D-Link Forums
The Graveyard - Products No Longer Supported => Routers / COVR => DIR-655 => Topic started by: tomb18 on January 22, 2010, 03:06:52 PM
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I am hoping the guru's here can help. I have a dlink drir 655 configured as a usb device server for a telescope. The dir 655 connects to a silex usb server board and this connects to several usb devices. I access these devices via special software which makes the usb devices appear local on my pc.
This works great. I connect via my laptop to the wireless router in ad-hoc mode. The problem is that this setup was made to work as a portable solution and there is no internet connection on the router.
Now what I would like to do, is to be able to connect to this device AND my home network which has a internet connection on some occasions and at other times connect only to this setup without having to reconfigure everything.
I understand that the dir 655 is capable of bridging if you disable style sheets in the browser to see the option, but if I do this will I have to connect to my home network first? What happens when I am in the field? Will I need to reconfigure the router for ad-hoc mode?
Is there a way to connect adhoc to the 655 and then have the 655 bridge tyo my home network if availalbe?
I guess that this is a question not for the mods since the bridging mode is not officially supported.
Thanks for any help!
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The DIR-655 has no wireless bridge mode - the setting you mean bridges the WAN port with the LAN ports so that you can use the DIR as a simple access point with a switch.
AdHoc is a client to client connection and as the DIR only works in AP mode, you can only connect in infrastructure mode to this device.
If you can use LAN cabel to connect the DIR to your homenetwork, it would probably only need some changing of IP addresses but you can't connect the DIR wireless to another router.
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I've read pretty carefully but am still a bit confused about what you mean. It sounds like you want to be able to connect ad-hoc AND have it bridged to your network? If so, I wonder why you are usng a router to connect to the device?
Could you explain what the layout is at the moment (what is connected to what) please?
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Ok, so the "hidden" bridge mode will not allow wireless bridging then.
Ok, what wireless n router do i need then?
Here are the configurations. I want to do both.
1) from my laptop, I need to connect wirelessly to a wireless router (or other device) that has a usb server device connected to one of it's lan ports. This is what I currently have. This is what will exist in the remote location (dark skys away from any internet connections).
2) At home, I want to still be able to connect wirelessly to the above router (or device) but also be able to connect to my home network which has an internet connection.
So in summary the router (or whatever) I connect to must be able to bridge to my home network when it is available, but if the network is not there, it should still allow an adhoc connection.
Need wireless n and 5ghz if possible
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It's always easy if you can produce a visual layout of your current- and wish state....
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Sorry can't figure out how to insert an image.
But vit should be pretty clear. Forget that I am using the usb device server, it could be any standard client connected to the roiuter.
Thanks
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The bridging as discussed in many threads, like you said is not supported and officially doesn't exist (even though it does)
The bridging is for the WAN port so you can use that WAN port as a standard LAN port so you can plug in five devices instead of four making the dir-655 an AP and switch only.
What you are looking for is wireless bridging, where the dir655 acts as a wireless client so that it connects to another wireless network. The capabilities implimented in the dir-655 does not support this, meaning the module hasn't been loaded and the xml style sheet hasn't been written to include the option to enable it.
However, if you HAVE NOT upgraded passed f/w 2.02 (i believe) you could plug in your phone or another wireless cell device, like a rocketstick and have the dir use IT to provide internet.
For the others I think I know what he is talking about.
He basically has an amateur observatory set up. He leaves his dir-655 and his telescope on top of a mountain connected to a ni-cad battery which is connected to solar cells (just kidding haha). So he can access his telescope from any where in the world and control it remotely and view the magical stars.
His USB server is part of this setup which controls the telescope and probably provides some interface for the telecope. This has nothing to do with shareport.
so his setup is probably like this:
telescope --- usbserver --- lan port 1 on dir 655
what he wants is this:
location 1 50,000 mil away location 2
telescope -- usbbserver -- lan 1 -- wifi link -- AP -> internet <-- modem -- Computer --'Tomb18 in his glory
So the only way you are going to get internet at your observatory would be with a cellular or satellite solution since you stated that the remote location does not have any Wifi available.
Plus since you stated that there is no wifi available at the remote location, your original intent is moot since the dir655 if it COULD be configured as a wireless client, would still need a wireless AP to connect to.
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Very close but when i am in the remote location, I do not need to connect to the internet, just need to connect wirelessly via the laptop to the router and then the usb server.
Will bridging work?
