# [SOLVED] How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios



## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

Hi group, first post. I have a Fios installation with wireless access but a hard wire to my homebuilt computer. Bought a Blu-Ray player with an RJ-45 connection to provide internet access. Tried to use a Linksys WRT54G v8.0 after converting it to a wireless access point. Have NOT flashed to DD-WRT yet. Got the Blu-Ray player to play nice with the AP but have not stumbled on the correct settings to allow AP to enter through Fios to internet. Laptop picks up AP and will connect, but no internet. Could be the gateway or some IP setting I do not have right or something else. TIA.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

What router did Verizon FiOS supply? How did you configure that?


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Hi. The Fios router is still in its original configuration. Looks like it's an Actiontec Model #: MI424WR. I can get into it but hesitate to change the original settings. It has an IP address of 71.174.85.164. I used this IP to get the Blu-Ray player to play nice, but still no Internet connection through the player or my laptop. Thanks for the reply.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Hard to believe the BluRay requires a public IP address and won't work with a router. Have you connected the BluRay directly to the MI424WR with a wired connection as a test?


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Hello. The Blu-Ray player would connect directly to a wired router I am sure, but that would require running a line to the player (and would be nowhere near as much fun!). The WRT54G has been changed to a wireless access point, tested, and it works. My problem is just configuring the AP so it can converse with the Fios router wirelessly. A laptop detects the AP but has the same problem, "Limited or no connectivity" when I connect through it. I was hoping to find the right combination of settings for the AP. Thanks.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

The WRT54G does not have wireless bridge capability. If it's compatible with the DD-WRT 3rd party firmware, that offers wireless bridge capability.


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Hi Johnwill. If that is what I'll have to do (convert to DD-WRT) then that is what I will try. If you have the time, do you know how to bridge a DD-WRT AP to the Fios router, or will it be self-explanatory. I'll read up on it. Thanks for your advice.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

I'd read the How-To's on DD-WRT. I've seen one in operation, but I haven't personally configured it. It shouldn't be that difficult, it's a basic option.


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Hi Johnwill. Thanks for your time and effort. I went to the Fios router's website and found this. 

http://support.actiontec.com/doc_files/Can_I_Bridge_the_Actiontec_MI424WR_FiOS_Router.pdf 


That router CANNOT be set up to bridge without losing the Fios VoD capability, which I am not willing to lose. Oh well. Hey it was fun trying!

Thanks again for your assistance. Great forum!

Ric


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

You can't set your primary router to bridge mode, that's true. However, I thought we were discussing a wireless bridge using a secondary router. You don't change the MI424WR configuration.

FWIW, I am running a wireless bridge to my Actiontec MI424WR, it works just fine.


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Hi Johnwill. What I was trying to do was set up my WRT54G v8 using the original Linksys firmware as an access point to the BD player. The WRT54G router is picked up well by my laptop but has no connectivity to the internet. Does your Actiontec MI424WR have any setting I could change? My next approach was to flash the DD-WRT mico files to my router and set it up as a client.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

You don't have to do anything to the Actiontec router to connect a wireless bridge, it's all configured in the bridge. DD-WRT has wireless bridge capability.


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

I plan on flashing my Linksys later today with DD-WRT. Going to read some more before I do. I'll let the thread know when it works.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Great, we'll wait for a status update. :smile:


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Hi. Still having trouble flashing my WRT54G router to DD-WRT. I have all of the files download to my local HD. After a 30-30-30 hard reset the router picked up my FiOS wireless. Grrr. I just have to figure out the right combination. Good thing I like puzzles! Just keeping you posted.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

I've only tinkered with one DD-WRT equipped router, but from my reading on the WiKi, it looks pretty flexible.


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

WRT54G is semi-bricked. Fixable (I think) because it will return a ping but no lights on the front until I plug in an RJ-45 from the computer. Company coming soon so it will have to wait. (Tried a "30-30-30" hard reset to no avail.) Starting to get fun!


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Can you get into the setup screens?


