Wireless setup on home LAN

[bene-Gk2boCrsRs1AfugRpC6u6w at public.gmane.org (Ben Eisenbraun)]

Hello Don,

> I've got the WRT54G set up in "Router" mode

I think you need to step back and think about the overall network plan a
bit more.  If you're trying to build a routed network, I think it will
need to look something like the diagram below.  ASCII art network diagram 
follows; fixed-width font required:

(Internet) 
    ^
    |
    v<----- IP assigned by your ISP.
[BEFSR41] ((1))
    ^<----- Gateway IP for this segment of your home network.  E.g.
    |       192.168.1.1
    |
{BEFSR41 hands out 192.168.1.0/24 addresses via DHCP to machines 
connected to its switch ports.}
    |
--------------
|            v
|         [workstationA] <-- Wired workstation.  E.g. address 192.168.1.5
|
v< ------- Use a static IP here, e.g. 192.168.1.10
[WRT54G]
   S <---- Gateway IP for the wireless segment.  E.g. 192.168.2.1
   |
{WRT54G hands out 192.168.2.0/24 addresses via DHCP to wireless clients 
and machines connected to its switch ports.} ((2))
   |
   S
--------------------------
|                        |
v                        v
[laptopA]             [laptopB]
192.168.2.5           192.168.2.10

((1)) You'll need to configure a static route on the BEFSR41 for the 
192.168.2.0/24 network that points to 192.168.1.10.

((2)) You can turn off DHCP on the second router if you can configure it to 
forward DHCP requests into your first network segment.

> and have set up WEP in the wireless section of the on-line config.

You should use WPA, not WEP.  Ask TJ Maxx.

> The main setup is for receiving network information via DHCP on the WAN
> interface, and I've set up a static IP for the internal interface.  I've
> disabled DHCP on this router, as the BEFSR41 is running DHCP and I don't
> want conflicts.  I may be mistaken, but this should still provide clients
> connecting via wireless with the ability to configure via DHCP.

You are mistaken.  I doubt the WRT54G will not forward DHCP requests to
machines out through its WAN interface.

> So far I have two ethernet cables going into the WRT54G, one in the WAN
> interface and one in one of the LAN interfaces.  Each of these cables
> is connected to the hub connected to the BEFSR41 - is this a mistake?

Yes.  If you are routing, you want the WAN port on the WRT54G to be
connected to one of the switch ports on the BEFSR41, but you don't want to 
connect the switch ports directly.

If you can put the WRT54G in bridging mode, it may be correct to connect
one of its switch ports to a switch port on the BEFSR41.

I think you're making this more difficult than necessary.  My suggestion
would be to just connect the WRT54G to your internet connection and use it 
for routing the wired and wireless clients.  If you really like having the
BEFSR41 as the router on your internet connection, then I would investigate
putting the WRT54G into bridging mode.

If you're doing this as a goal to learn a lot more about networking, I'd
start by reading the Wikipedia pages on routers/routing, bridges/bridging, 
and IP network addressing.  Learning how to use tcpdump or wireshark will
also serve you in good stead.

-ben

--
it ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. it's what you 
know for sure that just ain't so.                         <mark twain>