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you said earlier you wanted the dir-655 to connect to your home as well.
well what is the make/model of the "usb server" ?
What IP address does the USB Server have?
If you connect wireless to the dir655 your laptop will get an ip address. If you connect the usb server to the dlink, it too will get an IP address.
You should be able to connect to the usb servers interface by it's ip address that is assigned by the DIR-655. So your utility you use to remotely connect to the telescope, probably has settings or configuration to tell the software to connect to the telecope terminal by IP address. No need to bridge.
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Sorry can't figure out how to insert an image.
But vit should be pretty clear. Forget that I am using the usb device server, it could be any standard client connected to the roiuter.
Thanks
For you it maybe clear, and I'd like to help you with your solution. But also figuring out what the problem actually is ... taking a bit too much of my time. Sorry.
Try some of the buttons while creating a message. Upload a pic to a storage site or FTP and insert the link into the message. How hard can that be...
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oh my. First cup of coffee?
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We really need a diagram for this.
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He is trying to say that he has a 655 that is not connected to the WAN but used for its USB sharing capabilities and uses an Ad-hoc WiFi connection instead of infrastructure station mode for his laptop to control the telescope.
I do not believe the DIR 655 still has bridging mode even if you could enable it with the CSS trick/hack. They likely removed this feature from the firmware and kept the same web UI. If you want to burn some time, try figuring that out because I know it will make a lot of old 655 users happy. AFAIK it was a proprietary MIMO bridge technology and not a regular Wireless ethernet client Bridge found in other cheaper products.
You can always buy a cheap external bridge or DD-WRT bridge solution and permanently leave it where the 655 will be in your home base and then plug the bridge into the WAN or LAN port of the 655.
This used to cost only $45 and was great if you had a 5Ghz network already
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122218&cm_re=netgear_bridge-_-33-122-218-_-Product
An 802.11n DD-WRT alternative
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122266&cm_re=wnr834b-_-33-122-266-_-Product
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Wireless_Bridge
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Sorry, I'm not current with the right terms, so perhaps I'll try again.
Pender hit it right on the button. The link he gave, http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Wireless_Bridge has a picture which is exactly what I need except they are talking about using a wrt-54g linksys router?
It has to be "n"
But now I am confused. What is a DD-WRT solution? Is this a product? It seems that this is Linux open source software?
But, it seems that the link that pender gave http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122218&cm_re=netgear_bridge-_-33-122-218-_-Product
is what I need. However, there is some questions that it will work with other venders routers? Or is this a non-issue?
Doesn't d-link have the same?
I have a dir 825 on my home net.
edit: looking at the specs on the netgear site, it seems that you must use wired devices if you want to bridge.
This can't be this complicated! I just want to connect two seperate wireless networks together wirelessly!
Thanks!
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DD-WRT, Tomato, OpenWRT are 3rd party custom firmwares that are able to be installed on certain routers. These firmwares replace the manufacturer's firmware and provide very useful features like Wireless briding and Repeating. OpenWRT is very powerful but most advanced options like bridging are configure from the command line so it is not recommended. Tomato has the nicest UI and best QoS. It supports Bridging from the Web UI but only in WEP/WPA1 mode and not bridging in WPA2 mode. Also there are no 802.11n routers that support Tomato.
DD-WRT is in the middle. Advanced features that can be configured from the UI and it has the best hardware support including some 802.11n devices. WAN uplink QoS on DD-WRT is poor without the QoS generator, but since you will be using it for bridging, this is not a concern.
The Newegg link I provided is for an 802.11n (2.4Ghz band only) Netgear router that supports DD-WRT - a WNR3500L will also work as will others but they are more expensive and/or can no longer be purchased in a store (craigslist). If you want 5Ghz 802.11n, consider a refurbished Netgear WNDR3300. They can be found online for $30-$40 - the refurb WNR834B can be found for $25.
The DD-WRT Wireless Setup Guide also applies to 802.11n networks, and a 802.11n DD-WRT capable router can be bridged to any 802.11n network running on any brand router/WAP - the setup guide I posted is just old and generic as the WRT54G was the "godfather" router for all 3rd party firmwares. Using the latest DD-WRT firmware, setup the bridge using the "Client Bridge" or "Repeater Bridge" option in the wireless settings and get the LAN IPs of the routers on the same subnets for easiere management.
5Ghz range on the WNDR3300 is not as great as other more expensive devices but will work great for the price at shorter range (and fewer walls) in crowded 2.4Ghz environments like apartements/condos.