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

I got into the "Manage" setup screen and did a download of the "VXkill..." binary file. Unfortunately I think the WRT54G picked up a signal from the FiOS router during the kill part of the upgrade. This may have caused my router to connect during the change to DD-WRT phase. A "30-30-30" did not work. Open to any suggestions at this point but since I have the .bin files on my PC I do not have to be online to download the DD-WRT micro file. Still a puzzle... Again, no lights appear on the router until I plugged into the WAN port or LAN port #1. Next step is to power off the FiOS completely and try another hard reset. Isn't this fun!


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Did another "30-30-30". No joy. Attempted a 60 second reset both without and then with power. No joy. Checked power supply jack and got just over 12V. Tried to connect with laptop but no signal from the router. Hate to break open the box (know how to do that because I broke a non-wireless Linksys router in the past). But hey, a brick is a brick, no?


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Well, I'd connect the ailing router directly to your machine and get the other parts of the network totally out of the picture.


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

I had no luck getting the router to "un-brick". Read about pinging the beast while trying to use TFTP but still no joy. My system (home built and quite fast) is dual boot, so I'll try booting into Ubuntu 9.4. Might have better luck with a linux to linux fix. I'll download the files to this system and try a TFTP connection while pinging. JTAG is a last resort as I understand a pin short is very unreliable. Again, I'm afraid the FiOS wireless tried to connect during the flash and interrupted it. Live and learn! The FiOS router will be disconnected next time. Thanks for your patience.
Cirric


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Bummer. There is always the J-Tag cable to revive a really dead router. :smile:


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Tried Ubuntu 9.1 and could not get a ping at 192.168.1.1. Disconnected the wired internet connection and connected computer to port LAN 1. Tried to send a Tftp with the DD-WRT micro. No joy. I'll try again from Win XP Pro. Last screen seen was the "Manage " screen with "Update successful" just before bricking the router. Not quitting, but there are several WRT54G V8 routers with DD-WRT installed on eBay. Much rather fix the beast but running out of options. Any other suggestion much appreciated! Special thanks to Johnwill.
Cirric


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

I think I'm running out of ideas too. :smile:


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

I'll keep at it and post again if I get her revived. Might be a good idea to tell people to get all necessary filesto onto their computer and then unplug the FiOS router. I never considered that before. Also, during one of my attempts to ping the WRT54g, I had a wireless USB dongle attached to my PC. This may have given me a connection to the FiOS wireless. Thanks for all your input.
Cirric


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Keep plugging. :grin:


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Well I've had some joy! I did a TFPT of the vxrevert file and now the power light is blinking.
Hope it's not just taunting me Johnwill! I have a copy of all the DD-WRT files along with the Linksys binary in one folder on my desktop. The beast will still ping but the VXRevert file was the only successful file to go through. Hard reset and tried again. As you say I'll keep plugging!


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

BIG SMILE!! Had to use an ethernet cable to port #1. Went on the net and did a 192.168.1.1 only to get the FiOS router login page. Unplugged the wireless dongle and re did 192.168.1.1 and the "Manage Updates" page came up. Selected the Linksys firmware, ran it and got "Update successful". So THAT was fun! Thanks Johnwill. I'll take a breather and start the DD-WRT flash over when the snow hits!


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Good job, I had my doubts this was going to have a happy ending. :grin:

I'm getting my generator ready for when the snow hits, I didn't lose power in the last storm over the weekend, so I'm guessing I'm due! :4-dontkno


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

The Linksys WRT54G V8 is now running DD-WRT. I'll still have to figure out the correct settings to get my Blu-Ray player online, but that is another subject. As they used to say in the Yukon, "This case is closed". Thanks for the encouragement!
Cirric


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Glad you got this one working. :smile:


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## Cirric (Jan 24, 2010)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

Hi to all,
Did get the router (client mode in DD-WRT) to get online. Panasonic Blu-Ray player is now on line and can connect for firmware updates, have Viera Cast working properly, and have watched YouTube videos online with my user ID all set up. This has been both a challenge and a very satisfactory success. Thanks to all, especially Johnwill, for the encouragement. The settings were a bit complicated but were successful. You MUST get the router working on a laptop first. Once I got that working the Blu-Ray worked first first time. Again, thanks to all.
Cirric


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*Re: How to bridge WRT54G v8 to Fios*

We love success stories here. :smile:


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