2x Buffalo WHR-G300N's and a Bufallo NAS = frustration, please help

[Jason66]

I'm very confused and frustrated and looking for kindly people to help me out of a hole I've dug myself into.

Here's the short version on the problem

Firstly, I wanted to create a wireless network to do a few things -
1. Connect the TV to the internet
2. Play media on my desktop on the TV and on the various devices around the house
3. Allow various devices access to my www connection
4. Use a NAS drive to let the kids back up their data and to store photos, videos etc that I could play on the TV (see 2)

So, I had a Vista desktop machine, a Buffalo WHR-G300N (No1) and a Virgin Cable connection. That all worked OK so I added another WHR-G300N (No2)to the living room and connected the TV and a little media player. No2 was set as an access point and all was well. Streaming video over the WiFi was OK but not great so I added in the Buffalo LinkStationLive and connected it to No2 in the living room. Again it all seemed fine.

I upgraded the Vista desktop to a faster machine but it came with Windows 8 (which I have to say I dislike, a lot). The network was OK but occasionally Windows 8 would refuse to see the NAS drive and I would have to reboot everything to get it to work again. I don't think I every really got the network back up and running fully after the Windows 8 machine.

Then a few weeks ago the reboot didn't work, the NAS drive went separatist on me - although the TV, NAS and No2 could all see each other they were now separated from the network.

The Windows8 machine and No1 were all happy too - they just couldn't see the Livingroom set-up.

Now I have tried almost everything I can think of to reconcile my two networks but I just can't seem to get the things to behave as I expect.

I have the old Vista machine up and running, connected it to No2 and now I can't get it to see No2 - sometimes it sees it, sometimes it doesn't. I'm not sure I really know what I'm doing here but I am trying to apply some logic and I figured if I could get a separate PC to connect to No2 then I could test it but getting it to connect to No1 and therefore the internet.

I really need some helpful Guru to walk me through this and firstly figure out if my hardware is good or has died in some way, they to help me learn how to set the thing up properly. I'm quite happy to throw the lot in the garbage and start again but I think my own ignorance would come into play and I'd just end up with another expensive failure.

So, the challenge (should you choose to accept it) is to educate this ham fisted networker.

Thanks in advance for any pointers, I need them

 

[thiggins]

Since you have all Buffalo gear and suspect product failure have you asked Buffalo support?

 

[Jason66]

That's a good idea and I have posted to the Buffalo support forum but there seems to be an issue there. My post appears if I Google it but then if I go to the forum (or click the Google link) the forum says the post doesn't exist. Their forum won't let me post now but I've no idea why. I've emailed Buffalo direct so I think I have all the bases covered but I've always had better help from the world at large rather than the manufacturers - to be fair, I'll take help from where ever I can find it

 

[thiggins]

Yep. that's fine. Just wanted to make sure you had explored that route.

Now, to understand your problem, I think the gist of it is that you are using two WHR-G300N's, one as a router, the other as a wireless bridge. If that is the setup, then it sounds like you have a broken / intermittent connection between the router and bridge.

The first thing to determine is whether the base router's wireless is still working. So can a wireless computer see and connect to the router?

If it can, the next step is to see why the bridge won't connect. It sounds like you don't know the IP address of the second WHR-G300N that is serving as a bridge. So I suggest you reset it to defaults, and during setup either reserve a DHCP address for it or assign it a static IP address that is outside the range of the main router's DHCP server. That way you will know where to find it.

Then set up your bridge again...if you can and we'll go from there.

 

[Jason66]

Thanks Tim, the base router is working (I am typing this on an Android table, connected via wifi).
The base desktop can access the internet too.

The Vista desktop I connected to the access point seems to have an intermittent connection to the access point. I think that if it's connected to the access point and that is in turn connected to the router then I should be able to get internet access on the Vista machine. Trouble is I don't :-(
when I reboot the Vista machine I get an error saying there is an IP conflict but no other help and I have no idea how to fix that (or why it occurred)
So, I have changed the switch on the back of the access point from Auto to Off (according to the manual, it should have automatically picked up it was the access point but I think this way I KNOW it's the access point).
Unfortunately, when I do this, I can see the access point as IP 192.168.11.1 when the manual says it should be 192.168.11.100 when set to access point.

