Two routers and a Print server

[SirWise]

I have a network at home that uses 2 routers and a Print server, all Linksys.

I have a Cable modem, that connects to a Linksys WRT54G router which accepts 802.11b wireless devices ONLY.

Attached to that one, I have a WRT55AG router which accepts wireless devices from 802.11a and g only. I have a Linksys WPS54GU2 Print Server attached to that router.

My problem is, I can Print from devices connected to the second ROunter, the A & G network, but not from things connected to the first router on the B network.

I know there has to be something off on my interconnect between the two routers, any ideas from anyone?

[geoscomp]

yep..you are using two routers..the devices on router a cannot access the ip addresses of router b and vice versa..two routers are ALWAYS a problem. Your statement that the ag router does not accept 802.11b connections is incorrect also.

from a review:
Note that the product has an 802.11a radio and an 802.11g radio, allowing "a," "b," and "g" clients to connect concurrently.
The 802.11g is backwards compatible to 802.11b and the three protocols are one reason that router costs what it does.

here is from Linksys:
Dual-band, tri-standard Access Point communicates with Wireless-A (802.11a), Wireless-B (802.11b), and Wireless-G (802.11g) wireless networks

Since that router has 4 ethernet connections as well as the wireless, I would only use that router and connect everything to it. It is more than capable of handling that setup

[geoscomp]

yep..you are using two routers..the devices on router a cannot access the ip addresses of router b and vice versa..two routers are ALWAYS a problem. Your statement that the ag router does not accept 802.11b connections is incorrect also.

from a review:
.
The 802.11g is backwards compatible to 802.11b and the three protocols are one reason that router costs what it does.

here is from Linksys:


Since that router has 4 ethernet connections as well as the wireless, I would only use that router and connect everything to it. It is more than capable of handling that setup

I am also a little confused about your statement that the wrt54g router only accepts 802.11b connections. the G after the name indicates that it accepts both 802.11b and 802.11g standards since 802.11g is backwards compatible with 802.11b (that router does not support 802.11a however, since it does not include that radio,unlike the WRT55AG)

[SirWise]

Thanks for the replies. I am not saying that the router itself only accepts B, I am just saying that I am only using that router to connect my wireless B devices. I am using the sceond router for only A and G connections.

Would having a 802.11b device connected to the Dual band router lower the transfer speeds of my 802.11g computers on the network?

Also, the computers on the second router work fine, it's only the print server that can't communicate to the first router.

[geoscomp]

no..it is autosensing. The computers will work fine as long as you arent trying to see computers on router 2 from router 1 and vice versa..they will all have internet connections..but the second router will not allow requests from the first router to go through to the print server. You could perhaps set the print server in the DMZ of the router, but why bother if you can do everything you need with one router?

[SirWise]

Well, the general basis to it was that I have a lot of b devices as well as g. About 9 wireless devices in all. Although the router is sutosenseing, from what I read just about everywhere, having to many active B devices on a G network will slowdown the transfer rate of the G devices. I was trying to get around it by keeping them on seperate wireless networks.

[slgrieb]

OK, SirWise, since you already have the hardware in place, the easiest thing to do in order to get all the devices to communicate is to disable DHCP for the one of the routers. I'd pick the one without the print server connected. Doing this effectively converts your second router into an ethernet switch/wireless access point and avoids IP adressing conflicts. Once you've made the change, you'll need to power off all your hardware and restart, but everything should communicate then.

[futuretech]

Have you tried moving the print server into the DMZ and see if it is then available?

[SirWise]

Haven't tried moving it just yet. It's not really on my network, it's my friend. Personally if I was doing it, I would have it all on one router. True there may be a decrease of having B and G things on one router, but the slow down is something that may never really be noticed. They told me they will try it this weekend. I will post back on Monday with a status.

[SirWise]

Hey everyone. He said that the DMZ and everything else didn't work. He just switched it all over to one router. (This is the most effective solution, but now I may need to simulate this at home out of sheer curiosity)...