Making a Dlink DI-524 into a Switch

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Edit July 31, 2010, 9pm:

I thought it would be better to rename the shared SSID/Password routers so that they are different so that I could choose which one to connect to depending on where I was in the house. Apparently, though, this sucks bad. I thought it was just for convenience that you would want both your routers spouting out the same SSID, but it turns out that it may also be functional. What happens now is that I can (sometimes) connect to my second-in-line-from-the-modem router wifi but it boots me off after just a short time. I am going to go back to the shared SSID format and see if it fixes it to confirm. Hey... here is a great little forum post on this topic if you ever need: http://www.wirelessforums.org/network-troubleshooting/two-wireless-routers-5078.html

and another cool, simple tutorial for setting up static IPs in a LAN, check this out: http://www.homenethelp.com/web/howto/static-ip-address.asp

stay tuned for update...

...here comes the update @ 9:30pm:

so far so good! I have a killer strong wifi signal and it's snappy fast. I think all things mentioned above in my edit are true, plus a few more items. here is a summary of what I've learned:

1. keep the same wifi SSID/Password if you are are sharing a wifi network (two routers in the same LAN).

2. make sure the security is also the same (WPA, WEP, etc) (I chose WPA-PSK in both)

3. make sure the two routers are using channels that are at least 5 channels apart from each other (found that in one of the links above). I chose 10 and 2 for my two channels. It will help reduce interference of signal.

4. follow my tutorial below, to change a dlink router into a switch with wifi, but make sure to add steps #1-3 above to step #5.

5. Static IPs vs. just leaving it with DHCP??... stay tuned!

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So, why it can't just be as easy as these 'ehow' tutorials say it is, I don't know. Anyways, I decided to spare many of you the pain of hours of wasted time if you would like to simply turn an old di-524 into a switch to expand your network. I had to combine a bunch of tutorials and then rewrite them:

1. factory reset your router. It's just easier to start that way. You do that by sticking a pin or small object in that hole in the back, holding it for about 20 seconds, and then releasing. You should see all the lights flash. I think it's not a bad idea to power on and off the unit after this step as well to make sure all is reset. Now your password should be blank and your user name 'admin' in your router settings.

2. Make sure you have yourself isolated in your network. How you do that is just put an ethernet cable into any of the LAN ports in the back of the router and then put the other end in your PC. Make sure any wireless connections are disabled and it would be wise to make sure they are set to not connect again automatically. I'm not sure if this matters too much but in the past this has screwed me up so I make it policy to do this.

3. Next, dial up 192.168.0.1 in your web browser. You'll hit your dlink admin page. It will ask you for user/pass. Enter 'admin' as user and leave the password field blank. You'll fill in a new one shortly so don't worry.

3. Change your IP address of your router. You do that by going to 'home' tab and then click the 'LAN' yellow button on the left. Change it to 192.168.2.1 or, some people recommend 192.168.0.2. I like the first one and it worked so why not try that? the idea here is that we want to make sure we are choosing an IP address that nothing else in your network owns. If you don't know your network, the one I like is usually best. click 'apply' to save those changes. Now it will restart the device and hopefully it will say that you can no longer connect to the device. If that is successful, we'll now navigate to your new router-switch's ip address to change some more settings...

4. pump up some 192.168.2.1 action in your web browser. enter the same user/pass when prompted

5. enable your wifi access point (if you want). It has been told to me that if you leave all the details the same as your other nearby WIFI access point (ssid, channel, wpa, password, etc) that they will work together. I have not had time to confirm this yet so I just tried it anyways. Or, make a new SSID and make sure to use the popular WPA-PSK setting because it is easier to enter a memorable password I find. Save your changes when finished. The device will again boot you out probably. Navigate back to 192.168.2.1 at any time if you find the device being weird.

6. change your admin password for the heck of it. I'm not actually sure if you need to because it seems that once you do my final step you can no longer access the router anyways. Regardless, it is good practice so let's set an admin password. Go to 'advanced' and just enter it at the top there and confirm. It will again boot you out, etc. Again, manually enter your now-favourite URL of 192.168.2.1 if you have any problems.

7. Kill the DHCP settings. Here is the part that wasted all my time. No one mentioned that after you disable your DHCP settings that you will no longer be able to access the device. so, trust me. All this fun admin stuff becomes dead after you do this but you have to do this in order to use the thing as a switch. Here we go: Go to 'home' and then hit the yellow "DHCP" button. At the top, disable the DHCP server thing. Remember, once you hit 'apply' and save your settings here, you'll no longer be able to get into your device without the same hard-reset we did at the beginning with the sharp device in the back. Go ahead. Make my day. Save your settings.

Now that your device has rebooted, you're out of luck if you want to go back in and change anything. Hopefully you took my advice and did all that before step 7. If you failed or your WIFI isn't working right, hard reset your device and then just do the same steps above again. I did it at least 10 times today and it still works! :(

***KEY****

I also wasted TONNES of time by missing a small detail on a tutorial. From now on do NOT plug anything into the WAN port on the back. It's dead. What you have to do is bring the cable from one of your LAN ports of your other working router into the LAN port of your newly switchized di-524. Just plug in any additional devices in and they should all share happily everything.

Now, suddenly, at least the ethernet stuff and internet sharing/networking work great!

I was most impressed with the speed.

Hope this helps you much!

Nothing but the box

Webcams and Ubuntu

Why don't they just work?
Well, some of them do, but not the ones that we had.

We plugged in a Logitech QuickCam in Karmic (9.10) for Skype video calls. Nothing is that easy.

Ok... so drivers. EasyCam seems to not exist anymore, so, so much for it being "easy".

Random Workingness

1. I changed the launcher for Skype :
System -> Preferences -> Main Menu -> Skype (Properties)
Command =

bash -c 'LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so skype'

That apparently did nothing... UNTIL

2. WT decided to install cheese:

sudo apt-get install cheese

The webcam not only worked then in cheese but also in Skype.

Maybe it was something in the cheese dependencies?

I later found out that part 1 was also important.

The built in webcam on the HP Pavilion DV6000 still does not work.

To be continued...