even tell you as much as what I just said here. So they are not help.

If nobody else fins guide for you, I will be back later. My grown-up little girl has come to town with her hubby and they brought Pizza.  I will be gone for a while.

[Geek-9pm]

Here is a very good document.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Repeater_Bridge
New in DD-WRT v24 is Repeater Bridge mode. This extends your primary LAN via secondary router (bridge router) and also allows wireless clients to connect to your secondary router. This extends the range of your wireless network while simultaneously allowing wired clients to connect to your secondary router
....

Any  secondary router has to have the bridge feature if a Ethernet cable can not be run from the primary to any secondary.

[rjbinney]

If any ruter does not have the wireless bridge feature, it must have a direct Ethernet cable,.

Thanks! I'm going to presume thumb-typing (or pizza fingers!)...

To confirm:

The PRIMARY router does NOT need to have wireless bridge feature, just the secondaries.

Would you recommend going this route (no pun intended) over the one I outlined in my diagram?

Thanks for all your help.

(btw my Primary is an old (all the way back to 2007!!!!) ActionTec all-in-one modem/router. Everything is wireless in the house, I'm just tired of a weak signal upstairs - particularly now that the neighbors have password-protected THEIR wireless!)

[immental1200]

Set up as shown in diagram in picture.

On the second router have the SAME wireless SSID and make sure the security (encryption) settings are the same

DCHP MUST be turned off on the second router.

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[Geek-9pm]

immental1200
You can make your own power line adapters for short distances.
Can you explain to them how to make a power line adapter?
The telephone line also can be used if there is a phone outlet upstairs.
Any 802.11 thing with an antenna can be lightly couples to house wiring with mixed results. Sometimes it works great.

[Salmon Trout]

Thanks! I'm going to presume thumb-typing (or pizza fingers!)...

If you do that you'll make a "pres" out of U and Me. Geek insists on composing his posts on here using a microphone and voice recognition software, speech-to-text in other words, and he either cannot edit the results or does not consider it necessary. This means that most of his posts have some degree of mis-spelling and some of them are opaque to an amazing degree.

[rjbinney]

That's interesting about the DHCP. I would have not thought of that - although in hindsight it makes perfect sense.

(Honestly, I don't see a real difference between your diagram and mine - am I missing something?)


I presume (there I go again) that ANY wireless router can be the upstairs, secondary router. That said, setting it up is freezing my brain.

Thanks for the advice/direction.

[WillLik]

Well, I must mention a solution that has btought us a lot of happiness connecting to a wireless router ALL the way across the house.
I could run a wire and probably in less time. But this is so much fun!

I found this site one day following internet tangents one day.
http://www.usbwifi.orconhosting.net.nz/
It seems these crazy peeps like playing with this stuff a lot.

I drew a parabola on a 2 inch piece of craft foam and had it half done one day when my internet went out,

This cardboard box contains a piece of foam shaped like a parabola. The foam is covered on two sides with aluminum foil. A USB wifi adapter is inserted into the foam at the focal point of the parabola. The box was aimed at a house about 120 yards away and gave download in excess of 110K.
Pictures below.

I now have a similar box sitting up on a dresser serving wifi to that room. I really should tape it down, but if that computer looses connection I just have to go back and move it in place and say bad cat.






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[Quantos]

This cardboard box contains a piece of foam shaped like a parabola. The foam is covered on two sides with aluminum foil. A USB wifi adapter is inserted into the foam at the focal point of the parabola. The box was aimed at a house about 120 yards away and gave download in excess of 110K.
Pictures below.

So you are telling users how to steal internet from a greater distance?  Correct me if I'm mistaken, but that is certainly what it looks like.

[Salmon Trout]

So you are telling users how to steal internet from a greater distance?  Correct me if I'm mistaken, but that is certainly what it looks like.

The distance test might have been done by the wifi owner or with their permission; informal ad-hoc WLANs (wireless local area networks) and wireless community networks are not unknown; the Pringles tube type signal booster "Cantenna" is quite well known.

[Quantos]

The distance test might have been done by the wifi owner or with their permission; informal ad-hoc WLANs (wireless local area networks) and wireless community networks are not unknown; the Pringles tube type signal booster "Cantenna" is quite well known.

Well, I've been wrong before - it's entirely possible that I'm wrong again

[Salmon Trout]

Well, I've been wrong before - it's entirely possible that I'm wrong again

I don't say you are "wrong", only that wifi signal boosters have good uses as well as bad ones.

