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Is it possible to share an internet connection through WDS? I'm on the very edge of a wireless network, the spot that I'm in maintains a stable 22% according to XP with the help of a parabolic reflector crafted from a cheap pie tin. I was thinking I could grab another wireless router, use WDS to bridge the this router with the other one and share the 'net connection through it thus giving me a little bit more freedom but when I tried it it didn't work. WDS looks like it bridged the networks just fine, but I couldn't access anything on the internet. Do I need to do anything special or is this just not possible?

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  • You may just want to try it and troubleshoot as you go. Can't hurt. Is it possible to wire the routers together and use router B as wireless hub? – nicorellius Apr 20 '10 at 11:17
  • No, they're too far apart. I'm trying to share an internet connection this way, I should've mentioned that earlier. I did try it and it didn't work, no 'net access from anything behind router B. – Enrico Tuvera Jr Apr 20 '10 at 13:06
  • @cornjuliox, Is it possible is a pretty vague question. What specific problems are you having or are you questioning? – heavyd Apr 27 '10 at 3:56
  • I enable WDS on router B and enter the connection details (key, SSID, etc) for router A. neither router is running anything other than the stock firmware. I don't get any internet access through anything connected to router B, but 'net access for machines connected to router A is fine. – Enrico Tuvera Jr Apr 29 '10 at 2:49
  • Are you able to reach(ie ping) computer connected to router A from one connected to router B? Can router B ping router A? What kind of routers do you have? What IP address do they have? – heavyd Apr 29 '10 at 6:35
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Yes this is possible. I have done this configuration with both the DD-WRT and Tomato firmwares on on a Linksys WRT54GL. In my particular configuration I had a WRT54G acting as the router connected to the internet and my WRT54GL was bridging the connection to a couple of devices that I had wired to the WRT54GL.

I am no longer using this configuration, but I did have it running for over a year so I know that it works. I don't know if any of the stock firmwares support it, so you may have to install a 3rd part firmware on the router in order to get this feature.

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    Make sure your router is supported, you don't want to brick it. Here for DD-WRT. – Nathaniel Apr 28 '10 at 0:01
  • Most modern router support wireless bridging now ;) I got a WBR-1310 that cost 30$ here an he support it right out of the box ;) – Marc-Andre R. Apr 30 '10 at 20:55

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