Also ignore the specs on the netgear site about wired bridging because DD-WRT firmware will replace the features of the stock Netgear firmware. DD-WRT supports wireless bridging - just plug an ethernet cable from the DD-WRT to the WAN port of the 655 once the bridge is setup (you will have double Firewall/NAT issues - PM me if this is confusing). Plug ethernet from DD-WRT LAN to 655 LAN port but then Shareport may or may not work so use the 655's WAN port and keep it as a gateway.
This is the cheapest solution I can think of unless you can directly run a cable from your current primary router/gateway to the 655 without needing a wireless bridge. A long Cat5e cable can be bought cheap at monoprice. 100ft is $9 before shipping.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10208
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Thanks for the info. However the solutions you mention all require a seperate device which will act as a bridge. While this will work, I need to have a portable setup that is compact. I suppose I could connect the bridge into the dir 655 at home, this would be a solution.
I just saw another product, the d-link dap-1360. It seems that this device can act as a wireless n AP and bridge wirelessly to another wireless router at the same time. My guess is that this device, since it acts as a bridge, will still allow the ad-hoc onnection I have to the other client on the same wireless network. This is what I need, since I cannot afford any loss of throughput.
ASny comments on this device?
Thanks
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The bridge will not intefere with the 655's operation or configuration but merely provide internet to the 655 clients; therefore any bridge will not interfere with the 655's ad hoc's clients.
Other store bought bridges are DAP 1522/WGA600N/WET610N. DD-WRT is cheaper and more robust because it can also act as a repeater or gateway and likely has better throughput because most off-the-shelf bridges are hit or miss and throughput is generally lower because they are tweaked for better compatibility. You can also configure the DD-WRT to reconnect to the network when it loses connection - any anyone who has used a bridge appreciates this. Do this in the Admin Tab -> Reconnect-> WDS/Connection Watchdog.
When you are on the road do you want internet too? It is not very feasible to use a bridge on the road even if it were natively built-into the 655 especially with captive portal wireless networks like in coffee shops/hotels. In that case you should just buy a secondary USB 802.11n wireless adapter for your laptop to get internet. You can buy a cheap new one for $30 like a TP-Link or an older 802.11g off craigslist for cheaper.
If you don't need internet while on the road then just get a bridge and leave it on 24/7 and plug the 655 into it when you arrive at home.
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However, the DAP-1522, requires wired clients, and does not with wireless clients and bridging at the same time. Same thing with wga600n, and the other wet610n. They all take wired devices . Sure they weill work but they will all require another wireless router.
When I am on the road I do not need internet, just a wireless adhoc connection to the device plugged into the lan port of the wireless router.
Ok, even the link you showed about dd-wrt and the wireless bridging, shows "wired clients". I do not wasnt this. I want one box, which will both act as a wireless access point AND a wireless bridge. Cost is not an issue (compared to the telescope and CCD camera...even a laptop is cheap!)
Ok, assuming that dd-wrt software can do what I wand, can I use the DIR 655? I'm willing to give this a shot since I will most likely not use it anyways.
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Hmmm, here's another stupid question...you mention getting a second wireless adapter for access to the internet. I didn't know that this is possible...You mean I can use my built in adapter to connect adhoc to my telescope and then use another adapter to connect to another wireless network that has internet???
Excvuse my ignorance...I'm a NOOB.
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dd-wrt has a feature where it will act as a client and AP. No wires needed.
and to answer your other question, yes, you can have two wireless cards and connect to two different networks at the same time.
That's about as compact as your are going to get.
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Well then, that settles it! A simple wireless n USB adapter for use at home, connected to my home ssid while the other is connected to my "mobile router"
Anything special that has to be done in WIndows 7?
Thanks everyone, for all the suggestions. This is by far the simplest, smallest and cheapest!
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As for acting like a client and access point at the same time, switch the DD-WRT to Repeater Bridge instead of just a Client Bridge and add a virtual SSID (Infrastructure or Ad-Hoc or both).
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Repeater_Bridge
Again this applies to 802.11n networks as well.
As for Dual WLAN NICs in Windows 7, change the priority of NIC so that the adapter connected to the net is first otherwise Windows may not use the proper one when attempting to gain WAN access and give you an error. These are Vista instructions but should be the same for W7
http://www.windowsreference.com/windows-vista/change-network-adapter-priority-in-vista/
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Well I bought a dlink usb wireless n dual band adapter and I cannot get the two wireless networks working together. I can connect to both, but I am unable to access the internet or the devices on the other network. Each adapter will access the internet or the devices as long as the other one is not connected.
