How to setup and configure a wifi LAN with Linksys wireless accesspoint WRT54G

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An earlier Linksys howto: Linksys wireless AP - howto setup your Linksys in the Philippines with Digitel broadband I wrote in my blog may also be helpful to you - please have a look

Like most things in life and technology - there are certainly several valid ways or methods to configure a wi-fi wlan using a Linksys WRT54G or similar OTHER brand accesspoint - all brands I have seen so far look very similar in setup and configuration and most likely behave very comparable as well. some of you may have a good and precisely known reason to do an accesspoint configuration differently. during my work setting up wireless LAN using almost always Linksys - i have done the configuration my way with full success so far and seen others doing it their different way. yesterday, I saw an extreme complicated way of doing things more complicated than necessary for no apparent reason that inspired me to write this brief Linksys wireless network configuration mini-howto.

Linksys default factory settings, factory password and factory preset IP

Factory Linksys password and username of a typical WRT54G

1. username: none ( i.e. field empty )
2. password: admin
3. IP of Linksys accesspoints: a changing range with apparently increasing LAN IP - i have seen so far:
   192.168.0.1
   192.168.1.1
   192.168.2.1
   192.168.3.1
   192.168.4.1
   192.168.5.1

How to connect to the Linksys accesspoints for configuration of change of configuration

AVOID using any software / CD provided by any supplier if any CD/SW is supplied at all !! just use any BROWSER to access your Linksys. point your browser to the local IP of your Linksys AP.
i.e. use a URL like:

http://192.168.1.1/

ONCE connected

• change only if REALLY NEEDED and if you KNOW exactly what you do - else just leave ALL factory settings. they may work perfect in most cases
• switch thru all configuration possibilities to SEE what COULD be configured if ever LATER you may have other needs
• change channel - to avoid cross channel interference - use a gap of 2 between neighboring APs - i.e. for example use channels 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 9 - 11
• change ESSID - best to the name of your hotel, restaurant, resort, of company for easy maintenance and recognition of your own network compared to neighborhood networks or visitor networks if any.
• change local IP to the IP of your local network - use a local IP OUT of range of any DHCP to avoid later IP-conflict !! if possible use/create ONE single IP subnet to have all APs accessible from any point of your wlan network for easier maintenance and reconfiguration. if your ISP provides you with a DSL model/router combination - then use the same local IP network-IP-range as that one from your ISP - it makes YOUR work and thus your life a lot easier in the future.
• change factory password to YOUR password !! may be you can agree on ONE password for all and have it store on your browser for easier mobile access to each unit when servicing or change of configuration is needed
• DISABLE DHCP in most cases - because the ONE router next or built in the DSL modem normally acts as a DHCP for ALL computers !!
• if ever you do substantial changes in the configuration - you may want to SAVE your configuration to a file - and name it in a logical way to re-find that file when needed.
• be different from your neighborhood wlan to increase safety, stability and to avoid conflicts as well as interference between neighboring wireless networks / signals.
• write with a permanent marker the local IP or at least the last number - on the bottom or any other part of your AP for easier identification and problem location IF ever you need to find a death AP or miss-configured AP. For example for a LAN using 10.0.0.0 you may use local IP range:
  10.0.0.245
  10.0.0.246
  10.0.0.247
  10.0.0.248
  10.0.0.249
  for your 5 accesspoints and write the numbers 245, 246,, 247, 248, 249 respectively on each accesspoint. if any time later you need or want to change the entire local IP to for example 192.168.x.x - you still may use the same END number for each AP ... and the same ESSID if you want

Benefits of above accesspoint configuration using Linksys or any other brand AP

1. all accesspoints can be replaced by another AP from the same network without having to change any configuration at all
2. all accesspoints can be accessed from any location within the range of ANY ONE accesspoint of the wlan or connected LAN as well. remember each Linksys AP also is a regular router with 4 ports to connect up to 4 PC via cable. Hence a Linksys AP such as the WRT54G and any similar other brand AP may act within a mixture of wlan and LAN

A very professional and highly unlogical and excessively complicated way to configure Linksys

Fortunately I am NO IT professional - hence I use neither manuals nor complex thinking structure - just common sense. It worked perfectly for me all life ( 50+ years !! )

below a certainly far more professional approach with no visible benefits but solid disadvantages in small wlan networks. if you KNOW what you do and have a good and solid logical reason to do it below way - then fine - else i recommend the above method of configuration to all normal users in hotel or resort or small business environment.

Disadvantage of below access-point configuration method

1. each accesspoint has a different configuration - hence the APs are NOT interchangeable without prior change of configuration
2. referring from one AP to the next AP down as a gateway thru several steps obviously creates MORE work for all APs and thus WILL slow down traffic !
3. remote control of all APs and modification of all APs is either impossible or far more complex
4. when moving such a wlan setup from one location to another location - each Linksys accesspoint is configured to be at ONE precise spot within the LAN - hence needs to be named/numbered/marked, etc to assure each AP has its predetermined spot again after moving all AP to a new location ...
5. if the Linksys AP used one level UP acting as your "gateway" is down or miss-configured for any reason - then all AP on lower levels are disconnected as well !! while using my preferred method - each AP acts as a LAN switch only - that basic functionality of a Linksys AP normally is totally FREE of the wireless configuration and will keep on working even if the router/AP is miss-configured on THAT AP - the switch simply forwards the received incoming signal BEFORE any configuration of THAT AP is applied to the signal flow

A practical example of more difficult than necessary Linksys AP configuration is shown on below 2 pictures:

Benefits of below accesspoint configuration method

No benefits known to me at present for any normal use within a private small wlan network such as hotels, resorts, small business, etc. however i am aware that there MUST be benefits - else no one with healthy common sense would make things so extremely complicated and expensive to maintain.

