# Using a Belkin Wireless N router in bridge mode



## 15th Warlock (Jun 27, 2008)

Hello guys and gals, just wanted to know if you can help we with this  problem I have:

About two weeks ago I bought a new desk for the room I keep my PC at, and it seems the desk's size, and the position I'm placing my PC at, greatly reduced my wireless signal.

I used to have a Belkin Wireless N (not the N1) router in my room, and my PC has an Encore Wireless N PCI card, before getting the new desk, I never had signal problems, and the signal strength was always excellent, my speed being a constant 300 Mbps.

After getting the desk, my signal went to about 140 Mbps, and the signal strength was degraded to low... needless to say my connection got dropped many times 

I looked on the net for a new router, and got a Belkin Wireless N1, which was supposed to have a longer range and stronger signal, but I still get a low signal strenght, and my wireless card still disconnects  very often, the speed only increased to about 200 Mbps.

My question is:

I still have my old wireless N router, is there anyway I could use it as a wireless bridge, to get a signal from the N1 router in my room? I cannot move the N1 router in my room as, the apartment has a cable connection there only, and I have my 360 and PS3 hooked to it.

If I were to use my Belkin wireless N router as a bridge, what settings should I use, and should I just plug it directly to my PC using my NIC connection?

Thanks so much for your advice, any help would be greatly appreciated


----------



## 15th Warlock (Jun 28, 2008)

OK, I connected my old N Wireless router to my PC using my NIC cable, and enabled its use as an access point from the setup menu.

My wireless card detects the router with a 100%% signal strength, but when I connect to it the wireless network icon has a warning sign on it, and if I click on it, I get a message stating that this network has a limited connectivity.

If I try to open any web pages, none of them load, but if I connect to the router in the room, I can surf the web with no problems, so its like the routers are not seeing each other.

How can I make both routers to see each other, so I can get a better signal in my PC room? id there anything else I need to configure?

Help? Anyone??...


----------



## Polaris573 (Jun 28, 2008)

Most stock router firmwares do not support bridging between routers.  You can check to see if your router is supported by any of the third-party firmwares such as DD-WRT that do support wireless bridging.

Belkin models supported by DD-WRT


----------



## 15th Warlock (Jun 28, 2008)

Polaris573 said:


> Most stock router firmwares do not support bridging between routers.  You can check to see if your router is supported by any of the third-party firmwares such as DD-WRT that do support wireless bridging.
> 
> Belkin models supported by DD-WRT



Neither my old wireless router model F5D8233uk4 nor my new model F5D8231uk4 are on that list 

Will keep on looking for other alternatives... Thanks for your help though.


----------



## 15th Warlock (Jun 28, 2008)

Just ordered three of these cables:

http://www.onsale.com/shop/detail.aspx?dpno=463488&store=onsale&source=bwbfroogle

Will use them to extend the antennae in my PCI wireless network card to a place with better reception, do you think this will help, or did I just throw about 30 bucks away for nothing?


----------



## Wile E (Jun 28, 2008)

If that doesn't work, just buy a better antenna for your wireless card. You can find some pretty cheap.


----------



## mrhuggles (Jun 28, 2008)

i dont think that was a very good idea, i would invest in something good, since the best routers are the cheapest

i run openWRT + X-Wrt[webif²] on a WRT54G v2.0 with 32mb ram, and a couple antennas about twice the size of the normal ones, they were only about 10 dollars on sale

i have only spent about 30 dollars total on my router ever. which is funny because befor i got it, i spent like a few hundred dollars on junk, countless piles of junk that everybody swore on their life were really great routers, then 30 bux and ive got the router I'l have for the rest of my life [unless i ever replace it with an avila gateworks or something]


----------



## spud107 (Jun 28, 2008)

try this (free antenna mod) http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/index.html


----------

