20 June 2013

Convert Cisco Linksys E2000 into a Wireless Bridge using dd-wrt


My recent purchase of a refurbished Asus AC66R wireless router has left my previous router, a Cisco Linksys E2000, free to become a wireless bridge to upgrade my ps3 from 2.4GHz G to 5GHz N. Here are the steps that I followed to do it.

Disclaimer: All activity you do is at your own risk. I am not liable for any damage you do to your equipment.
  1. First setup my new router and ensured that the encryption used was WPA2 Personal-AES on both spectrums
  2. Downloaded dd-wrt.v24-21061_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini-e2000.bin from the dd-wrt page: http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/support/router-database (search E2000)
  3. Followed the flashing instructions on the wiki: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Linksys_E2000
    1. Disconnected all ethernet cables and wireless clients
    2. Did a 30/30/30 reset using a pen
    3. Connected my laptop using an ethernet cable (also turned wireless off on my laptop)
    4. Log into Linksys Web Interface Firmware Upgrade page at 192.168.1.1 using the default password (admin), went the Administration tab and then the Upgrade sub-tab
    5. Wait 10 minutes until WLAN (wireless) light turns on.
    6. Power cycle by unplugging E2000 for 30 secs.
    7. Plug E2000 back in and wait about 5 minutes until it finishes booting.
    8. Do a 30/30/30 reset on router.
    9. Wait 3 minutes and log into web interface using the default user/pass (root/admin)
    10. The router then made me change the password
    11. You are done. There is no NEED to flash any other build.
  4. I then configured the E2000 to be a wireless bridge using this wiki: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Wireless_Bridge
    1. My new and old router both use the ip 192.168.1.1, so if you use a different subnet be sure to modify accordingly
    2. Changed the E2000 to a static ip
      • Setup Tab -> Basic Setup sub-tab -> Network Setup heading
        • Local IP Address: 192.168.1.2
        • Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
        • Gateway: 192.168.1.1
        • Local DNS: 192.168.1.1
    3. I also disabled the WAN port at this point
    4. Hard-coded a static ip onto my laptop wired connection
      1. Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center
      2. Left side -> Manage Adapter Settings
      3. Right Click on your wired connection -> Properties
      4. Highlight TCP/IPv4 -> Click on Properties Button
      5. Use the following IP Address:
        • ip: 192.168.1.100 (or a similar unused one on your network)
        • subnet: 255.255.255.0
        • gateway: 192.168.1.1
    5. Disable the DHCP server on the E2000
    6. Change the E2000 into wireless bridge mode
      1. Wireless Tab -> Basic Settings Sub-Tab
        • Wireless Mode: Client Bridge
        • Wireless Network Mode: N-Only (5Ghz)
        • Channel Width: Auto
        • Wireless Network Name (SSID): type in your 5GHz network SSID
      2. Wireless Tab -> Wireless Security Sub-Tab
        1. Security Mode: WPA2 Personal
        2. Encryption: AES
        3. Password/Passkey: type in your network password
After all this I was able to successfully connect to the internet and the rest of my network. It also maxed out my 100Mbps laptop ethernet port.

8 comments:

  1. Thanks a lot! This was the best tutorial I have found.
    Ben

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  2. Does the bridge only enable one lan port on the back to be active at a time. Or can I use all 4 of them

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    Replies
    1. It should allow you to use all 4. I am currently using 3 of them

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  3. Tried this several times and no luck , it just reverts back. tried another blog that was on DD-WRT but didn't have the second part software the e2000 stuff i think.Loaded this and still not working.

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  4. Thank you very much for this article.
    I had couple of routers, wnr2000, wrt54g and e2000. I tried dd-wrt with wnr2000 and it's bricked. Then tried wrt54g and that didn't work either but finally the e2000 works great with centurylink q1000z modem. I used the firmware dd-wrt.v24-21061_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini-e2000.bin
    thanks

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  5. I was able to flash my E2000 successfuly but the Internet connection won´t work :(

    The weird thing is that I know the E2000 is connected to the AP since I'm able to access its admin interfce but I'm not use the internet connection.

    Any help? thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds like a possible DNS issue. Have you tried visiting websites by IP?

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