I know that there must be somne fundamental problem with what I asm doing but I still do not have a solution.
Any ideas on getting to wireless networks to work simultaneously?
THANKS
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Well I bought a dlink usb wireless n dual band adapter and I cannot get the two wireless networks working together.......Any ideas on getting to wireless networks to work simultaneously?
You can only connect to one network at a time - not both frequencies simultaneously.
This is how this adapter (DWA-160) works.
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I have a PFSense Firewall on a separate physical network, and then my regular network.
I have my old dir655 as an access point to the PFSense Firewall and my internal laptop card connected to that access point.
I have my dwa160 connected to the regular network.
I am able to access the PFSense network and the regular network. Check your ARP table. Use the command arp -a. You should have entries for both. Try pinging the gateway of both connections. Here's what your response should look like:
Interface: 192.168.1.244 --- 0xc
Internet Address Physical Address Type
192.168.1.1 02-bf-00-00-00-00 dynamic
192.168.1.255 ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff static
224.0.0.22 01-00-5e-00-00-16 static
224.0.0.251 01-00-5e-00-00-fb static
224.0.0.252 01-00-5e-00-00-fc static
239.255.0.1 01-00-5e-7f-00-01 static
239.255.255.250 01-00-5e-7f-ff-fa static
255.255.255.255 ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff static
Interface: 192.168.0.253 --- 0xe
Internet Address Physical Address Type
192.168.0.1 00-24-01-df-06-5b dynamic
192.168.0.255 ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff static
224.0.0.1 01-00-5e-00-00-01 static
224.0.0.22 01-00-5e-00-00-16 static
224.0.0.251 01-00-5e-00-00-fb static
224.0.0.252 01-00-5e-00-00-fc static
239.255.0.1 01-00-5e-7f-00-01 static
239.255.255.250 01-00-5e-7f-ff-fa static
C:\Users\Administrator>ping 192.168.1.1
Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 1ms, Average = 0ms
C:\Users\Administrator>ping 192.168.0.1
Pinging 192.168.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Ping statistics for 192.168.0.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 1ms, Maximum = 3ms, Average = 1ms
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Hi Thanks for the info.
I now have it working. My arp table is like yours. The issue I had, was that both network adapters both had default gateways and were on the same subnet. I changed the network on the router connected to the telescope and set the dwa160 to use a static address and removed the default gateway. It now works fine.
However, there is still an issue (there are always issues...). The DWA160 has nowhere need the sensitivity of my laptop intel wireless -n (signal stregnth 12% on dwa and 55% on the intel at one location I use the computer). Thus thoughput is severly effected when using the dwa. This would not be an issue for access to the internet, but since both adapters have different network settings (one using dhcp and the other static addresses, I cannot switch between them without reconfiguring the adapters each time I want to connect to another AP.
Why si this necessary?
Consider my home network is connected to the internet. If I want to use the dwa to connect to it, I have to set it up to use dhcp. I then can use the faster throughput laptop adapter to connect to the telescope. However, if I want to use my laptop to connefft to my home computer using the built in adapter, I have to remove the static address, add the gateway and then connect.
Looks like I may still need to go the dd-wrt route for the simplest setup. Does this firmware have higher throughput that the standard dlink software?
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Issue is finally solved!
Windows 7 and vista allow an alternate tcpip configuration setting for each adapter in the system (adapter>properties>tcpip v4>alternet settings).
Now for each adapter, I set one as dhcp and the other with static addresses and no default gateway. One the telescope server, I set the router up without dhcp. Then whichever adapter connects to the telescope server (remember it has no internet), it will not find a dhcp server so it will use the static settings. I can then use the other adapter to connecvt to the internet which has dhcp enablerd.
In summary, thanks to the many people here who helped, I have the issue solved. I can now connect to two networks with two wireless adapters and have the internet and my telescope under control.
A special thanks to lotacus!!!
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Good Deal. If you see a giant Asteroid heading toward the planet give the forum users a heads up ;D
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Good Deal. If you see a giant Asteroid heading toward the planet give the forum users a heads up ;D
Well, if I could I would direct it straight at Microsoft head quarters!!!!
All is NOT well with my config. There is a bug in the Windows 7 implementation of DHCP and the "Alternate COnfiguration" tab of the tcpip v4 settings.
