Wireless Network Problem

[Gouki]

Hey gang...I've got a problem here. A guy that my brother works with is trying to setup a wireless network and he's run into a bit of a snag. It's a bit over my head...so I thought I would post the problem here in hopes that someone could help me out.

Take a look:

First, let me try and explain my architecture and hardware: My connection to the outside world (ISP) is a wireless connection running on 802.11b. This is broadcast through a line-of-sight repeater about 5 miles from my house. I receive this signal using a 24db antenna which is connected to what is called a WET11. The WET11 also known as an ethernet bridge and basically takes the coax input from the antenna and outputs to a ethernet connection. The WET11 has its own static IP and domain configured to work with my ISP. From here the plan was to run the WET11 to a wireless access point and firewall through an ethernet cable. I am currently attempting to configure a Netgear WGT624. I would then use a wireless PCMCI card and PCI card to connect my laptop and desktop computers into my home network. This "inside network" would be running on 802.11g. Now for the problem: I was able to set up my WET11 with no problems (it is a LinkSys ethernet bridge). I can then network my laptop to the WET11 and connect to the outside world - internet etc. This is done by configuring my laptop's network settings with a static IP, mask, and DNS from my ISP. However, when I attempt to add the wireless access point into the loop, the access point is able to see the WET11 and therefore the outside world. Basically what I have done is to connect the access point to the WET11 using an ethernet cable then connecting my laptop to the access point with another ethernet cable. In order to connect to the access point I need to reconfigure my computers network settings to DHCP. I have then configured the access point to the static IP, gateway and DNS that I had used on my laptop to connect to the WET11. I seem to have no problems communicating from my laptop to the access point. However, I have been unable to get the access point to see the WET11 and thus the outside world. What am I doing wrong??? Please let me know if you have any questions regarding my architecture or configurations. Sorry for the long winded explanation.

[R_1_Oh_Seven]

can u take son snapshots and send them to me r1ohseven@yahoo.com

im a visiual person

[R_1_Oh_Seven]

^^spelled wrong as in an accent i made

[kwebb]

Well he/she's not connecting both the bridge and a PC to an AP. An AP will have one ethernet port. What it sounds like is he is using a router/AP combo. The bridge would connect to the WAN port of the router. He could connect PC's via a wire to the Router's switch, or use the AP wirelessly. He would need to make very sure that the bridge and the AP are on different frequency bases (channels). As for the IP scheme. It all depends on how many IP's his ISP allows. If he has multiple IP's then he wouldn't have to use the WAN port of the router. As long as the switched ports are autosensing he could use standard Cat5 cable from bridge to switch, using that port as an uplink. If the switch ports are not autosensing he'd need a crossover cable from bridge to switch. Then assign IP's as he sees fit. If he has limited IP's, then the bridge would have one, and the router would have one. All internal IP's would be NAT'd by the router. He could let it's DHCP server handle that, or assign manually for a security layer. Frankly the information given just isnt' enough to give absolute resolutions. A diagram would be good as suggested but also information about how his ISP is handing out addresses. What they allow etc..

[Gouki]

Thanks for the replies thus far...I will pass along your advice kwebb and see what I can do about getting more information about the problem. A diagram is a good idea...definitely helps to visualize what's going on when you have something to look at.