Sharing between 2 networks

[whixson]

I am a fairly technical person, but with no networking experience other than playing around with my home network.

My question is this...

Due to many reasons, I ended up with 2 separate networks in my home. 1 LAN and 1 WLAN. I just plugged my Belkin Wireless G into my Netgear Router. Incidentally, all out of my cable modem.

I did this just to get a wireless signal to my laptop. So I could move around, and still have access to my HDD. But, I assumed my Netgear Router would map my Belkin Router, and I was wrong. Now, I ended up plugging everything into the Belkin Router even though I don't care for the speeds.

How can I "combine" the LAN and WLAN into one network? Or, how can I at least share between both?

I am running Windows 7 Ultimate on both PC's, along with a Wii (wired connection), and one shared printer and one networked printer.

I thank you in advance for any help.

[ua549]

You need to disable the wireless router and use it as an access point only.
There should be an option for that on its management web page.
There should only be a single DHCP server configured to hand out IP addresses.
That will assure you they are all on the same subnet.

[whixson]

I disabled DHCP, but am not getting into my other network. Here were my steps:

My Belkin is by default 192.168.2.1, but my netgear has that network setup as 192.168.1.1. So, when I changed the DHCP, I set the IP to 192.168.1.100. After the Belkin rebooted, I was able to get into it from the .100 address.

I then plugged it into the netgear router through an open port. I have no internet access through the wireless, and obviously can't view the network.

As I don't have to restate, I have no network experience.

[whixson]

Everything is working, except I am not getting an internet connection through the wireless. I am able to reach all the shares, and view all files.

Do I have to "share" the internet connection too?

[whixson]

I think the title says it all. I am unsure why, but after I just unplugged everything, and replugged, one at a time, in order, everything now works!

[ua549]

Most likely it was the old DHCP assignment from the wireless router.

In your clients open a CMD window and enter ipconfig /all to get the network and tcp/ip info. You should have an IP on the 192.168.1.x network and a default gateway IP that matches IP of the router that is connected to the internet. You will also see an IP for a DNS server. That can be your router, if configured for DNS, or another DNS server IP. The closer to you the better.

[whixson]

I really think my Belkin Wireless g router is dysfunctional. That may be why I put it in a closet to begin with. I would like a simpler alternative.

Can you recommend a good SOHO setup? Basically what is a tried and true router with multiple ethernet ports and wireless? I would like to go with 802.11n if possible.

[ua549]

Simple and good are at opposite extremes of product availability.
I have a not inexpensive D-Link DIR-855 that I like really well. It has extra capabilities that most home routers don't have such as access control lists, guest zones, GbE switch, ... I got it because of the ACL's and the fact that it also does the 5 GHz 802.11n band. I have 3 wireless access points in my house.

You already seem to have network hardware to serve your wired needs. The Netgear is a good brand as is D-Link and Linksys. Browse their websites for products in your price range that interest you.