Proposed Home Network and rebuilding the home network

I recently bought a 500GB Apple Time Capsule. The Time Capsule is a wireless access point (WAP) with an embedded hard drive. The Time Capsule replaced my aging Linksys WRT54G WAP. The WRT has worked flawlessly over the last 3 to 4 years but I wanted something for the future ( 802.11n ) and since I plan to completely switch my home over to Macs in the near ( or not ) future I figured I might as well start with the infrastructure.

However, the install and setup did not go as easy as I expect. I ran the Airport Utility and entered all the questions the wizard requested. One thing I did not expect was that the Time Capsule could import the configuration of my current router ( a Linksys WRT54G ). That would make things a lot easier to setup.

I fully expected the setup to take about 15 minutes. Three hours later I was still screwing with the thing. I had disconnected the WRT54G and connected the WAN port of Time Machine to the cable modem. But Time Machine kept coming up with a private IP. When I plugged it into the Linksys it worked fine as a secondary gateway behind the WRT54G. It was not until the second day ( after going to bed around 1 AM ) that I realised that the problem was the cable modem. I do not know what the issue was but after resetting the cable modem Time Machine was able to get a proper IP and I was able to surf the web. And oh ... install the latest Airport update from Apple.

I then configured Time Machine to use Time Capsule as it's backup drive. That was extremely easy as shown here.



I then forced my first Time Machine backup and waited. And waited. And waited some more. I am not quite sure how long it took. I went to bed and in the morning both my Mac mini and MacBook had been backedup to Time Capsule. Using OS X 10.5 ( Leopard ) with Time Machine, the macs on my network are backed up ( differentials ) each and every hour. Very cool.

The WRT still works so I decided to repurpose it. My friend Mike, suggested I re-image the device with DD-WRT. DD-WRT was originally a project to create a modified and enhanced firmware for the Linksys line of WAPs. The project has grown overtime to support other WAP and router brands but the main focus is still the WRT.


I have version 5 of the WRT54G, so I downloaded the micro version of the binary from the DD-WRT web site and followed the instructions from this site. Why? Well... they seemed to be more detailed and provided a back-out plan in case of trouble; something the instructions on the main site did not. Following the instructions I had a new router in less than 15 minutes. I won't go into the features and benefits of the DD-WRT software; there is just too much there. Perhaps another post later this month when I have poked at all the button.

I did notice that DD-WRT supports Wireless Distribution System (WDS). WDS allows for connecting WAP to extend the range of wireless networks. The Time Capsule also supports WDS. I do not really understand how it all works but I am looking to use WDS between Time Capsule and DD-WRT. The Time Capsule is in the basement where the cable company placed the box that provides my internet connection and my telephone service. The wireless signal does not make it to some parts of the house. I can get about 30-40% in my family room; which hosts my mac mini, TiVo, and Nintendo Wii which all happen to be wireless. If I can get WDS working between WAPs then I may be able to provide a more robust signal in the other parts of the house.

Home Network Design 1    

Proposed Home Network, originally uploaded by Khürt on 3rd April, 2008.

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Author: Khürt Williams

A human who works in information security and enjoys photography, Formula 1 and craft ale. #nobridge

8 thoughts on “Proposed Home Network and rebuilding the home network”

  1. Hi Khurt, since you wrote this article, have you succeed on the WDS?
    I have a Time capsule and a DD-WRT (ex-WRT54G) just as you and I wish to set my wlan just as you proposed.
    Regards,

    Fabio

    1. Fabio, unfortunately, WDS is not implemented in a standard way by the manufacturers. Apple's WDS works quite well with Apple's AirPort products but not at all with other products. Same thing for the DD-WRT. If all your devices are WRT54G running DD-WRT then everything will work.

  2. Edward,
    No. I gave up and bought an AirPort Express and old AirPort Extreme off eBay. WDS works reliably and I now have full wireless coverage in all parts of my home.

  3. Did you ever get the WDS working? I have the same hardware as you (Time Capsule and WRT54G with DD-WRT) and am using the WRT in client bridge mode but this does not allow the WRT to be accept wireless connections so I'm looking to set up a WDS instead.

  4. I suspect your initial issues with the cable modem might have been caused by the changing MAC addresses between your gateway devices. I've seen this occur with my cable modem as well. A hard reset of the modem(I unplug it for a few minutes because that is the only access I have) always seems to fix the issue.

  5. Just out of interest, what did you use to draw your network diagram with?

    My Macbook is in my local Apple store having its display cable replaced under warranty.

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