DHCP + Hub + Routing?

[H@L0_F00]

My setup:

Laptop (running Windows 7) - connected wirelessly to router and internet.

-Wireless: DHCP, 192.168.2.x

-LAN: Static.

--IP: 192.168.0.1

--Mask: 255.255.255.0

Hub - connected to laptop's LAN card

Xbox (running XBMC) - DHCP, connected to hub

Various other systems that might be connected at one time or another - DHCP, connected to hub

I was using Tftpd32 manually for a while but I decided I'd like to make my setup somewhat permanent by including the hub and running Tftpd32 at startup. Minimizing Tftpd32 to the system tray is buggy though (popping up at least twice every boot up before minimizing to tray) and the newest version doesn't even maintain the server interface I select (LAN NIC). I found this instead and I really like it, especially since it can start as a service, is has no GUI, and it immediately goes to the tray. I've got it working with the DHCP and all, but what I would like is to have my Xbox and other systems have access to the internet as well as my laptop. I read a bit about subnets and IP routing, but I don't understand everything and nothing I have tried has worked. Everywhere I've looked, people are told to setup a firewall or proxy server on the "middle" computer, but I'd rather not do something like this because I'm sure there is another, simpler way to achieve what I'd like. Using a proxy server would also mean I'd have to setup the other devices to use the proxy for all connections other than local ones. So, I'd appreciate everybody's input on the different ways I could effectively use DHCP to give out addresses, allow the networked computers to access the internet, and still maintain access to my laptop.

p.s. I tried Windows built in ICS, but when it was enabled I didn't have access to my laptop from my Xbox or any other computers. I want more control over it than ICS gives anyways. Also, the wireless router has DHCP and DNS servers running (if that helps).

Thanks in advance.

[decepticon_eazy_e]

My setup:

Laptop (running Windows 7) - connected wirelessly to router and internet.

-Wireless: DHCP, 192.168.2.x

-LAN: Static.

--IP: 192.168.0.1

--Mask: 255.255.255.0

Hub - connected to laptop's LAN card

Xbox (running XBMC) - DHCP, connected to hub

Various other systems that might be connected at one time or another - DHCP, connected to hub

I was using Tftpd32 manually for a while but I decided I'd like to make my setup somewhat permanent by including the hub and running Tftpd32 at startup. Minimizing Tftpd32 to the system tray is buggy though (popping up at least twice every boot up before minimizing to tray) and the newest version doesn't even maintain the server interface I select (LAN NIC). I found this instead and I really like it, especially since it can start as a service, is has no GUI, and it immediately goes to the tray. I've got it working with the DHCP and all, but what I would like is to have my Xbox and other systems have access to the internet as well as my laptop. I read a bit about subnets and IP routing, but I don't understand everything and nothing I have tried has worked. Everywhere I've looked, people are told to setup a firewall or proxy server on the "middle" computer, but I'd rather not do something like this because I'm sure there is another, simpler way to achieve what I'd like. Using a proxy server would also mean I'd have to setup the other devices to use the proxy for all connections other than local ones. So, I'd appreciate everybody's input on the different ways I could effectively use DHCP to give out addresses, allow the networked computers to access the internet, and still maintain access to my laptop.

p.s. I tried Windows built in ICS, but when it was enabled I didn't have access to my laptop from my Xbox or any other computers. I want more control over it than ICS gives anyways. Also, the wireless router has DHCP and DNS servers running (if that helps).

Thanks in advance.

You really have a hub? If it's really a hub, throw that thing away and upgrade.

Select the 2 interfaces on the laptop (wifi and lan) and make them a bridge. Your laptop becomes a bit transparent in the network but the 2 interfaces become a pass-through, which is what you need.

[H@L0_F00]

Yes, it's a hub. I got it for free about a year ago and I'm rather broke. Would a switch be that much better? I thought about bridging them, but like I said, I need access to my laptop to stream videos to my Xbox or share files with other computers on the LAN.

[barry99705]

Yes, it's a hub. I got it for free about a year ago and I'm rather broke. Would a switch be that much better? I thought about bridging them, but like I said, I need access to my laptop to stream videos to my Xbox or share files with other computers on the LAN.

Yes, a switch will be tons better.

[H@L0_F00]

Switches route packets based on MAC addresses, correct? Whereas hubs do not? Why would that help if my LAN will probably never consist of more than 3 devices? Anymore input on how I can route the traffic would be great, thanks.

[digip]

You could try putting the hub into the router directly instead of your laptop, then the laptop and any hub devices will get addresses in the same dhcp subnet and should all be able to see each other.

The way you have it now, the wifi is on one network(to the internet) and the lan side is another network which would not be able to see router unless their gateway was set to whatever the routers IP address is, but would probably fail sinces they are coming through the laptop. 192.168.2.x/24 and 192.168.0.x/24 are on seperate subnets, so in order to talk to each other, they need a router between them, or all people on the hub to see the broadcasts. Hubs are just dumb devices and will repeat anything it receives on one port to all the other ports on the devices, but it does no routing of any kind, just garbage in, garbage out. It will also create more collisions on your network, but with 3 devices, won't be a huge issue, just a waste of bandwidth for retransmitting data after any collisions.

You could try to put both nic's set to the same network 192.168.2.x/24, then allow windows to share its wired and wireless connections via network settings (Under the nic's settings, like where you do tcp/ip enable client for microsoft networks and file and printer sharing, click ok, then go back in click the advanved tab, then there is the option to "share" your connection with other users on the network, basically sharing the wifi's connection so others can reach the internet), then the other devices should be able to see the itnernet, but you would also have to port forward on the router for any device that requires special ports to be open (like the xbox, im not sure if it even needs any special ports though but i fyou already had it working before, then I assume you have it set up however it needs to be) as well as make allowances in the windows 7 boxes firewall to let those ports be open when trying to go in/outbound from other devices.

basic setup you could try:

[H@L0_F00]

The thing is I don't have physical access to the router, I use my neighbor's (yes, legally). If I set the DHCP server on my laptop to give out 192.168.2.x/24 addresses along with the same config the router gives out through DHCP, would the devices be able to communicate with both my laptop and the router? I guess if I bridged them, the devices would just get IPs from the routers DHCP server right? But then, would anything streamed from my laptop to my Xbox have to go:

laptop -> wireless -> router -> wireless -> laptop -> Xbox ?

[digip]

Might be easier to just buy a cheap wireless router of your own and set it up as a repeater, then all your equipment can go to your own router for local connectivity, while using his network for internet access.