Sorry if I'm rambling a bit but I am at the edge of my talent here How would I reserve a DHCP address or assign a static IP address?

 

[thiggins]

You don't want the second router to be an access point unless it is connected to the base router via Ethernet (or powerline). If you are trying to extend your wireless network, you need the second router to be a wireless bridge, which it turns out is not supported in the WHR-G300N

 

[Jason66]

Hmm, I don't quite follow.

When it was all on the Vista machine the network worked, the second WHR-G300N was sat in the sitting room, connected to the NAS and the TV. It picked up the WiFi from the base WHR-G300N and did everything I wanted (allowed TV to connect to WWW, play media etc)

OR are you saying that in my "testing" set up I'm trying to use it as a bridge?

 

[thiggins]

Hmm, I don't quite follow.

When it was all on the Vista machine the network worked, the second WHR-G300N was sat in the sitting room, connected to the NAS and the TV. It picked up the WiFi from the base WHR-G300N and did everything I wanted (allowed TV to connect to WWW, play media etc)

OR are you saying that in my "testing" set up I'm trying to use it as a bridge?

How do you know that the second router was connected to the
first? I see no indication in the router manual that it supports wireless bridging.

 

[Jason66]

The NAS drive was connected to the second router and in turn connected to the base desktop, I knew it was connected over Wifi because I filled up the NAS drive from the files on my desktop over the wifi. I have also downloaded stuff via the web on the desktop, saving it to the NAS drive. There's no physical connection between the NAS and the desktop

 

[thiggins]

Please post a simple diagram of your network. I'm obviously missing something.

 

[Jason66]

I tried but the scanner/printer IP isn't recognised on the network anymore! Grrrrr, this is so frustrating. Here's an Openoffice attempt

 

[thiggins]

Thanks. This was making no sense. The user manual made no mention of supporting bridging. But I found that the datasheet says the product supports WDS.

You were lucky that throwing the AP switch got the two routers connected. I don't think that is a reliable method. What you need to do is log into the admin interface of the second router (AP) and find out how it is configured.

So go back to post #4.

You may be out of your depth here. The Buffalo User manual for the product makes no mention of WDS or how to configure it. I would try calling Buffalo.

The other alternative is to buy a wireless bridge like the Linksys WES610N.

 

[Jason66]

I haven't had chance to get back at this today but have had a quick look at the configuration utility - the unit does indeed support WDS and there's a whole section on it.
I'm still not sure what it all means but it's there as an option. I think there has to be a way to assign a fixed IP address to the AP but I'm not sure how, some of the English used is rather confusing.
I'll get back at it tomorrow afternoon when my house guests have left and see if I can post some screen shots for you to illustrate the config.

Regards,

J

 

[Jason66]

Well it took me a while to get back at this but I spent the best part of the day on it yesterday and I don't think I'm further forward in my understanding!

I have managed to flash both WHR-G300Ns with the latest Buffalo firmware so they are at least both running the same versions (they are identical units but were bought at different times).

I've been to a lots of forums and read a lot of posts - what I want to do is definitely possible and has been done in the past but I still can't find a step by step guide. Perhaps I'm expecting too much but there's always something I have no clue about in there.

The Buffalo forum doesn't seem to be a place to get answers, just lots of questions many going unanswered :-(

The most promising responses so far suggest a change to DD-WRT firmware to control the routers but I'm really hesitant to do this, I'm stumbling along with the factory software, I could just wreck what I have in ignorance.

Does anyone have any practical experience with these Buffalo WHR-G300N units?

Thanks

J

 

[Jason66]

Result!

I managed to get to the Buffalo European support people and a couple of emails exchanged saw me following idiot proof picture rich instructions. Problem solved. Here are the instructions, good luck for anyone who has the same issue and finds this thread