Connecting a router wirelessly to another router.
 

Hi folks,

I am attempting to set up a www and email server using Ubuntu server 7.10. However that is not the main problem at present. I've given up fighting with it to try and get the wireless network card to work and have gone with a wired one, which connects immediately, and I've since read that servers of this type should really be connected by wire anyway to increase reliability. Here lies the nub: my wireless router (Speedtouch 780), which is also connected to the DSL line, is not anywhere near to the server, and I don't want to run a cable all the way across the room. I bought a D-Link DIR-615 thinking I could wire the server into that and then connect the D-Link wirelessly to the Speedtouch. I'm now aware that I can't without a cable, which is not an option.

So I was thinking of taking back the D-Link and getting a Linksys WRT54GL, which seems to be the weapon of choice for the discerning networker due to its ability to run open source firmware. I'll run the DD-WRT firmware on it, link it wirelessly to the Speedtouch, and plug in the server. Presto!

Now before I take the plunge and wreck the warranty by flashing a brand-new router, I have a few questions which I'm hoping someone can answer:

Does it sound like this plan will work? I guess I'm trying to use the Linksys as a bridge, although having seen so many conflicting descriptions of the difference between router, bridge and switch, I'm not sure.

Does anyone have a better suggestion for how I can get the server online?

I'd also like to run the server in a different subnet to the rest of my machines since I've read that this provides much better security. I've not found a way to make the Speedtouch create two subnets, so I'm hoping the Linksys will, but will this work if it's not on the router connected to the DSL line?

Any advice anyone can offer is extremely welcome!

Many thanks,

Sid.

What's wrong with a wireless PCI card?

I don't know of any off-the-shelf wireless routers which would do what you want. You seem to be asking for a wireless relay which you can also plug a computer into. I guess if you had a genuine relay then that wouldn't be a problem; however, all the hardware I've seen available for the home aren't relays. I don't see how running a server on a different subnet would improve security; where did you read that?

The problem with a wireless PCI card is that my machine is old and I find that the wireless connection is at best flaky. I frequently can't get it to connect to the router and it drops the connection shortly afterward. I've spent a long time trying to resolve the issues with it and have decided for expediency's sake to go with a wired card instead.

As far as the different subnets go, I don't recall where I read it, but I remember it distinctly. Wouldn't running the machine in a different subnet effectively isolate it from the rest of my network?

No - not if you have suitable routing rules. You can also set up a subnet "bridge". Even a firewall, which serves to separate a group of machines from another part of the net, doesn't rely on subnets to do its work (even though in many cases the walled set of machines does have a subnet which is different from the machines on the other side).

OK, good to know. Thanks pinniped. I'll forget the separate subnet then.

For the other part of my question, does anybody have any experience of using the DD-WRT firmware on the Linksys WRT54GL router? According to a lot of forums (such as this one) it seems to be exceptionally versatile once flashed and may possibly do what I want.

I haven't used DD-WRT, but I have used Tomato on that exact router and been hugely pleased with it. Personally, I find Tomato a touch easier to understand, but that is probably personal taste more than anything. DD-WRT probably has a few more features than Tomato, but you do seem to need to put a bit more time into it. At any rate Tomato has been a HUGE improvement over the Linksys firmware, both in terms of stability and functionality, and with the GL router, there is really no excuse not to put something decent on there.