# Linksys WRT54G as WAP ???????



## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

This is on to Bell DSL - please, no discussion of the merits/or_not of Bell {Sympatico), please, I have no choice for the speed (and speed/price). I'd like to put off buying a new Access Point (WAP) before the "N" standard settles down. There are plenty of instructions how to do this, for example, no problem - doing it all over. My issue is (??) the router.

Sympatico Subnet Mask (here, anyway) is 255.255.255.255

The setting in the **STOCK** firmware is by menu, see attached, in which my SM is not an option.

??? WTF? To be able to see my Linksys, I need to be able to set the SubMask to 255.255.255.255

I have tried a lot of variations... without success. In order to configure the Linksys I have to take it out of the network, hard wire into it and go 192.168.1.1 on subnet 255.255.255.0

No way I can set it to be seen over the net.... which is not _cool_ if I have to, say, allow a visitor through my MAC filter...   I got a reputation to uphold here!   

Am I missing something??


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## harzack86 (Jan 30, 2005)

*Dd-wrt*

One thing you can do is:
1/ upgrade the firmware of your WRT54G and use DD-WRT instead. All instructions, warnings and files can be found there:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/ddwrt.php

2/ Use DD-WRT to seamlessly change your WRT54G into a WAP (Wireless Access Point), see how this works here:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Wireless_Access_Point

Hope this can help.


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## Guest (Feb 8, 2007)

is 255.255.255.255 a valid subnet mask?? I've never heard or seen someone using it before. And it's lame that the router doesn't let you type in your wubnet mask!


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## adam.sn (Feb 7, 2007)

I read somewhere that there is a problem w/ the most recent firmware in the WRT54Gv6 that prevents the macbook from being asigned a DHCP. I know... because i have both. You may want to try the second most recent firmware. Just a thought - of course you should do more research first.

You could also use static ip's 


- Adam


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

This is a v4 WRT54G... what version of DD-WRT? This is a pay for gig, right?


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## harzack86 (Jan 30, 2005)

rgray said:


> This is a v4 WRT54G... what version of DD-WRT? This is a pay for gig, right?


Check the 2 sites I gave you above. dd-wrt is 100% free.


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

*Id 10 T*

OK, got it with the standard Linksys firmware! 

Problem is of PICNIC, PEBKAC variety...........

Marginal 'add' (note lowercase of ADD) can be a difficult thing when not enough beer to dampen symptoms.

All working. thanks for the suggestions.

Yes, 255.255.255.255 was not the issue (actually 255.255.255.0 turned out to be correct...

The apparent step missed was to let computer used to configur re-establish after re-connect to DSL 'modem' which actually is a router with its own DHCP server... Ya gotta love Bell/Sympatico..... /smiles sheepishly/...

Done and dusted - sorry to have 'shared my pain'....


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## jdurston (Jan 28, 2005)

Here is a thread on web sharing through your router and modem with Bell DSL service.

http://www.ehmac.ca/showthread.php?t=40218&highlight=dyndns

I've since switched to Rogers and a WRT54GL router running DD-WRT. It's great firmware and offers performance increases and better stability even if you got it figured out with the Linksys firmware.


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## Apple101 (Jan 22, 2006)

rgray all you need to do to setup the Linksys as a Wireless Access point is you first need to ensure that your firmware is up to date from Linksys. I do-not recommend using a third party solution if the product is under warranty also third party solutions do-not come with any warranty or guarantee. 

Now once you have verified that the firmware is up to date (if necessary update it) then you will need to login to the router at 192.168.1.1 from there navigate from the setup page to the advanced routing page and in the drop down menu select routing.




mguertin said:


> is 255.255.255.255 a valid subnet mask?? I've never heard or seen someone using it before. And it's lame that the router doesn't let you type in your wubnet mask!


Well from what I remember in Cisco, in a class C network which is the type of network that rgray has you cannot have 255.255.255.255 as a subnet mask.


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

Apple101 said:


> rgray all you need to do to setup the Linksys as a Wireless Access point is


Um, yes. in post #7 above I admit my ineptness... I finally got all the steps in the right order.. I do agree re the 3rd party firmware - not happy with the idea of flashing my router - apparently it is possible, if unlikely, to turn it into a brick...

Again, thanks to y'all for your tips.


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## martman (May 5, 2005)

Apple101 said:


> Now once you have verified that the firmware is up to date (if necessary update it) then you will need to login to the router at 192.168.1.1 from there navigate from the setup page to the advanced routing page and in the drop down menu select routing.


If you could go into more detail as to what to do at this point....


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## jdurston (Jan 28, 2005)

You don't want to mess with the firmware if warranty is important to you, but you can get a WRT54GL for about $50 bucks so the worst case of bricking a router is not really that bad.

For the record, upgrading to 3rd party firmware is no different than updating to newer Linksys firmware. The process is the same.

Most after market Linksys firmwares came about because Linksys chose to use GPL Linux on some of their routers. They had to publish the source code publically which made it possible for motivated individuals to improve the programing. DD-WRT undergoes extensive beta testing long before any release becomes final. It is not some hack job firmware.


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## Terry O'Leary (Jul 21, 2003)

*WRT54G v4 and DD-WRT*

Count your blessings that you have a WRT54G version4. Linksys started "dumbing down" their product after that. The later versions have less built in ROM and RAM.

I am running the current stable release of DD-WRT and I am very happy with it. It runs best on version 4 and earlier of the Linksys product (WRT54G) because of the amount of RAM and ROM.

This is the 3rd router I have had and I expect it to last me some time. The other two were not replaced due to hardware shortcomings. They were replaced as the firmware had shortcomings and the product was no longer being supported by the manufacturer.

DD-WRT is open source so NO manufacturers permission is needed to keep on developing it. And it is being actively developed.

OpenVPN works with DD-WRT. I am currently investigating using OpenVPN to securely connect my roaming laptop with my home network. IPSec is another more common way of doing this but IPSecs main - and perhaps ONLY - virtue is that it was the first method of securely making a computer on the internet a part of your home network. There are arguments out there that OpenVPN is likely to be a more secure method than IPSec. DD-WRT supports both BTW.

DD-WRT lets me schedule when the radio on my router is on and off. When I'm asleep I don't need the radio on. When I'm at work I don't need it on.

DD-WRT lets me use DHCP with the following option. I can have certain MAC addresses automatically get assigned certain IP addresses. This means that my server always has the same IP address.

DD-WRT has yet to crash on me.

Cheers - Terry


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

Terry O'Leary said:


> Count your blessings that you have a WRT54G version4. Linksys started "dumbing down" their product after that. The later versions have less built in ROM and RAM.


Indeed. I was not unaware of the issue when I went looking to upgrade from a Linksys 802.11*b* router a while ago. There was a 3rd party firmware upgrade that would run a tiny Radius server on the RAM in the router. I saw this as a way to force anyone not recognised by the network to get a page that asked for a credit card number before logging in.... So that potential hackers have another hurdle to get over. I've lost track of that project -the WRT54G v4 has perfomed flawlessly and other projects that actually earn money, as well as life in general, have intervened so I let the firmware thing go. Now that my attention has been drawn back to it and that the WAP project is resolved, I'm again considering possibilities.


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