Re: adding wireless access points (WAP's) to my network - can't get it to work
- From: "Mike Webb" <Mike_Webb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2006 10:52:45 -0600
You bring up some things I hadn't thought of (don't know enough sometimes to
know what I don't know).
I'll take your suggestion on the DHCP issue. One Q ... is it advisable to
re-boot the server after making changes like this to DHCP?
To answer or add to your other points:
(1) I'd like them "outside" the network - at least for now. We are a
research org. and have lots of scientists & graduate students living here in
our dormitory. I'd like to give them internet access for professional and
personal use, but don't want to let them in the network until they have a
valid need. (At this point, it's "baby-steps" for me; keep the access
limited and loosen it up as I learn more.)
(2) I had 2 guys with wireless laptops try to get on, and ensured they had
the right SSID. No luck.
(3) I did not turn on any security for two reasons: we are in a very rural
area, at least a mile from the nearest neighbor and about 7 miles from the
nearest town, and are 1.5 miles from the nearest public road. This, plus
the fact I'm not dealing with intentionally malicious people made me think
that, for now, I can get by without security. Additionally, since this is
my first time ever working with wireless, I thought I should keep possible
areas of trouble to a minimum until I get it working.
(4) The intial configuration with all three was done in my server room so I
could connect them directly to the router, per the setup CD's instructions.
Mike
"Owen Williams" <Owen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:MPG.1e7a211f240cc3d8989720@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mike:
I have a suggestion for DHCP, although that may have nothing to do with
your wireless, issue, which I will address shortly.
In a 2-NIC configuration like yours, I enable DHCP on the Internet
router and exclude about 10 addresses. For example, 192.168.1.1 thru
192.168.1.10 are excluded while anything higher than that is DHCP. This
enables the external SBS NIC as well as devices like WAPs to specify a
static address while allowing "guest" PCs (those that do not have
computer accounts in the SBS domain) to be assigned addresses
dynamically, whether wired or wireless.
So, I would do the preceding and remove the SBS scope for 192.168.1.*.
As to the specific wireless issue ...
[1] With the WAPs connected to the router, they are "outside" the SBS
network. Is that what you want? Or do you want wireless PCs to be part
of the (internal) SBS network, just wirelessly? Or a combination - a
WAP to support "guest" access and one or more WAPs to support domain
PCs?
[2] Do the PCs' wireless connections have SSIDs which match the WAPs?
(This may happen automatically if no security is enabled and the
wireless connection is set to automatically associate with any available
network.) In general, you need at most 2 SSIDs, regardless of the
number of WAPs you have: one for the WAP(s) that are external to the SBS
network (providing guest access) and one for the WAP(s) that are part of
the internal SBS network (for domain PCs). (SSIDs are "network names" -
they are roughly comparable to a Workgroup name in a Windows peer-to-
peer network.)
[3] Is any security enabled on the WAPs? If so, is it also enabled on
the PCs, using matching settings, such as encryption type and key?
During initial setup, it is easier to leave security off, ensure that
basic wireless connectivity is working, then enable security. That way,
if connectivity was working and suddenly stops, you know you have a
security configuration issue.
[4] Are you doing the WAP configuration with a wired PC? Configuration
is sometimes supported via a wireless PC, but it is usually more
reliable to use a wired PC for initial setup, especially when you are
changing aspects of the wireless configuration.
Let me know if any of this helps.
-- Owen Williams
In article <#JTC1m4QGHA.2300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Mike_Webb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx says...
We have MS SMall Business Server 2003 Premium. Until 2 days ago, I was
operating with just 1 NIC. Based on advice from www.smallbizserver.net,
I
have both NIC's up and working - one as internal and one as external.
The
ISP gave us a dynamic IP (they don't offer static yet). I set my default
gateway (router) to 192.168.1.1 and have it connected with the external
NIC.
The internal NIC is connected to my switch and is on network 192.168.16.*
I
ahd been letting the router handle DHCP, but now I turned on DHCP in the
server and set 2 Scopes - one for the 192.168.1.* external NIC and one
for
the 192.168.16.* internal NIC.
The WAP's are Linksys WAP54GX's. Per the setup CD, I connected each in
turn
to the router, gave them each a static IP of 192.168.1.5 through .7, and
tested them. I could access each from a web-browser, so thought I was
good-to-go. But .... I was wrong.
The problem is they won't do anything more than indicate to a wireless
client that a wireless network exists. Can't go any further. When I
disconnect them from the router (take out the CAT5 cable but leave on
otherwise), I can't access them via a web-browser. Tried putting one on
the
internal Scope, same result. Obviously I did something wrong, but I ahve
no
idea what it is. It's my first foray into wireless. Can someone give me
advice on what I should do?
.
- Follow-Ups:
- Re: adding wireless access points (WAP's) to my network - can't get it to work
- From: Owen Williams
- Re: adding wireless access points (WAP's) to my network - can't get it to work
- References:
- Prev by Date: Re: Partitions, partitions - how many, how big
- Next by Date: Re: Companyweb - whay does it require user authentication?
- Previous by thread: Re: adding wireless access points (WAP's) to my network - can't get it to work
- Next by thread: Re: adding wireless access points (WAP's) to my network - can't get it to work
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
