absurd question about networking and routers

A

AngryJim

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 20, 2006
Messages
234
ok long story short is that I'm a college student whose apartment lease ended the other day, so in order to keep my job I've been forced to stay in a hotel til my next apartment opens up (august 18th), going that long without internet is going to suck. The hotel I am at has wireless internet, but I do not have any money laying around for a wireless card (remember, broke college student).

Is there any way to program/hack a linksys wireless router to function as a wireless card and deliver internet to my desktop?

I'm gonna go put on my flamesuit, thanks.
AngryJim :mad:
 
Not sure, but can't you simply connect an ethernet cable to your wireless router and use that as an access point to receive the wireless signals and transport them to your PC via the ethernet cable??? If I remember correctly, that worked for me when I played with wireless...
If not, NewEgg has lots of USB and PCI wireless adaptors for under $30.
 
Some wireless routers can act as a client. Most of the time it's called bridging in the setup. You just have to find out if your router supports bridging. If not, you may be able to use a hacked firmware for it that does support bridging.
 
Yes...if the model Linksys router you have supports it. "Bridging" mode. If you have a wrt54g...3rd party firmware such as Hyper-WRT and DD-WRT perform even better.
 
PanzerKrieg13 said:
Not sure, but can't you simply connect an ethernet cable to your wireless router and use that as an access point to receive the wireless signals and transport them to your PC via the ethernet cable???
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I'm trying to do, I may have worded it poorly. I do not have the manual for the router anymore, but I'll get the model number in a few minutes.

For anyone wondering how I am accessing the forums, I'm at work and for some reason hardforum isn't blocked by the company.

EDIT: Ok the model number is WRT54G v.3, I'm going to look up the manual online right now.
 
What's the manual going to tell you?

You need DDWRT or HyperWRT.

Just flash your router with it. READ THE DIRECTIONS.

Google DDWRT.
 
itsmikey said:
What's the manual going to tell you?

You need DDWRT or HyperWRT.

Just flash your router with it. READ THE DIRECTIONS.

Google DDWRT.
Click to expand...

Someone above said some routers support this, so I wanted to see if the user manual mentioned it at all. I'll give the ddwrt a try tomorrow once I get off work.

BuudWeizErr said:
if you're anywhere near socal, i'll pif you a linksys 802.11b adapter.
Click to expand...

very much appreciated, but I'm at Purdue University.
 
Be careful about flashing the router -- read the notes, and don't panic!

After that, you basically want to:

1. secure wired access to your router, setup compatible IP between your computer and the router, disable DHCP, etc.
2. set wireless mode to client bridge
3. set wireless details and security (if any) as needed for your wireless network
4. connect your computer through the bridge to the wireless server (re-establish automatic configuration)

You might want to use a software firewall once you've got the communication working.

The notes linked above assume that you have control over the wireless network / AP, which you don't in this case -- for steps (2) and (3), you're going to have to refer to supplied instructions or scan if the wireless network is wide open. You can do a scan using Status / Wireless / Survey.
 
Ok I successfully flashed the firmware, version 2.3 or .23, whichever was the newest. I've managed to get the connection to work correctly, but only for minutes at a time. The signal strength usually hovers around 50% and tops out at 55. Would the signal strength be the only reason why the connection would cut out? it's not as if it does it for just a second while gaming, but there are periods of up to 10-15minutes of no connection. Any ideas on how to fix this?

let me know if you need any info or the settings from my router, I'll try to post them tomorrow.
 
ok I had a very frustrating day with the wireless. the signal strength is still hovering around 55%, but the connection cuts out every hour. It stays on for about 20-30 minutes at a time with no hiccups at all, at extremely high connection speeds, then it will just shut off for an hour or two. I have tried other people's laptops with the wireless connection here and have had no problems.

any ideas?
 
AngryJim said:
I have tried other people's laptops with the wireless connection here and have had no problems.
Click to expand...

Do you mean that you've tried someone else's wireless connection in the same location as your router, while your router is disconnected and found that that other device works?

Did you try resetting the router at that time?

Are you doing anything that might cause your connection to be targeted for a bandwidth break (if the AP actually has such functionality) ?

Have you tried getting hold of the hotel's wireless provider and asking them about your problem?

Just guessing here. My Linksys + DD-WRT wireless bridge is not actively used all that often, but has been up for months without any problems as far as I know, with mostly default settings, and has always been available when I've used it. I have noticed lower performance at times, but I've chalked that up to increased neighbourhood activity (wi-fi, cordless phones, microwaves, temporary obstructions, whatever) and the nature of the beast.
 
Madwand said:
Do you mean that you've tried someone else's wireless connection in the same location as your router, while your router is disconnected and found that that other device works?

Did you try resetting the router at that time?

Are you doing anything that might cause your connection to be targeted for a bandwidth break (if the AP actually has such functionality) ?

Have you tried getting hold of the hotel's wireless provider and asking them about your problem?
Click to expand...

All I did was get a friend to bring his laptop with a wireless card over, and it worked perfectly in the room for the few hours I borrowed it. During that time, my desktop wired to the linksys router running DD-WRT was having the same terribly sporatic connection. I reset the router several times, including restoring the factory defaults and re-flashing the firmware once. My desktop still connects, just for short periods.

I didn't do anything to be targetted for a bandwith break (I'm assuming you mean abusing the connection and getting throttled down). I ran the computer for a day with the terrible connection just surfing the web and running AIM. After that first day I just left bittorrent running 24/7 so it would catch some bandwith during the time the connection was up.

I'm at the hotel front desk working the night shift right now, there's an internet help number, but it isn't 24/7, so I'll give them a call tomorrow.

Thank you for all your help, and for tolerating a routing newb.
 
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