2

I own a fairly decent but now antiquated Linksys WRT54Gv6 that I wish to upgrade with newer antennas for something of a specialized purpose. I wish to be able to extend my existing wireless network (broadcast on another, unrelated, AP) to this Linksys via Point to Point networking through DD-WRT. For this purpose I was looking into This High-Gain antenna.

However, the Linksys AP has two antenna ports. Would I be able to connect to my preexisting network with the Linksys with ONE antenna replaced with the said high-gain antenna, and the other left "as-is" with its current OMNI antenna? If this did work, would I also be able to, on the same AP broadcast a network for client devices to connect to? (which of course would then be forwarded through to the host network)

2 Answers 2

2

The answer is yes, and this is how you do it.

You should note:

  1. The Linksys WRT54G(v5 & v6) were "dumbed" down considerably after V1 & V2. version 5 & 6 only have two megabytes for flash storage (firmware) and 8 megabytes of RAM. So don't expect this to perform miracles.
  2. This device only has one radio, so it will be dividing its air time in half. 50% to the original AP and 50% acting as an AP.
  3. You will be forced to use "micro" versions of dd-wrt, which are notoriously buggy. you will have to tinker with loading different versions until you find one that is stable for what you are trying to do. ill see if i still have some v6-v8 wrt's in my junk box to see what version I settled on with these routers.

  4. this is neglecting the firmware update process, and assuming you are already running a version of dd-wrt micro on the device.


Step-1

login, click on the Wireless tab, then choose Basic Settings. Switch "Wireless Mode" to "Repeater," and the "Wireless Network Name" to the same as the main router you're going to be re-broadcasting. Don't worry about the bridged/unbridged radio buttons they will apply themselves later. Hit the "Save" button at the very bottom, but don't hit "Apply Settings" just yet.

wireless settings


Step-2

In the "Virtual Interfaces" section, below that main "Wireless Physical Interfaces" section you just modified, hit the "Add" button, then enter a new name for your repeater— don't use the same as your router, or else suffer the wrath of confused devices. Adding "Repeater" or "2" to the end of your main router's name is pretty sensible in most cases. If you prefer an access point that doesn't broadcast its name, save that for switching off later—while we're testing our repeater, we'll be using basic settings to make sure the connection goes through. Hit the "Save" button at the bottom again.

virtual interface


Step-3

With the main Wireless tab still selected, head to the "Wireless Security" sub-tab to the right. You'll see two interfaces again—a "Physical Interface" and a "Virtual Interface." In the "Physical Interface" section at the top, fill in the same exact security settings as your primary router—the security mode, the algorithm (TKIP or AES, generally), and the password any device would use to connect. You might need to jump back into your primary router settings to confirm these—that's fine, but do so from another device. Under the "Virtual Interface" section, set up the same exact security settings as your primary router, again. Hit the "Save" key at very bottom again and, again, avoid "Apply Settings" for the moment.

linsys-dd-WPA2


Step-4

Jump over to the Setup tab at the very top, then scroll down to the Network Setup section under Basic Setup. The main thing to do here is slightly alter the "Local IP Address" from what your primary router is. If you connect to your main router at 192.168.1.1, for example, set this repeater router to something like 192.168.2.1, or another number that you can remember in the second-to-last position. Hit (you guessed it!) Save.


Step-5

Finally, head to the Security tab up top, and in the Firewall section, disable the "SPI Firewall," and un-check everything under the "Block WAN Requests," except "Filter Multicast." Hit "Save" at the bottom one last time. Finally, head over to Administration, double-check that you've got your administrator password written down or remembered, and hit "Apply Settings" at the very bottom. Your router will reset itself now, so give it time to do so.

dd-wrt firewall


Step-6

Go the the advanced section for the wireless radio, make sure left (omni) and right (directional) antennas are set to diversity. Save & Apply.

note: I realize that this is a very old question, and only added this so other people searching would know that the first answer is not correct.

These instructions and images are from here. mainly because im no where near my router junk box. The emphasis is my own.

2

Apparently not - the antenna configuration is one OR the other - see http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/774970 for more info. (The device only has 1 radio ...)

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .