Need help with Senao 3220 Client Bridge

I'm trying to set up a Senao 3220 in Client Bridge mode for use on my
boat. The objective is to be able to select an access point on shore
and be able to connect to it. Ideally the 3220 would automatically
configure the PC TCPIP connection for DNS server, IP address, gateway
IP, etc after connecting to the access point.

The problem I'm having arises from the need to be able to communicate
with the 3220 via an ethernet connection at the same time it is
connected to an access point. Right now the only way I can make this
work half way reliably is to assign a static IP address of
192.168.1.3 to the 3220, assign my own DNS servers, turn off DHCP,
and assume a gateway address of 192.168.1.1. This works most of the
time for most access points but it is not very elegant, and I'm sure
there are some access points that default to a gateway addres of
something other than 192.168.1.1.

If I set the Senao to DHCP server mode, it does assign an IP address
but no gateway, and no DNS.

If I set it to DHCP client mode, it changes its own IP address but
does not communicate it back to the PC which results in loss of
connectivity to the internal firmware, and requires a reset.

Anyone have any suggestions?

The manual is extremely sketchy on these points.

Does no one here have any experience with a Senao 3220 bridge, or have
I phrased my issue/question poorly?

==============================================

On Sun, 04 Feb 2007 16:16:21 -0500, Wayne.B
<waynebatrecdotboats@hotmail.com> wrote:

>I'm trying to set up a Senao 3220 in Client Bridge mode for use on my
>boat. The objective is to be able to select an access point on shore
>and be able to connect to it. Ideally the 3220 would automatically
>configure the PC TCPIP connection for DNS server, IP address, gateway
>IP, etc after connecting to the access point.
>
>The problem I'm having arises from the need to be able to communicate
>with the 3220 via an ethernet connection at the same time it is
>connected to an access point. Right now the only way I can make this
>work half way reliably is to assign a static IP address of
>192.168.1.3 to the 3220, assign my own DNS servers, turn off DHCP,
>and assume a gateway address of 192.168.1.1. This works most of the
>time for most access points but it is not very elegant, and I'm sure
>there are some access points that default to a gateway addres of
>something other than 192.168.1.1.
>
>If I set the Senao to DHCP server mode, it does assign an IP address
>but no gateway, and no DNS.
>
>If I set it to DHCP client mode, it changes its own IP address but
>does not communicate it back to the PC which results in loss of
>connectivity to the internal firmware, and requires a reset.
>
>Anyone have any suggestions?
>
>The manual is extremely sketchy on these points.

On Mon, 05 Feb 2007 16:39:58 -0500, Wayne.B
<waynebatrecdotboats@hotmail.com> wrote in
<st8fs2dka4dn018relrq9jvemf99flsliu@4ax.com>:

>Does no one here have any experience with a Senao 3220 bridge, or have
>I phrased my issue/question poorly?

I'll admit I had trouble parsing your original posting.
I'll try again...

>On Sun, 04 Feb 2007 16:16:21 -0500, Wayne.B
><waynebatrecdotboats@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>I'm trying to set up a Senao 3220 in Client Bridge mode for use on my
>>boat. The objective is to be able to select an access point on shore
>>and be able to connect to it. Ideally the 3220 would automatically
>>configure the PC TCPIP connection for DNS server, IP address, gateway
>>IP, etc after connecting to the access point.

That's the job of the remote DHCP server -- the 3220 client bridge
should be transparent.

>>The problem I'm having arises from the need to be able to communicate
>>with the 3220 via an ethernet connection at the same time it is
>>connected to an access point. Right now the only way I can make this
>>work half way reliably is to assign a static IP address of
>>192.168.1.3 to the 3220,

OK. What's needed then is an IP address on the same subnet for
management of the client bridge.

>>assign my own DNS servers, turn off DHCP,
>>and assume a gateway address of 192.168.1.1.

Ugh. What you really want is either two network adapters (one for
management and the other for connection) or one adapter multi-homed,
with both a static address and a DHCP address -- for how to do that, see
<http://www.petri.co.il/configure_tcp_ip_to_use_dhcp_and_a_static_ip_addre ss_at_the_same_time.htm>.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

On Mon, 05 Feb 2007 22:16:15 GMT, John Navas
<spamfilter1@navasgroup.com> wrote:

>On Mon, 05 Feb 2007 16:39:58 -0500, Wayne.B
><waynebatrecdotboats@hotmail.com> wrote in
><st8fs2dka4dn018relrq9jvemf99flsliu@4ax.com>:
>
>>Does no one here have any experience with a Senao 3220 bridge, or have
>>I phrased my issue/question poorly?
>
>I'll admit I had trouble parsing your original posting.
>I'll try again...

Thanks.

>
>>On Sun, 04 Feb 2007 16:16:21 -0500, Wayne.B
>><waynebatrecdotboats@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>I'm trying to set up a Senao 3220 in Client Bridge mode for use on my
>>>boat. The objective is to be able to select an access point on shore
>>>and be able to connect to it. Ideally the 3220 would automatically
>>>configure the PC TCPIP connection for DNS server, IP address, gateway
>>>IP, etc after connecting to the access point.
>
>That's the job of the remote DHCP server -- the 3220 client bridge
>should be transparent.

That's what I thought since I've had other bridges that did work that
way. I'm assuming that some setting on the Senao still needs to be
tweaked but haven't figured it out yet. Right now I've got it working
fairly reliably by forcing the gateway IP to 192.168.1.1 and plugging
in my own DNS addresses. I've set the Senao bridge to 192.168.1.3
since that seems to avoid conflicts with most access points. My
concern is that someday I'll encounter other access points where those
gateway or bridge IPs will not work, or my DNS addresses will not be
acceptable for some reason. I live and work on the boat for 6 months
at a time while cruising the east coast and Bahamas so I encounter a
wide variety of access points along the way.
>
>>>The problem I'm having arises from the need to be able to communicate
>>>with the 3220 via an ethernet connection at the same time it is
>>>connected to an access point. Right now the only way I can make this
>>>work half way reliably is to assign a static IP address of
>>>192.168.1.3 to the 3220,
>
>OK. What's needed then is an IP address on the same subnet for
>management of the client bridge.
>
>>>assign my own DNS servers, turn off DHCP,
>>>and assume a gateway address of 192.168.1.1.
>
>Ugh. What you really want is either two network adapters (one for
>management and the other for connection) or one adapter multi-homed,
>with both a static address and a DHCP address -- for how to do that, see
><http://www.petri.co.il/configure_tcp_ip_to_use_dhcp_and_a_static_ip_addre ss_at_the_same_time.htm>.

That's an interesting tip, I'll have to try it. As of today I've
discovered that I can IP my way into the Senao firmware in one browser
window while surfing in a second window. That may be an artifact of
forcing the gateway address into the same subnet as the bridge
however. It seems to be working on both XP and Win2K.

Maybe I should leave well enough alone but I just know that sooner or
later I'll run into some access points that have different addressing
schemes than the APs around here, and I'll end up trying to figure
this out all over again.

On Tue, 06 Feb 2007 00:01:50 -0500, Wayne.B
<waynebatrecdotboats@hotmail.com> wrote:

>>That's the job of the remote DHCP server -- the 3220 client bridge
>>should be transparent.
>
>That's what I thought since I've had other bridges that did work that
>way. I'm assuming that some setting on the Senao still needs to be
>tweaked but haven't figured it out yet. Right now I've got it working
>fairly reliably by forcing the gateway IP to 192.168.1.1 and plugging
>in my own DNS addresses. I've set the Senao bridge to 192.168.1.3
>since that seems to avoid conflicts with most access points. My
>concern is that someday I'll encounter other access points where those
>gateway or bridge IPs will not work, or my DNS addresses will not be
>acceptable for some reason. I live and work on the boat for 6 months
>at a time while cruising the east coast and Bahamas so I encounter a
>wide variety of access points along the way.

Well, for anyone who is interested, I have figured ou how to get the
Senao 3220 working as a bridge, and dynamically assign IPs, gateways,
etc.

The trick is to first configure your TCPIP properties with a static IP
address in the same subnet as the bridge. Configure the mode setting
as a "bridge", configure the bridge DHCP setting to "Server",
configure any security settings appropriate to the access point you
are connecting with, do a network scan, and connect.

Next, and this is the important step, go back into TCPIP settings on
your PC and reconfigure them to obtain an IP automatically (via DHCP
of course).

Verify your new settings with an IPCONFIG command and voila, you are
on the net !

Of course you have now lost the ability to communicate with the bridge
but I've received lots of tips about dealing with that.

Thanks John Navas for your help, and convincing me that there must be
a way.

As an aside, the Senao looks like it is going to perform very well
once I get it installed on the boat.