My home network

Hello out there:

Issue: My home network - some PC's working other cannot connect.
Changes: Bricked my Linksys (DD-wrt, Linux) wireless G router so upgraded to D-link 655 Extreme N wirelss router.
Provider: DSL

Network:
Running:
4 wired PC's - XP Pro
1 Xbox 360
1 USB printer connected to main PC
1 Slingbox

1 Old Dell Lappy - wireless G
1 Ipod Touch - wireless G
1 Acer Aspire 4730Z, Vista Home - wireless N


Routers & hub:
1 D-Link 655 which is connected to my dsl modem. (ip 192.168.0.1)
1 Linksys - old wireless B - running as a hub in the basement. (ip 192.168.2.1)
1 4 port hub.

#1) Wireless Issue:
First issue I had was that my Acer was running in (G) along with my Ipod. (why did I buy this? - i thought). So I forced my Dlink to run in N only. That allowed me to get the Acer to switch to N. Then I went back and made the Dlink run in Mixed Mode (N & G). Whooola - wireless up. (Y)

I can connect my Acer in N to Dlink router successfully (Y) - but with no security.
I can connect my Ipod Touch (G) to Dlink router successfully (Y) - but with no security.
I cannot connect my old dell lappy (G) to Dlink (N). I can see network but cannot connect. (Authentication fails) - no security. I've rebooted the lappy with still no luck in connecting. Disabled firewall and antivirus and still no (gonna leave this one for a bit later).

The Problem: When i enable WPA I can no longer connect to wireless network (yes I changed wireless properties to activate with WPA and my password) - I did not use WEP as I understand N will not run in WEP - only WPA & WPA2 Personal.

To get around this I enable MAC ID's on the Dlink to the Acer and Ipod - they can now connect in their respective bands - but I'm running wireless open. Don't want any freeloaders so I have to get WPA & WPA2 to work - correct?

Dlink is operating in Mixed mode a/b/g/draft n. This router should operate in different bands at the same time.

The kicker:
When I try to connect my old dell via ethernet cable directly to router, you would think I should be able to connect to web - nope. The light is on - on the Dlink. I even ran ipconfig to release and renew. Still no go.

I do have one wired PC connected to the dlink (the one i used to set the router up) - it works fine and appears in the Dlink management page. Do I need to run the Dlink CD on every PC then? Never used it on the Acer lappy nor the Ipod (lol).

GOALS:
1: To get my Acer to run in (N) and other wireless devices in (G) with WPA.
2: To get a second PC (wired) and my Xbox 360 (wired) connected to Dlink and thus the web.
3: To be able to connect my second router (linksys hubbed in basement) connected to the Dlink.

Do you think the encryption on the Dlink is faulty?

Sounds like a challenge - with the linksys DD-wrt it worked like a charm.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

b

To enable Internet Connection Sharing on a network simply follow these steps:

• You must be logged on to your computer with an owner account in order to complete this procedure.
  
• Open Network Connections. (Click Start followed by Control Panel, and then double–click Network Connections.)
  
• Click the local area network,dial–up, PPPoE, or VPN connection you want to share, and then, under Network Tasks, click Change settings of this connection.
  
• On the Advanced tab section, select the Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection check box.
  If you want this type of connection to dial automatically when another computer on your home or small office network attempts to access external resources, select the Establish a dial–up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the Internet check box.
  
• If you want other network users to have access to the shared Internet connection, select the Allow other network users to control or disable the shared Internet connection check box.

Below the Internet Connection Sharing selection, in Home networking connection, select any adapter that connects the computer sharing its Internet connection to the other computers on your network. The Home networking connection is only present when two or more network adapters are installed on the computer.


To configure Internet options on your client computers for Internet Connection Sharing

• Open Internet Explorer. Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Internet Explorer.)
  
• On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
  
• On the Connections tab, click Never dial a connection, and then click LAN Settings.
  
• In the Automatic configuration window, clear the Automatically detect settings and Use automatic configuration script check boxes.
  
• In Proxy Server, clear the Use a proxy server check box.

Thanks BnG:

I will try this in order to at least establish a connection to the internet via my main PC connected to the Dlink. This is very different from what I thought.

I thought using a router, it would assign an ip for each pc rather than use 1 connection.

The DSL modem is PP0e but my provider says to connect my router using Dynamic IP.

I've switched out my Dlink with a basic ethernet hub and my whole network is up (except the wireless devices naturally). So this leads me to believe that my Dlink 655 is not configured properly.

I still cannot figure why enabling WPA kills my wireless connections. I've typed the password a MILLION times. Anythoughts on that one?

b