This is the way it is supposed to work if you set DHCP on in the primary and set a static IP in the "Alternate configuration"
If you attempt to connect to a network and a DHCP server is present, an IP address is assigned as expected. If a DHCP server is not found, and you have a static address assigned, windows is supposed to use the startic address in the alternate configuration. However, this doesn't always work. Instead Windows uses the APIPA which is the automatic ip address assigment to a private IP range of 169......Thus is completely ignores the static settings and thus does not connect. Attempting to set AutoConfigurationEnable in the registry to no, results in not getting a connection at all.
Thus windows 7 = stupid vista since this is also present in vista.
I am back to square one. I need a router that will offer ap wireless and wireless bridge at the same time.
Locatus, can you recommend an excellent (in turms of signal strength and sensitivity and throughput) wireless-n router that can take dd-wrt? Time to go that route!
Thanks
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I just picked up a wrt160N for 40.00 (open box mind you) and the first thing I did was load DD-WRT on it. I haven't tested how stable it is with connections, but I have it configured so that it acts like a wireless card. So i can put a cat5 cable in the back of the router and have a connection. So really other than the size of it, it's no different than having a wireless usb stick. Essentially it's acting as a wireless bridge. It has the option to act as a AP and client-bridge as well so all you need is a power cord (and cat5 for initial config or if anything goes wrong), and away you go. So all you really have to do is leave it in one location as the router will be connected to an AP and at the same time, you will be able to connect to it.
So you will just need your laptops wireless card.
If you are going to shop around for dd-wrt compatible routers, it's best to go to the dd-wrt website: http://dd-wrt.com/site/support/router-database and look up a model you are interested in. It helps if your in the store and that store has internet access on their computer display models, that way you can just look it up while your there.
Most all linksys routers can be loaded with DD-WRT however, some linksys models have less memory than others, so it's difficult to tell what the feature set is for each version of dd-wrt. ie: micro, mini, standard, huge, nokaid etc.. However I do believe all types of bridging are supported in all builds of dd-wrt.
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The DWA160 has nowhere need the sensitivity of my laptop intel wireless -n (signal stregnth 12% on dwa and 55% on the intel at one location I use the computer).
If you can return the Dlink adapter and get an Engenius 62mw 802.11n USB adapter from here for either $30 for single band or $40 for dual band, you will get the best sensitivity and the throughput you want.
I have the 200mw 802.11g adapter and it is without a doubt the most outstanding adapter I have ever used. Mind you the 62mw 11n adapter has an internal antenna as well, but should perform 2-3x better at extreme ranges than even your Intel.
You can always go for the 11n Engenius with two removable RP-SMA antennas but it is bulkier and only 2.4Ghz band but so is the 655.
http://www.keenansystems.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=217
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Hi Pender,
Well I bit the bullet and bought a Linksys 310N V2 router and installed dd-wrt last night. Everything has so far gone well but I wasted a couple of hours trying to figure out why my Sony with Intel 5100 was not connecting while my HP Netbook was. Turns out that the Intel adapter could only connect with wireless-g. A bit of research and I changed the wpa2 encryption to a different mode and then it could connect no problem. Seems that I have higher data rates for a given signal than I ever did with the dlink 825 and 655.
Tonight it's on to the wireless bridge repeater!
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:)
I was thinking perhaps you were looking for something with 400mw. That's a lot of juice. But $$$.
But remember, in repeater mode, expect HALF the bandwidth for wireless clients.
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Well, the wireless repeater is so far a mixed bag.
It is working. Both routers are reachable from either wireless access point, and I can access the internet just fine fromn the repeater.
The problem now is that my wireless clients drop their connection to the repeater after a couple of minutes even if they are right next to the router. The signal strength is good around 80% but as you move away, it falls rapidly. One client doesn't even show the ssid.
Now, since this happens on 2 laptops with different adapters (intel and broadcomm) it's unlikely the clients.
I don't know where to go from this point. Any ideas?
Thanks
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1st router ssid=abcde ch=1 wpa2+aes
2nd router ssid=abcde ch=6 wpa2+aes
You can choose channels but keep the space betwen them.
Then your laptop gone change channels automaticly, roaming.
kthaddock
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SSID's are the same, but channel selection is automatic.
How do I pick fixed channels that are different? There is a wireless link between the 2 routers (bridging) so if I set one channel on one and a different one on the other, how will they communicate?
Thanks!