3 routers (one- dsl from ISP) all Different brands and wifi-able in same home. PLEASE HELP!!!

rainbowboies

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Dec 28, 2014
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Have Linksys E1200, DLink Dir-636L (with MediaShare), and Westell PK5001Z dsl (ISP provided). Need to somehow connect Dlink and Linksys to Westell and have them all work. PLEASE help! A friend had configured them so they did at one point but daughter somehow messed that up! NEED HELP quick! BTW, I have a home wireless IP cam on the network as well. We also have Netgear Fast Switch FS105 AND a DLink AirPlus Access Point: DWL900apx. ANY and ALL help would be APPRECIATED!
 
Solution
Well it would still really help a lot if you could just draw the current layout on paper and snap a photo to post, or something similar -- as words often do not quite convey the details well. A rough layout of floors and/or zones and accessing devices will help you determine where and what APs you need.

To split up the wireless for many devices, the key is to use different SSIDs so you can assign users to specific access points and not have too many devices overload one WAP inadvertently. And if you need distinct subnets to prevent access by some users, that too is an important issue. You need to share all details to get the best solution, or at least get back to what you had.

What areas are connected with Ethernet cables, and...

RealBeast

Titan
Moderator
Free help ASAP during the holidays! LOL, only at Tom's is that even conceivable. :)

Your description is a bit lacking, but I will assume that the Westell is the modem and "main" router (that I will refer to as a gateway since it is both). The other two units are simple routers that were likely configured as WAPs (wireless access points) and connected to the Westell with either an Ethernet cable or sets of powerline adapter.

Not sure where the other stuff (switch and other AP were connected) but a hand drawn network diagram would be illuminating.

How bad did your daughter screw this up? In other words, what still works and what doesn't?

The bottom line is that the gateway (Westell) should be the only device on your network that has DHCP enabled (assuming that you have a single network and not a series of subnets). The other two routers should have DHCP disabled, have static addresses that are in the network range but outside the Westell DHCP assignment range, and should use different non-overlapping 2.4GHz radio channels, and should be connected LAN port to LAN port. The only WAN port connection would be the DSL line to the Westell.

Is this anywhere near what you have configured, since there are many ways to do these things?

And please restrict yourself to one post per topic in compliance with forum rules, more posts on the same topic really don't get a quicker answer.
 

rainbowboies

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Dec 28, 2014
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Yeah I didnt know where else to turn for this help, and the help I have seen given and provided for others is always so well explained and helpful (would make the IT guys at work hide); but I guess you are right only here!
I want to thank you firstly for your reply and I will remember that advice regarding the rules and multiple posts
in the future.
Ok, yes the Westell is from the ISP, and is a dsl modem and wifi router with 4 ports. We had (at one point) a switch (Netgear FS105 fast switch) from the Westell. Connected to the switch was a Dlink Wireless router with 4 ports (needed for the streaming of our 2T external drive and the guest access feature- but can go without that one feature: keeping the streaming) and also connected to the switch is the Linksys e1200 (used ONLY for a hard wired PC (that is ran only for our web based business and our wireless IP camera). I am not sure what she did to the wires but now I only have the hard wired PC working. If It is possible I would like to keep both the Dlink and the Linksys in the configuration. I obviously have to keep the Westell as it brings the internet into our home. The Access point was bought as a family friend told us that we would need it to run everything. I think we were using it as a way to connect the MANY wireless devices in the house and not disturb anyones speed as everyone is always doing multiple things at once.
 

RealBeast

Titan
Moderator
Well it would still really help a lot if you could just draw the current layout on paper and snap a photo to post, or something similar -- as words often do not quite convey the details well. A rough layout of floors and/or zones and accessing devices will help you determine where and what APs you need.

To split up the wireless for many devices, the key is to use different SSIDs so you can assign users to specific access points and not have too many devices overload one WAP inadvertently. And if you need distinct subnets to prevent access by some users, that too is an important issue. You need to share all details to get the best solution, or at least get back to what you had.

What areas are connected with Ethernet cables, and which only rely on wireless bridges?

How exactly did your daughter wreak such havoc on such a complex home network? Yours is almost as bad as mine -- if you add several more ISPs and multiple gigabit wireless on top of a bunch of concurrent dual band APs, but nobody but me gets to change anything. It would take a pretty good network engineer to crush mine. LOL

Did she access any of the routers and alter settings, or simply change connections.
 
Solution