Maximum PC

I have a Net-gear WNR3500 router that I'm using as my main router with my cable modem. I have a linksys WRT54GS that I want to use an access point upstairs for my xbox so I don't have to run a cable. I've found I need to set wireless repeating on the net-gear with it as the base station mode. And have both routers using the same SSID, wireless channel, authentication mode, and encryption (WEP). However this information was for 2 net-gear routers. What I'm not sure is what I need to set on linksys and to be in repeater mode or linksys equivalent. Thank you.

This is the link with the information Ive found and a diagram.
http://documentation.netgear.com/wnr350 ... 06-15.html

SSIDs can be different, and probably should be. So try setting the Netgear to MyNetwork1 and the Linksys to MyNetwork2 and see if you can connect to MyNetwork2.

Wireless channel and WEP key should be the same. Is your WRT54GS using stock firmware?

For the xbox, you may want to use the Linksys as a bridge, rather than a repeater. For this, you may have to install DD-WRT (or Tomato, I'm not sure if it has that feature though).

What version is the Linksys? If you look on the bottom it should tell you.

Both routers have stock firmware. The linksys is a v.2.

Yeah you should have no problem installing DD-WRT on that. How far is the xbox from the AP?

The router with the cable modem is downstairs and the xbox is upstairs in the same room where Ive had my laptop and had good signal strength. I can place the second router which is I assume to be a bridge anywhere in that room with the xbox.

If it were me, I'd put DD-WRT on it and set it up in bridge mode.

Disclaimer: You can brick your router by doing that. Read the instructions before flashing it.

The chances of this working over WDS are slim to none. WDS is not a WiFi certified protocol, so implementations vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, which then leads to incompatibilities. This has been a huge problem w/ WDS since its inception. Heck, I've even seen WDS incompatibilities across products lines of the SAME brand! The only way I would ever consider using WDS is if the devices where from the same manufacturer, and better yet, the exact same model # (e.g., 2 x WRT54G routers). Or, of course, if you could otherwise guarantee identical implementations (e.g., 2 x dd-wrt routers). Otherwise, forget about it, it’s not worth the hassle.

But all is not lost. Since your Linksys supports dd-wrt or tomato, these third party firmware alternatives will allow you to configure the Linksys for either "client bridge" or "wireless ethernet bridge" mode, respectively. Instead of using WDS, these modes allow the router to connect to virtually any wireless AP (access point) in the same way as any USB or PCI wireless adapter you might find on the desktop. This is sometimes referred to as *universal* bridging. But it comes at a price; only wired clients are supported at the bridge. If you would also like to support wireless clients at the bridge (i.e., universal wireless repeating), then you would need dd-wrt specifically (tomato doesn’t support it) and specifically select "repeater bridge" mode.