Home Network with NAS but no internet

[Takuan]

Hi there. I really need help with a problem that has troubled me for days now.

 

I have no internet access on "part" of my home network.

 

I have two routers (actually 3), but the third is irrelevant in this scenario. First (main) is a router/cable modem supplied by the ISP and cannot be changed (a HUMAX 2.4/5GHz model). This router handles WiFi for the entire household. Everything works. I have also setup a guest network using a third router (the "irrelevant" one) on the 2.4GHz band as a repeater. This is an old Netgear WNR2000v2. Seems to work, and has done so for many months now.

 

I have my laptop connected wirelessly to the HUMAX router on the 5GHz band. No problems. I have worked on expanding my network with a NAS connected to a router (Netgear WNR3500Lv2, also an old lay away), and my laptop connected as well. There is no wireless hardware in the NAS, and there is no option in the WNR3500Lv2 in regard to setting this up as a repeater. The only option is as an Access Point using a cable. My laptop and nas with the 3500 router is placed too far away to make a cable any viable option. Aside from the distance, having a cable that long through the entire house just isn't a good idea. I have tried many tutorials, suggestions, ideas etc. on how to set it all up, but my router - though it is a WNR3500Lv2 - does not have an option to set it up as a repeater. Thus I am stock on what to do. I have updated to the latest firmware, but still no option for a repeater function. I am not actually sure anymore, that a repeater function would even solve my problems. So I guess another approach?

 

Summary

NAS into Netgear switch, cable from switch to one of the four switch RJ45 plugs in the Netgear 3500Lv2 router, one cable from the 3500 to the laptop. In the laptop, I have a wireless setup connecting to the HUMAX router. After a lot of meddling, I finally got the Internet to work at the same time as I can access the NAS with this setup. But my NAS has no internet access, and neither does the 3500 router. I have setup the wireless in my laptop as a ICS device, and frankly tried all options I can think off. Still no success. Internet only on the laptop.

 

I have tried bridging the LAN and Wireless in my laptop, tried setting up different networks between nas and router (using 192.168.1.1) and the LAN on the laptop with 192.168.137.1 (static) and the wireless as 192.168.11.xxx (DHCP from HUMAX). All using subnet mask 255.255.255.0. I would like my nas to have access to the internet going from the nas to the switch to the 3500 router through the LAN of my laptop (all cabled) and then from the same laptop using the wireless on to the HUMAX router provided by the ISP. A mouthful I know. Is there another way, did I miss something, should I use more gateway settings or is this simply not possible?

 

Please, any help is most appreciated.

thank you very much

[Takuan]

Anyone?

[Takuan]

I don't know if this is relevant, but I have also tried to take out the router from the equation. Cable from the laptop LAN to the NAS directly. Still the NAS cannot reach the Internet.

[GuruOfNothing]

Eeshk... I THINK I have it drawn on my paper right but am not certain. But what it sounds like to me is that you are trying to use your laptop as a fixed network device, essentially a bridge, to try and wirelessly connect 2 consumer grade routers together. And if I understand correctly, you can see the NAS on the laptop and you can see the internet on the laptop but you can't get the NAS and the internet to see each other. Correct?

 

If that IS actually the case, my solution is this: Don't do that. It's probably not going to work. What you are more than likely running into is that everything that you are trying to bridge is actually getting "routed" internally on both AP's. The router that you have the NAS connected to would need port forwarding and such set up internally so that the NAS could get through the internal firewalling features of the router. There are a lot of things going on in that scenario that just shouldn't happen on a stability standpoint. I don't know what the reason is that you can't connect the NAS into one of the ports on the HUMAX (short of that it may not have any? which would be odd since I have never seen one that didn't have at least one ethernet jack on it) but you are adding complexity to injury. Also not sure what the "guest network" is about but from a security standpoint, that is also a bad idea unless absolutely necessary. If this is merely an extension of your network for more range, go for it. But if you are extending your network so other, more distant users can "guest" in, don't do it. You don't have contro9l over who and what is using it and you are liable for all the traffic going through your modem whether you are the one creating it or not.

 

If you can, I would simplify it to the following, if you still need the same hardware in place: Connect your 3500L directly to your modem/router with a short cable and connect the NAS to that on one of the LAN ports, not the WAN. Make sure to turn off the DHCP functions of the 3500L so it just acts as a switch, not a router. It won't need to even have the AP radio turned on since it is so close to the modem. If you can see the internet, you will be able to see the NAS and the NAS can see the net as well. But trying to get the laptop to do the transition for you is just problematic unless you REALLY have the computer knowledge to get it happening. Consumer grade routers tend to create more nightmares than they solve when a complex setup is needed and more than one router is deployed in the mix.

 

[Alex Atkin UK]

Does the NAS need to be accessible from the rest of the network or just the laptop?  If its the former, you can't do it with your hardware.

If you don't need the laptop or the NAS to be able to access other devices on the LAN, if the router lets you use WiFi in client mode (as the WAN interface) you could do that and have both the NAS and laptop on their own network.

Another option is to enable Internet connection sharing on the laptop.

 

Whichever you choose, the NAS will only be available to the laptop as you can't bridge networks over WiFi using Windows AFAIK as they need a special mode called WDS.

[Takuan]

@GuruOfNothing. That is correct. Unfortunately my problems is distance. So far it is not in any way possible for me to connect the NAS and/or the second router directly via cable to the main router (cable modem). That is why I would like/need this setup to work somehow. Thank you for your time.

 

@Alex Atkin UK. The NAS needs to be accessible both from my internal (private household) network and the Internet. I have no way to cable connect the two routers, which is the core of the problem. If I could connect them via cable, it would all just be straight forward and kind of standard setup. I already have Internet Connection Sharing enabled on the laptop, but as per my initial post, this is not working. The NAS have no internet access, but I can access it directly from the laptop. In the laptop, on the wireless settings, there is the option to enable ICS, and I have enabled that. The IP of the LAN card also in the laptop was set automatically by Windows to 192.168.137.1/255.255.255.0 and the NAS is setup as getting it's IP by DHCP. The NAS does get an IP from the laptop, and I can reach it from the laptop. Just the NAS cannot reach the Internet despite the wireless of the laptop has already been setup to allow Internet Connection Sharing. If ICS was not possible using wireless, wouldn't windows have this option grayed out?

[Alex Atkin UK]

The best bet really is to connect the NAS directly over WiFi.

 

If it can't support a WiFi adapter itself, you need some form of wireless bridge.  They are less common these days as almost everything has WiFi, but you should be able to find them marketed for connecting none-WiFi capable TVs, etc.

 

I'm only really finding Vonets (whoever they are) making them now.  Although there are probably some more known brand versions on eBay.

 

WiFi range extenders also often have this functionality I believe.

[Takuan]

@Alex Atkin UK. I will look into that, as it seems to be the only possible option. Thank you very much for your time.