[Quantos]

I don't say you are "wrong", only that wifi signal boosters have good uses as well as bad ones.

Yeah, sometimes it's pretty easy to lose sight of the goal.
I do hope you aren't offended by my flippant remark, sometimes self deprecating humor is funny to me.

[Salmon Trout]

Yeah, sometimes it's pretty easy to lose sight of the goal.
I do hope you aren't offended by my flippant remark, sometimes self deprecating humor is funny to me.

I personally wasn't offended at all. Relax! I didn't think your remark was flippant. You are right to be concerned about wifi theft.

[Geek-9pm]

Yeah, sometimes it's pretty easy to lose sight of the goal.
I do hope you aren't offended by my flippant remark, sometimes self deprecating humor is funny to me.

I agree! One of the goals here is to have fun!

[rjbinney]

So back to our story... I bought the following last night and will try to install this weekend (unless you tell me I've got it all wrong!).

I bought a Belkin Powerline Adapter. Now it's called "VideoLink", and the marketing copy reads "VideoLink lets you connect your Internet-ready TV, Blu-ray™ player, or gaming console through any power outlet in your home", but I can't imagine it wouldn't work for laptops, too. Right? Right?

I also bought a second (Cisco) wireless router.

I already have an Actiontec combo DSL modem/wireless router. (It's configured with "no" security, but I do have MAC-level access authorization on it, so only approved machines can see the network.)

So here's what I'm thinking:

• Run a cable from the ActionTec modem/router into one of the Belkin adapters;
• Plug the Belkin adapter into a wall outlet (natch);
• Plug the OTHER Belkin adapter into an outlet upstairs;
• Run a cable from the upstairs Belkin adapter to the Cisco router;
• Surf the Internets* using my DSL connection, via the Cisco router, while seated comfortably on my third floor.

I'm a little confused how to configure the Cisco so it will work - but I presume it has a MAC that I will need to provide to the Actiontec, and I can give it the same SSID as the Actiontec and all will be swell. DHCP will be off. It will be like one big seamless network. Right? RIGHT???!?

(Do the Belkin adapters have MAC addresses?)

*(Let me be clear - I know I originally said I wanted to stream teevee, but it wouldn't suck to improve the wireless signal in that room! Yes, my objectives have changed...)

[immental1200]

Yes that should work, remember to turn DHCP OFF on the 2nd cisco router, and what about forgetting the MAC security and just shoving a WPA key on there? Very simple and quick todo, plus more secure as MAC authorization can be bypassed easily... trust me I have tried !

[rjbinney]

OK, thanks. I also wanted to buy a new antenna for the original Actiontec router - but no one in town had the right size, so on impulse I bought a new router, one of those super-fast N routers... If I'm happy with how that fares, I may return the Powerline (although I feel obligate to all y'all to try that out).

I'm curious though about the WPA vs. MAC security. It was my understanding that MAC was the safest - in that only those machines on the white list would even see the network, whereas a password can be hacked, blindly hacking a MAC address and finding an "invisible" network seemed a whole lot more daunting!

[immental1200]

When your laptop connects to the router it sends over its MAC address, with no security ANYONE can pick that outta the air... a hacker will then clone his PC to look like yours.

[rjbinney]

Next question:

I'm now trying this with a Belkin router as my "second" router (the one on the receiving end of the Powerline, replacing the Cisco router in the previous example).

1) Yes, I will turn DHCP off.
b) Yes, I will use the same SSID.
3) Does the IP/Gateway matter? For instance, the Actiontec is set up at 192.168.1.1, with an IP class in the 192.168.1.65++ range. The Belkin came preset at 192.168.2.1... Should I change to be the same?

Thanks for all y'alls help and patience.

[rjbinney]

And, to be clear... My presumption is, once this is set up, I can move from room to room and my computer will bounce from "RJB" network to "RJB" network relatively seamlessly... Like when you stay at a hotel and log on in the room, and then open your laptop up again in the lobby, it's getting on to the same network even though it's a different access point.

Is that close to correct?

[Geek-9pm]

Yes, that makes sense. The devices are called Acess Points.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_access_point
They can also be called 'wireless bridges.'
But not modesms. You tetle says two modems.

[rjbinney]

But not modesms. You tetle says two modems.

To be fair, that was two years ago when I was first trying to figure this out.

[Geek-9pm]

To be fair, that was two years ago when I was first trying to figure this out.

Right.