USR cant extend my wireless network

Hi there,
I have been using USR9108 for a while and now I bought a USR5441 Range Extender. My aim was to access my wireless connection all around my house but this thing is not working.
I have done every step written in the manual but here is the facts.(it says to connect range extender to my modem using an ethernet cable and it almost does the rest. Detects my connection all I have to do is enter my password if any)

1.My wireless modem can not see Range extenders MAC address.
2.When I enable my Range Extender all wireless devices are having "Limited or No connectivity" problem.
3.Can not access range extender if I connect it through a ethernet cable to my pc

Any idea why this problem is killing my wireless connection? This silly device is not acting as an range extender...it works as wireless interrupter virus:S Help please cant get help from my local USR...they are so lame.

p.s. I even can not get an ip address even I get so close to my wireless modem.

Thanx in advance

Did you set the 9108 to bridge mode for WDS?
"In bridge mode, the gateway uses the Wireless Distribution System (WDS) protocol to communicate wirelessly with other networking devices (access point, wireless router, repeater) that support WDS, but does not communicate directly with clients."
U.S. Robotics Wireless MAXg ADSL Gateway User Guide

"You must be using a wireless router or access point that supports WDS (Wireless Distribution System)"
Wireless MAXg Range Extender User Guide USRobotics Wireless Turbo User Interface

I tried to change my 9108 to bridge mode. I cant find 5441s' MAC address in clients list in 9108.

Notes:
I have disabled all passwords, MAC filtering. Anyone can access my wireless network now. also 9108 is set to AP Mode:Wireless Bridge while Bridge restrict is disabled(I cant enable it).
I choose my modem(9108) from 5441s' device list. Should I be able to see 5441s' MAC address in the 9108s' Wireless Client List? It normally shows MAC addresses. All my aim is to acheve the connection then I will try to set up MAC filtering and passwords. I can see my laptops MAC address on 5441s' Clients list but is says its is not authorized...

BTW another problem is...The MAC adress written under my 5441 and the real MAC address are different:S Last char seems to be different. Hope this wont cause a problem.

And a question: If I place 9108 and 5441 in the same room and open my laptop then do I wireless network search which device shall I find? or lets say I find my SSID name, MyLAN, isnt there a confusion
that 2 devices are broadcasting same name and service?? With my laptop I can connect if I manually enter ip adress but cant reach internet

Thanx for your reply Rob02!!

After setting the 9108 to bridge mode did you enter the MAC address of the 5441 in the "Remote Bridges" MAC address table? The correct MAC address must be entered or the connection will not work, if you have 2 MAC addresses listed and are not sure which one to use enter both.
If your 5441 does not then see the 9108 try manually entering the SSID,Channel number the 9108 is transmitting on and MAC address of the 9108 into the "Extend Network" table of the 5441.
You don't say what OS you are using but if Win XP it is supposed to try and connect to the AP with the stronger signal and putting them close together would cause a lot of problems. If "Bridge Restrict" was enabled in the 9108 then you would not be able to connect to it with a wireless "Client".

Hello again and many thanx for your answer Rob. Now I will try using Bridge restrict which asks me about the MAC addresses. The only problem is when I use this Bridge Restrict I can use WPA, AES properties. So I can not use a password protected wLan.

Now I have configured it. Another thing confuses me is, Associated and authorized thing. USR5441 says my laptop(writes the MAC address) is Associated but it is not authorized:S Why is that? I think it is the main reason I can not access to the net.

Also another thing I am sitting on my table, USR5441 is connected to my USR9108 with a cable. I did all you said, no passwords nothing is enabled. Entered the MAC addresses then made a try. Wolla it connected then I decided to disconnect 5441 and 9108 and removed the cable. guess what...my wireless connection lost

As far as i know and read, I wouldn't need to connect this two devices with a cable.

So now I took my laptop and 5441 went to another room. Plugged it to AC source. Now my laptop is having a limited or no connectivity problem. Plus, i cannot access to 5441 from my pc as i type its ip address this might give you a clue.

I realize this is an very easy set up but dont know why it made me ill I can provide you the SS of my settings if it might do. I can take every single SS and send you

thanx again Rob

The reason the 5441 connected when using the ethernet cable is that you entered the LAN MAC address of the 5441 into the 9108. When you remove the cable connection the LAN MAC address is no longer valid for the connection to work, you must also enter the Wireless MAC address of the 5441 into the 9108 for the "Bridge" to work.
When you connected the 5441 to the 9108 by cable it will have been allocated an IP address by the 9108 and is probably on a different subnet from the the default address which is why you cannot access it.
See step 2C Wireless MAXg Range Extender User Guide USRobotics Wireless Turbo User Interface

Umm here is the thing,
IP address of my 9108 is 192.168.1.1 by default and I didn't change it(also not sure if it is changeable) And the IP address of 5441 is 192.168.1.5 This ip can be seen while it is wired. Cannot connect to device when it is wireless and stand alone so I can not find the IP address of 5441

I have done the second step one by one. It works. I used that LAN MAC address and also the wireless MAC address in 9108. I granted access on both MAC addresses. I started to suspect there might be a problem with the device

Please tell me this one. Should I find 5441 in the clients list of my modem(9108)?
By the way, my laptop is finding my wLAN if 5441 is cabled. Otherwise there seems no wLAN.(I think it is because of the AP mode I selected.)

Is there any diagnosis test which can identify if my 5441 is working properly? For example I can not reach to its interface when I connect it directly to my computer or my laptop using an Ethernet cable.


thanx Rob again and again for your support

In an earlier reply I suggested manually inputting the "Extend Network" settings.
"If your 5441 does not then see the 9108 try manually entering the SSID,Channel number the 9108 is transmitting on and MAC address of the 9108 into the "Extend Network" table of the 5441."
Did you try this?

I would suggest you reset the 5441 to it's factory default state and start again.

Actually I sees my 9108, it fills the boxes itself. My modem is not recognized like others Now I will reset everything to its factory settings, retry and inform you.

does it affect if i enter both LAN MAC and wLAN MAC address of my 5441?

Note: Rob, another problem is, which confuses me, the LAN MAC address on the label of 5441 is 00:14:C1:2B:37:0F and the LAN detected by the utility is 00:C0:49:F0:29:10 ...this cant be a mistyped on the label... doh

The more important MAC address of the 5441 is the Wireless MAC Address and this must be entered into the 9108, If you do enter the LAN MAC Address as well it will make no difference as when you try to operate using only the wireless connection the 9108 will only connect to the Wireless MAC Address.
According to the manual the label should have both MAC Addresses printed on it.
Both the MAC Addresses you listed are registered to U.S. Robotics so one must be the wireless MAC Address.

Dear Rob,
after 1000th try i made it. Seems I was missing a point I will try to secure the wireless network soon but for now I want to use my connection home wide

THANX again and again.

ceviz, I am having the exact same problems as you discribed. So it would be nice if you could enlighten me on the point you were missing in order to make the extender work. Thanks