7800N as a wireless switch

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mblaster89
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:01 pm

7800N as a wireless switch

Post by mblaster89 »

I have a BT Home Hub 4 but the wireless signal isn't strong enough around my old house. So I hadn't used my Billion 7800N in a while & seeing that my computer is connected via an 30ft Cat6 Ethernet cable from downstairs I could have a second wireless point.

Now I thought of a repeater setup but my ethernet cable is already up here so my thinking leads to trying to setup my 7800N as a wireless switch. I have successfully set it up as a wired switch & currently using it.

I ran into a problem though, the IP addresses of the BT Home Hub & 7800N are the same (192.168.1.254), so I try to setup the wireless then it either goes "Unable to connect to network" or loads the BT Home Hub's configuration.

Any help in making this work please?
devbod
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2012 11:33 am

Re: 7800N as a wireless switch

Post by devbod »

I haven't done it with a 7800N but in theory...

1) disconnect computer from existing network and plug it into the 7800N with ethernet cable

2) you can now use browser to get to its setup. Go to Configuration>Lan>Ethernet and give it a new ip address on same subnet eg 192.168.1.253. Make sure this number is outside the range of IP addresses the BT hub hands out. When you save this you will lose access as when the router resets it will be on a different ip address. Reopen at 192.168.1.253 and continue

3) You can keep the WiFi network name and password independent or change them to use the same ones as for your BT hub to make for more seemless WiFi network swapping when on walkabout.

4) Turn off DHCP and DNS servers. Go to Configuration>Lan>DHCP Server, set DHCP Server Mode to disabled and untick Use Router as DNS server

5) Click 'Save Config' to write settings to flash. Unplug computer and join router to existing wired network.

Should then all work.
mblaster89
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:01 pm

Re: 7800N as a wireless switch

Post by mblaster89 »

devbod wrote:I haven't done it with a 7800N but in theory...

1) disconnect computer from existing network and plug it into the 7800N with ethernet cable

2) you can now use browser to get to its setup. Go to Configuration>Lan>Ethernet and give it a new ip address on same subnet eg 192.168.1.253. Make sure this number is outside the range of IP addresses the BT hub hands out. When you save this you will lose access as when the router resets it will be on a different ip address. Reopen at 192.168.1.253 and continue

3) You can keep the WiFi network name and password independent or change them to use the same ones as for your BT hub to make for more seemless WiFi network swapping when on walkabout.

4) Turn off DHCP and DNS servers. Go to Configuration>Lan>DHCP Server, set DHCP Server Mode to disabled and untick Use Router as DNS server

5) Click 'Save Config' to write settings to flash. Unplug computer and join router to existing wired network.

Should then all work.
Your theory worked, I wanted to have a local wireless switch & now I have a much better wireless signal now for my devices nearby. The internet speed is understandably a little slower but a least it isn't timing-out, just stays connected with a steady speed that makes my devices run a lot smoother over wireless.

Thanks for your help. I also named the SSID "Loading..." for laughs :lol:
stevebez
Posts: 62
Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2012 10:02 am

Re: 7800N as a wireless switch

Post by stevebez »

Ive got this working although the core router 8900 is not seeing the devices connected to the 7800 this prevents the cctv cameras which i access through the 8900 but they now show up in the 7800 arp table :cry:

7800 dhcp in relay mode to the 8900 ip. The 7800 is visible in the 8900 arp table but nothing else ?

What am I missing ?
billion_fan
Posts: 5374
Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:30 pm

Re: 7800N as a wireless switch

Post by billion_fan »

stevebez wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:09 pm Ive got this working although the core router 8900 is not seeing the devices connected to the 7800 this prevents the cctv cameras which i access through the 8900 but they now show up in the 7800 arp table :cry:

7800 dhcp in relay mode to the 8900 ip. The 7800 is visible in the 8900 arp table but nothing else ?

What am I missing ?
All you need to do is the following

1. Change the IP address of the 7800N to IP address outside the DHCP range of the 8900 (eg 192.168.1.253)
2. Disable the DHCP server on 7800N
3. Plug a Ethernet connection from the 8900 to any of the LAN ports on the 7800N
4. Restart any devices connected to the 7800N

The 8900 should then assign IP address to the cameras and the 7800N should works a wireless hub switch, the 8900 should take care of the routing etc
stevebez
Posts: 62
Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2012 10:02 am

Re: 7800N as a wireless switch

Post by stevebez »

Hi Guys got this working like a charm now ...Thanks

One problem is I cannot connect to the 7800N now via its IP to change schedules etc there is no way for me to know what IP address it is on... the assigned IP does no respond - yet it works great as an AP.
billion_fan
Posts: 5374
Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:30 pm

Re: 7800N as a wireless switch

Post by billion_fan »

stevebez wrote: Sun Jan 05, 2020 7:49 pm Hi Guys got this working like a charm now ...Thanks

One problem is I cannot connect to the 7800N now via its IP to change schedules etc there is no way for me to know what IP address it is on... the assigned IP does no respond - yet it works great as an AP.
You should be able to login to the device on the IP address you set as long as within the same range as the main 8900 eg 8900 = 192.168.1.254, 7800 = 192.168.1.253 (or if there is another device on the network on that IP try using 192.168.1.200)
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