2nd floor - Linksys WRT54G with local IP 192.168.2.1 uses below configuration

above AP uses below AP as gateway !

1st floor - Linksys WRT54G with local IP 192.168.1.1

1st floor - Linksys acts as gateway for AP on the floor above and uses the AP on ground-floor AP as gateway to the Internet. The ground floor AP has local IP 10.0.0.2 - this is factory setup by the local ISP supplying DSL-modem/router to each customer.

Above AP connects finally to the ONE AP / DSL modem combination that is actually connected directly to the Internet. hence a change of LAN subnet mask to the LAN IP provided the the ISP supplied DSL modem?router combination ( all in one ).

Some simple but helpful safety rules for AP configuration of a wireless LAN

1. each AP has a different IP of the same sub-network - i.e. ONE company, ONE resort or ONE hotel = one NETWORK with one IP subnet only for easiest maintenance and control !!
2. each AP has a different channel - else the signals interfere with each others and cause dramatic loss of signal quality. in large wlan networks at least assure that all AP within range of each other are on a different channel. Linksys default setting is channel 6 - hence move channel away from channel 6. may be a neighbor without any wireless knowledge will setup ONE Linksys - as common without any additional configuration - using YOUR channel 6 and interfering with your traffic even if using a different ESSID - hence whenever possible avoid channel 6 and leave it to wlan beginners !!
3. give each AP a unique and logical ESSID - think ahead - others may have to maintain YOUR wlan network. IF you use common sense and a logical setup of ESSID and IP, your successors will instantly recognize the logic within a network. ONE possible method may be to use business name and floor as ESSID. for example HERE at Hotel Swiss Chalet wireless network we had once:
   ground floor - ESSID "Swiss Chalet"
   1st floor - ESSID "Swiss Chalet 1" and "Swiss Chalet 1b" for the second AP on same floor at the OTHER end of the hotel building
   2nd floor - ESSID "Swiss Chalet 2"
   ...
   such a name structure facilitates walking around with your wireless laptop to verify each accesspoints signal and range or to find a death zone or death/miss-configured AP. in some wlan i see ALL AP being "Linksys" ... and now what, which, where, why do i have problems connecting ?? or i saw several AP all within CLOSE signal of each other in a neighborhood of several hotels/resorts using partially different ESSID - BUT - using ALL the default channel 6 ... and having all difficulties in getting a fast and clean connection FREE of errors ...
4. when using several wireless accesspoints in your business - then always connect from the LAN port of ONE to the LAN port of the NEXT AP - AVOID the one WAN port on your Linksys in such above configurations !!! in Linksys AP all that happens is the IN-coming signal that is plugged in to one LAN port is coming OUT of the 3 remaining LAN ports without any changes applied to the signal flow. hence there is NO need at all to have all AP connected by direct cable to the first router - hence NO star-topology needed !! - nor is there any need to use the WAN port on any router except may be the very FIRST router that is connected to the DSL modem. In most cases you may have a modern router / DSL-modem combined box - all in one - provided by your ISP. If however you have a plain DSL modem - then in the VERY first wireless AP you have the Internet ( WAN ) signal from your DSL modem entering the WAN port and leaving on the LAN ports into your LAN/wlan - all following connections are made always LAN-to-LAN port - LAN in - LAN out !!

Caution with above "serial" setup

if you have for example 3 or more APs connecting to each other from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 to 5 ... and AP number 2 is disconnected from power for any reason - then of course all follow UP APs have no signal !!

What is the range of a wireless signal within buildings

In tropical beach resort situations with bamboo or wooden construction and some brick-wall without steel reinforcement - a signal travels approximately 50-100 meters thru 2-4 bungalow/room units. theoretical values are much higher than reality. in reality such minor factors as rainy season with wet trees or wet bushes in the line of sight between AP and laptop may affect the range drastically - wet living wood is NO conductor - living wood is full of minerals and may affect or interrupt th e"line of sight". the same for a large tree with all its leaves. when dry a wireless signal may travel across all leaves - during rain the signal may be strongly reduced. !!

with extra antennas of course the signal range in open air is far greater. "Range booster" or repeaters may be added to expand the range one more times beyond each outer most AP of a coverage area. a normal accesspoint using a point to point wi-fi connection with a parabolic antenna on BOTH sides may be as far as 1 km

when selecting external wireless antennas for your wifi network to cover larger areas using normal APs - KNOW the precise propagation angles and characteristics of the antenna and mount the antenna on BOTH sides accordingly. a quality wireless antenna - manufacturer normally has detailed diagrams on his website for each particular antenna model. each antenna has a:

1. vertical propagation - or radiation - angle
2. vertical propagation angle

these angles may vary - depending on antenna type - any where form 3 degrees to 120 degrees or as in the built in vertical stick - antennas may be near omni-directional.

Antenna consideration for wireless networks

most typical access-points have 2 antennas - because they support duplex transmission - i.e. they can receive and transmit at the very same time - one antenna being used for transmission and the 2nd antenna for reception.

the best propagation of such 2-antenna ( duplex ) wireless access-points is perpendicular to the line between the 2 antennas of an AP !!! see picture below to really understand best and weakest signal direction in a typical 2 antennas AP situation. in addition for best results, the antennas / AP should be approximately 0,5 meter away from ceiling, floor and walls or any metal object such as desktop, or household appliances to display its true and natural designed signal propagation characteristics!! every metal object near the antenna and every wire, specially those wires running parallel to the antennas - distort the true propagation characteristics more or less or totally.

Enjoy and have fun with your improved mobile connectivity

hans

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