Bridge wireless networks

Question

Ive got a BTHomehub3 down two floors, and I'd like to broadcast with a Netgear jwnr2010v5 upstairs by running a lan cable upstairs for the specific reason of gain access to a file hosted on a desktop downstairs connected to the BTHomehub.

I've tried running the lan cable from bthub to the wan port on the netgear. I get internet that way, but I cant see the computers connected to the network downstairs.

I know I need to change the ip address and such but some settings dont match up. Eg, Do I change my DNS on the Netgear? All the guides I can find on the web are old or out dated.

Can anyone give me more specific or detailed settings/instruction?

Answer 1

Using a router as a wireless access point usually takes some trial and error, but here are the basic steps you definitely need to follow

On the Netgear router

1. Turn DNS off
2. Turn NAT (Network Address Translation) off
3. If you can set DHCP to DHCP forwarding, do so, and point it to the BT router's LAN IP
4. If you can't set DHCP to forward, turn it off on the Netgear

Then there are two options

1. Attach the Netgear router to ethernet via a LAN port
2. Attach it via the WAN port

1 may not work at all, and 2 may only allow the Netgear Wireless devices to access devices attached to the BT server, not the other way round, depending on how the Netgear unit does NAT.

If you can set the Netgear's IP address to be acquired via DHCP, you can do so, but otherwise you can do the following

Depending on which option you choose, set the LAN/WAN IP address on the netgear to an IP address within the same subnet as the BT router, but outside the BT router's DHCP range (you may need to adjust the BT router's DHCP range)

I'd prefer to keep the Netgear's IP static (ie don't use DHCP) to make it easier to access in future.