Linksys E3000 and EA4500

[TheComputerMan08]

Hello everyone!

I have a few questions for everyone here.

First, I'll describe my current setup. I have a Motorola Modem provided by Time Warner (Yeah I know, they're the only ones in the area) and two routers. one EA4500 and one E3000.

The EA4500 is currently connected like any normal router setup would be for the home, WAN is to the modem and there rest wireless and LAN.

The E3000 i'm trying to set up as a secondary router (house has dark spots so I'm moving the routers to split the house and cover the most distance).

However, I cannot get the E3000 to talk to the EA4500 no matter what settings I change.

Currently using DD-WRT v24. Set WAN to Disabled, and set the WAN to another "Switch" slot. changed the Local IP to 192.168.1.2. the EA is 192.168.1.1. Under the router IP settings, the gateway and Local DNS are both set to 192.168.1.1, however, this is where it gets tricky.

I also have a Windows Server 2012 build (datacenter). Currently running a Virtual Edition of 2012 Standard.

the Datacenter has AD, and AD-CS, DNS (which isn't configured right because I couldn't get that to work correctly either, keep getting a "waiting for active directory sync" error), Print services, and file and sharing services.

The Standard has Direct Access/VPN installed but I can't get that to configure correctly either. (using Virtual Box for install, DHCP reservation for the two network adapters. (Couldn't get DHCP to work on the server either).

Anyways the server is a whole other issue, right now my main concern is the routers unless getting DHCP to work on my server is a better option than using the routers.

I have been through the walkthrough that DD-WRT has posted on their website for e3000 and it doesn't let me connect, and once I unplug the Ethernet, I loose connectivity until I reset the e3000 (30/30/30) due to lack of DHCP (defaults to the 169.x.x.x address).

I would love some insight into this. I've been working on this setup (server included) for weeks now. I am reluctant to ask for help as I know everyone's time is very valuable, but any help is GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

Brent

[Roger H. Veteran]

Well how are the 2 routers supposed to talk to each other? Do you have them wired up via ethternet or are you trying to do it wirelessly?

The easy way is to run a cable from the EA4500 LAN port to the E3000 LAN and with DHCP and all that disabled. Any wireless client that connect to that AP will get passed on to the DHCP on the network and get an IP and work like normal.

The hard way is setting them up via wireless where you might be using WDS or Repeater Bridge setups. Use cables if you can! :)