# connecting 2 networks



## Geofrancis (May 26, 2010)

me and my friend both have internet but transfering files is very slow so i had an idea of connecting our networks via wifi.

 my friend is just under a mile away and i have had it tested at just over 4mb using some wrt routers + 2 500mw amps + 2x 15dbi antennas but the thing i was wondering is how do i join the networks so that we both use our own routers with dhcp but are able to use windows file sharing.

i could probibly do it without dhcp and manualy set the gateways but its a pain having to reconfigure every device manualy to connect.


the other idea i had was to use some kind of vpn setup but i would like something that doesnt have to be clicked to connect.

any ideas?


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## slyfox2151 (May 28, 2010)

windows file share will work just fine if the routers are connected together via wireless.


just set your PC's to use the correct gateway for internet and your set.


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## angelkiller (May 28, 2010)

slyfox2151 said:


> windows file share will work just fine if the routers are connected together via wireless.
> 
> 
> just set your PC's to use the correct gateway for internet and your set.


In different words, you just using one person's router as a bridge. What happens then is that both people will be on the _same_ network and using one internet connection. Windows should definately see all the PCs.

But then one internet connection will not be used.


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## Easy Rhino (May 28, 2010)

^^ what angelkiller said. either your friend's router or your router needs to be setup in bridge mode. however, not all wireless routers can be wireless bridges. check your model.


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## IggSter (May 28, 2010)

Me and my friends use hamachi for setting up a private network - will allow shares etc but by default that is turned off. It will take 5 mins max to download and install.

You do need to click to connect tho.


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## Geofrancis (May 29, 2010)

What about if I set my router to 10.0.0.1 and set the dhcp to 10.0.0.2-49 and set his router to 10.0.0.50 and his dhcp to 10.0.0.51-99 that would let our file sharing work and the both of us keep our own Internet but then how do I stop the dhcp from crossing over making sure his router doesn't try and give my computers an ip?


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## Easy Rhino (May 29, 2010)

geo, turn one of the routers into a bridge. if there is a preset, then the router will automatically turn off dhcp for you and you wont have to worry about setting the proper ip. you may have to set a specific ip of the router you have in bridge mode though to be compliant with the main router which is assigning the IPs. once you do that you will be on the same network and you will be using your friends internet connection. 

side note: i am curious about your hardware setup. do you go form the router to the amp to the high power antenna?


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## Geofrancis (May 29, 2010)

It's set up at my side I have a 50mb cable connection going into my N router from there is an Ethernet cable to a motorola router running ddwrt then to a 500mw booster then to a 15 dbi antenna and it's pretty much the same on his side apart from it's a linksys running ddwrt.


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## Papahyooie (May 29, 2010)

Any way you do this, one of your internet connections will not be used (and you'll still be paying for it, plus both of you combined will only get the full bandwidth of one connection.) I'd say set up a file server on each of your networks, and exchange addresses/passwords.


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## Geofrancis (May 29, 2010)

Papahyooie said:


> Any way you do this, one of your internet connections will not be used (and you'll still be paying for it, plus both of you combined will only get the full bandwidth of one connection.) I'd say set up a file server on each of your networks, and exchange addresses/passwords.



we both have servers set up so mabe i am going about this the wrong way trying to get all our computers to talk to each other instead i should just have our servers able to connect to each other. i dont really need to use windows file sharing there are alot more ways i can think of that i could use to share files ftp/http but the windows file sharing will let me use network drives. so i can use it like a local disk.

and we are not planning on sharing internet he has a 25mb cable connection and i have a 50mb the problem is out upload is crap thats the reason for the network so large file transfers will be faster and wont swamp our internet when we are having a 50 player TDM on COD4


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## slyfox2151 (May 29, 2010)

am i missing somthing.


setup a bridge via wiress with 2 routers to get your networks connected to eachother.    


then make sure you configure each pc to use separate gateways (aka internet). 

then you will have seprate internet connections but you will still have local file shareing.


if that dosnt work due to a wireless router in bridge mode, buy 1 more router and stick it between the bridge router and your modem/ pc and it will solve all your problems.






Modem 1 = gateway 1, 192.168.0.1
Modem 2 = gateway 2, 192.168.0.2


2 wireless routers connected to eachother.

behind those 2 routers are your PC's, just make sure the gateway it set right to use the correct modem.

Pic of the setup.







or if that dosnt work due to the router in bridge mode bypassing the rest of the network.


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## angelkiller (May 29, 2010)

@ Slyfox

I imagined this a bit differently. It's my understanding that when you use a bridge, you end up with one big network. So the router that acts as a bridge won't be doing any routing. And because of this, one of the internet connections and gateways will not be used. I've never seen a network with two gateways unless they were being load balanced by a single router. Maybe the better way to say that is that I've never seen a network with two routers. I was imagining this:


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## slyfox2151 (May 29, 2010)

if you look at my 2nd draw up you will see where i added a 3rd router to solve the bridging problem if there was one.


cant be certain if that would work as i havnt ever used a config like that but multiple routers works just fine, i currently have 3 routers and a switch on my home network.


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## Easy Rhino (May 29, 2010)

it doesnt have to be that complicated. he just needs to setup his wireless router as a bridge making that router become part of his friend's LAN. then they can share files just like any computers on the same LAN...


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## slyfox2151 (May 29, 2010)

exacly rhino,

thats what  i was thinking.
with my 1st draw up you can see its very simple, connect both the routers together via bridging and make sure each pc is set to the correct gateway so they dont use eachothers internet accidently.


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## Easy Rhino (May 29, 2010)

slyfox2151 said:


> exacly rhino,
> 
> thats what  i was thinking.
> with my 1st draw up you can see its very simple, connect both the routers together via bridging and make sure each pc is set to the correct gateway so they dont use eachothers internet accidently.



he wont even have to mess with changing IPs. the only thing he has to do is on his router which he has set to bridge mode is make sure that the router IP is set within in the range of his friends router running dhcp. once that happens all of his own PCs will contact his friends DHCP to connect. i am actually kinda jealous of this project because i would love to drop 200 bucks on a 500mw amp and a high powered antenna to mess around with this!

edit: also, most consumer routers wont do wireless bridging but will do wired bridging. he needs to make sure his model does that or buy a cheap WAP for the project. because obviously his friends antenna will be set to transmit initially and his router will have to setup to bridge that transmission rather than transmit itself.


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