Converting a belkin adsl router into just a router

you should be able to use the four ports as a switch with out any configuration. This will in effect give you 3 additional ports. In my experience you will not be able to use the DSL as a router on the local LAN. However if you are looking to extend your LAN wirelessly then you should be able to turn the belkin into a wireless extender. You may need to install another firmware onto it to support this functionality, but most routers do support this one way and another. If you supply the exact model I'll dig out the process.

uu

Fab - thanks. Ive tried just switching off the dchp server and plugging a "live" data cable in and running a cable from a spare port to a laptop and sadly it didnt work....

The model is a belkin F5D7633-4

Just using it as a switch will give me what I need at this moment in time.

quick reply - did you try using a cross over cable for the live data in ?

i'll look up the model and get back to you !

No just a straight through. Is that the problem? Its not a major issue - we have a reel of Cat5e and some plugs, I can quite easily make one if you think thats what's needed...

it may be the problem!

it depends whats on the other end of the wire (i guessing another router/switch ?) and if the Belkin or that other device is bright enough to spot a non cross over.

if you are connecting a switch to a switch then typically you need a cross over cable unless one of the switches has a MDI/MDI-X switch, which allows one port to work in 'cross over' mode.

I would go for the cross over cable as the first option
just in case heres a step by step on cross over cables
http://www.littlewhitedog.com/content-8.html

good luck

uu

Well... crossover cable made and I assume working. I seem to have a new DCHP client on the list named minint-hpnyu3. I presume thats the 2nd router. Not sure how to test that though. Any ideas? The thing thats making me unsure is the fact that I have a device on the client list that has a higher IP address than the 2nd router, even though the 2nd router was the last thing to be added to the network...

Anyway - that aside, the devices added to the 2nd router are not being seen by the rest of the network.

So am not sure where we are now :)

Just confirmed by the MAC address that the 2nd router has not been assigned an IP address by the first one. But there again, Im not sure it would need to be?

ok - It is unlikely that the belkin would be looking for an IP address.

Sounds like we need to do some connectivity testing to ensure that everything is working as I would expect it!, so sorry if this gets a bit basic, but its worth it to get these things bottomed out.

Do you have two PC's you can plug into the belkin? If you give them both static IP addresses rather than letting them try to get DHCP addresses, can they PING each other ? if so then the switch is switching correctly.

Are there any indication lights on the Belkin to show that there is a connection when the laptop is connected? if so what do the lights show that the upstream device is connected?

Is it possible to assign the laptop a static address in the same range as the DHCP range and then see if it can ping the default gateway?

What address range is being assigned by the first router ? and what address was given to the laptop ?


ta

uu

All good suggestions. I'll try those later. Also I presume the crossover cable should allow me to directly connect 2 PCs, so that will test to ensure the cable is OK.

The one answer I can give is that the uplink light is flashing slowly, as if it is hunting for something. I would expect that light to be steady as it accepts a stream from the first router.

Before I start messing about with static IP addresses can I ask a basic question. The IP address of both routers is 192.168.2.1

Thats the address I type in to get to the config.

Its the same for all Belkin routers I think. In fact probably all routers.

So if I type in http://192.168.2.1 am I not always going to get the ip address of the closest router? And therefore never get to the 2nd one, because any packets destined to go to or through 192.168.2.1 wont go any further in the line than router number 2?

GOOD SPOT - award your self the points !!

You need to change the address of the router you want to be a switch and then it should all just work !

if you change the address of the 2nd router to something like 192.168.2.254 then the traffic will go to the 1st router and it should work

uu

I had a quick play with that, and after changing the 2nd router to 192.168.2.254, I oould see neither router from the PC when I try to ping 192.168.2.1

I'll mess about by rebooting various bits of the network when I have more time.

Can I just check - are you fully confident this will work :) Have you dont it yourself before?

lol

I will confess to of not having used a Belkin as a switch, but have done the same with a Linksys device.

The principal does apply that these devices are effectively 3 devices in one box- a router, a switch and a wireless access point. The switch part tends to be stand alone - so two devices in any two ports should talk to each other.

If you have changed the 2nd router to 192.168.2.254 and have a pc plugged into one port of the 2nd routers switch can you ping 192.168.2.254 ? can you ping 192.168.2.1 ? if you cannot ping 192.168.2.1 we are still in the situation where the connectivity between the switch side of the two routers is not working !

uu

Hmm the resaon I am a little dubious is that Belkin Tech Support say it cant be done. Now that in itself wouldnt be enough to put me off, because alot of these Tech Support people are just working from script and have no actual experience. But I agree if you've had it working with Linksys, then the principle is the same so it should work. Im not sure where you are in the world, but Im in the UK at the start of the day. I'll have a good crack at this one tomorrow evening.

Thanks for the perseverence!

in the UK as well. on another glorious Tuesday morning !

Im in Lincoln and it is indeed sunny and way too nice to be stuck in an office!