[Nadrii]

Here at home we have someone of a strange network setup and I'd like to see if anyone here can explain it to me to hopefully resolve a problem I'm having.

On the first floor the connection begins out of the wall and connects to a modem. That modem then connects to, for our purposes, Router A, a DGND3700 Netgear. That router then has an outgoing ethernet cable that goes back up through the roof to the second floor and across the house towards my bedroom. It ends at the entrance to my room and goes into Router B, a WRT54G. That router then has another outgoing ethernet cable that plugs directly into my (this) desktop.

The network map as per Windows looks like this:



When I type in 192.168.0.1 into my browser it prompts me to log in to the router downstairs.

However, and here comes the tricky part, I'd like to connect my brother's desktop who is in the bedroom right next to me to the internet as well. I can't connect him directly the way I do with this computer for reasons I won't get into. His wireless connectivity to the router downstairs is very poor. Router B serves two purposes: a) essentially act as an extension to the ethernet cable to my room and b) provide a much closer router for my brother to connect to.

My question is the this: is it possible for Router B to broadcast a different network than Router A such that I will be shown as being directly connected to Router B while my brother will be wireless connected to the network it's broadcasting, all the while my dad downstairs will be connecting wireless to Router A's network? Or is something like this completely out of the question?

Up until tonight there was a much different network map than the one shown above and I believe I did have my brother connected wireless to Router B. I was never sure which network I was technically on because I had internet either way. Everything changed tonight because my brother suddenly lost connection to Router B and when I went to view the network map I saw what you see above. I couldn't connect my brother to the router I thought I had him connected to.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I know it seems a little complicated but I'm hoping that someone can explain how this is working exactly. I'm greatly interested in knowing how exactly Router B is currently acting the way it is as simply an 'extension' of sorts and how to get it to act like a second router for the second floor, if that's even possible.

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Can you open a command prompt on your computer while connected to Router A and type

ipconfig /all

Then what you need to do is select the output text that you need to copy(all of it) and the paste it to notepad.
In the CMD box Right click the name bar at the top, go down to the EDIT menu and left click MARK.
This turns the cursor into a solid block.
Then it's just a case of highlight everything you want.
Then Right click the top bar again, go down to EDIT and select COPY.
Then it's a simple case of pasting it into Notepad.

Do this on a computer connected to Router A, and then on one connected to Router B.

I have limited knowledge after that, but perhaps one of the may knowledgeable people here can help more once they know the details.

Go ahead and leave off your external IP address though. We dont need to know that, also it can be a security risk.

Edited by Tim_the_WIzard, 07 April 2012 - 10:43 PM.

[Tim_the_WIzard]

Can you open a command prompt on your computer while connected to Router A and type

ipconfig /all

Then what you need to do is select the output text that you need to copy(all of it) and the paste it to notepad.
In the CMD box Right click the name bar at the top, go down to the EDIT menu and left click MARK.
This turns the cursor into a solid block.
Then it's just a case of highlight everything you want.
Then Right click the top bar again, go down to EDIT and select COPY.
Then it's a simple case of pasting it into Notepad.

Do this on a computer connected to Router A, and then on one connected to Router B.

I have limited knowledge after that, but perhaps one of the may knowledgeable people here can help more once they know the details.

Go ahead and leave off your external IP address though. We dont need to know that, also it can be a security risk.

Edited by Tim_the_WIzard, 07 April 2012 - 10:43 PM.

[Nadrii]

Here are the ipconfig logs for a laptop connected directly through an ethernet cable to Router A and my desktop connected directly to Router B.

As is probably obvious to an experienced user I can log in to both routers via my browser. 192.168.0.1 accesses Router A while 192.168.1.1 accesses Router B.

Attached Files

•  router a.txt   6.13KB   148 downloads
•  router b.txt   2.16KB   134 downloads

Edited by Nadrii, 08 April 2012 - 12:49 PM.

[Tim_the_WIzard]

Okay lets clarify: The computer connected to Router B does NOT have internet access?

In log B you have:

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : F4-6D-04-9A-AE-E5
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::a08a:a7fe:7f9a:71b8%14(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.101(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, April 03, 2012 9:56:56 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, April 09, 2012 10:12:59 AM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 301231364
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-14-A3-96-84-BC-AE-C5-1A-D0-5E
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

The DNS shows the address of the DHCP Server for Router A (192.168.0.1). I notice that Router B is assigning that PC a local IPv4 address. Try this on the computer connected to Router B:

Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > Right-Click on "Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2" > Properties > Internet Protocol Version 4(Properties) > Select Use the Following DNS Servers and make the first one 8.8.8.8 (Thats google's free DNS). Then open another command prompt and type:

ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /all

Then copy the output and post here again.
Also this post is a call out to anyone else to join in and help. My knowledge in networking is limited and Nadrii would appreciate your help.

[Nadrii]

Here's what I got.

It's also worth noting that my brother (Matias) has his computer now connected wireless to the network (Sepulveda) that Router B is broadcasting. Router A's network is called Sepulveda N. What I don't understand is the what exactly my computer is connected to. Is it bypassing Router B and connecting to Router A's network? How exactly is this working and what purpose does a switch serve? How is Router B becoming a switch?

Attached Files

•  router b 2.txt   1.94KB   135 downloads

Edited by Nadrii, 08 April 2012 - 01:33 PM.

[Tim_the_WIzard]

Because Router B in this case is now being used as a switch. A switch splits an existing internet connection in this case the one coming from Router A. So Router A is connected to the cable that comes in from the wall and then B acts as a switch to you because you are connected to it by a cable correct? Also does the other computer that we changed the DNS on have internet access now?

[Nadrii]

Yes, it's setup the way you're describing. And yes, I'm on the desktop connected to Router B and it's connected fine after I changed the DNS.

[Tim_the_WIzard]

Okay so we got the computer connecting to Router B to work with the internet. Whats next?

[Nadrii]

I don't understand how the network map windows is showing me displays Router B as two separate devices. I'm connected to it as a switch and my brother is connected to it wireless but they're different icons on there.

[Nadrii]

Anyone able to point me the right direction?

[rshaffer61]

Can you open a command prompt on your computer while connected to Router A and type

Harriet61 you never finished your post which may help to resolve the issue. Please post the instructions you meant to post.