Wireless network without internet access - is it possible?

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PilotDave · #1 Post by **PilotDave** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:44 am

Dear helpful forum folks,

I am setting up a new T43 for a friend. She lives in a rural area that does not have DSL service. Is it possible to use a wireless router so that she can network with a desktop and a printer in the next room without having a high-speed internet input to the router? Thanks!

Sincerely,

Dave

Website · #2 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:58 am

Absolutely!

She/you can pick up a package from WalMart (or anywhere) that has the wireless router and wireless card for her desktop. It should come with instructions on setting up the network. It is pretty easy to do in XP, infact after installing the hardware to the desktop, XP will ask you if you want it to work as a network, and then walk you through that process.

PilotDave · #3 Post by **PilotDave** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 12:07 pm

Thanks, Bill! I'll give it a shot. I have a Dell wireless router that I had used in a different home with a cable modem supplying the ISP service. I'll hook it up here and try to set up the home network without any high speed ISP service and keep my fingers crossed that some DSL or cable service comes to the area soon. Have a wonderful holiday!

LtTPfan · #4 Post by **LtTPfan** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 12:29 pm

I used a wireless network without broadband for quite some time for file and printer sharing. I got tired of waiting for broadband so I picked up a used Direcway 6000 system off eBay for $200 (to avoid any commitment), installed it myself, and connected it to the router. Getting rid of the two extra phone lines I had for dialup almost pays the $59.99 Direcway bill (I still keep the $8.99 dialup account for backup). Downloads are okay, usually about 700kb, sometimes higher, but uploads are dialup speed.

My local phone company has now installed DSL equipment and my local cable company has also installed broadband equipment but neither has their system up and running to the point where they will sell it. It's been months and they are still tweeking. The cable internet will be half the price for twice the speed.

All I want for Xmas is real broadband!

davidspalding · #5 Post by **davidspalding** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 5:41 pm

You wouldn't need a wireless card for the desktop, just sit the router near it and use a short CAT 5 cord ... IF the desktop is centrally located.

Depending on your model, you can set your router/gateway to operate as just a switch. That is, a network device, without routing to a WAN connection.

If you found a router that has a built-in print server (dunno if they make such a thing, but since they make network capable external drives that have a print server built-in, why not?), that would allow your friend to print without even having the desktop powered up.

PilotDave · #6 Post by **PilotDave** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 8:45 pm

Thanks, everyone! I hooked up my Dell 2300 wireless router to the desktop in my rural friend's home. It had worked well in another home on another desktop with a cable modem input. The router puts out a good signal and my T42 connects to it in the next room using the same SSID and security settings that I had used previously on the router. I set up file and printer sharing and a common workgroup name for the two machines. Unfortunately, the networking does not seem to work without any internet input to the router. My T42 connects to the router, but does not recognize that there are any other computers on the network. I could not access the desktop printer from the laptop. The desktop does not detect that the T42 is on the network. I disabled all firewalls during the troubleshooting. The router is unable to be configured from the desktop without the internet input. The Dell software just does not know what to do without detecting internet input.

Do you have any suggestions on how I might better configure the router? Without the Dell software, I'm not certain that I can try to reconfigure it as a switch rather than as a router like David Spalding suggested. I can not access it via http://my.router while off-line. The Internet Explorer brouser tries to connect via the dial-up ISP when I try to access the router via IE rather than the Dell software.

Do you have any other make/model suggestions for wireless routers that would make networking functional now without an ISP input and then later with an ISP input?

Maybe the best bet would be a standalone wireless printer server?

Thanks for all of your input!

Website · #7 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 12:10 am

I forgot that you didn't need the wireless connection for the desktop.

As fotr connecting to the router, try these:

192.168.1.1
192.168.0.1
192.168.1.0

One of these might take you into the router's setup. Try searching Google for the model router, along with the terms "router only" and you might find things that others have done to rework it without highspeed internet. Of course, since it is a Dell, you might be able to get the manual from their website.

PilotDave · #8 Post by **PilotDave** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:21 pm

Thanks for your input! I did it. I was able to configure the Dell 2300 TrueMobile wireless router as an "Access Point" without any high speed internet input. I have the Access Point hardwired to a desktop with an ethernet cable. The desktop serves the printer. I have connected successfully to the wireless network with both a Thinkpad T42 and T43, wirelessly broused shared folders on the other machines and wirelessly printed documents. Unfortunately, both laptops are problematic when connecting to the wireless network. They usually hang up at the last step of receiving an IP assignment. One of the laptops does have a history of regularly and successfully accessing the router when it was installed in a different home with a high speed ISP.

My last troubleshooting idea is to power down the Access Point whenever the desktop is shut down. That way the desktop and Access Point are rebooted simultaneously on power up. I will experiment with that when I am home again.

In the meantime, does anyone have a suggestion of a setting that may need to be adjusted somewhere on the control page for the Access Point, in Windows XP or in IBM Access Connections? Thanks!

P.S. FYI: I learned that not all wireless print servers can function in an "Ad Hoc" mode, alone apart from a wirelss network. I had tried that before going back to my old router and configuring it as an Access Point.

#9 Post by **GomJabbar** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:50 pm

PilotDave wrote:In the meantime, does anyone have a suggestion of a setting that may need to be adjusted somewhere on the control page for the Access Point, in Windows XP or in IBM Access Connections? Thanks!

I've set my TCP/IP settings manually. It works better and more reliably for me that way. I explain how in this thread.
Link: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=13141

PilotDave · #10 Post by **PilotDave** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 9:53 pm

Thanks, GomJabbar! They sound like great ideas. I'll give them a shot.