My current scenario is this:
 
1 cable modem + 1 wireless router in a room.
2 wireless laptops that connect to the wireless router throughout the house
1 wireless desktop that connects to the wireless router.
2 desktops in that same room that don't connect to the internet at all.
 
I need a way to provide internet access to the two PC's without getting each one a wireless card, because I'm limited on cash at the moment.
 
here's what I have:
1 spare linksys wireless router, 2 ethernet cables, DHCP Turbo 3.0, and 2 gigabit ethernet ports in the back of the wireless desktop.
 
My thought is that I can somehow turn the desktop with wireless access into a DHCP server for one of the two ethernet ports on the back of it, connect the spare router to that port, and configure the router to specify to the 2 other desktops to use the wireless desktop as their gateway to the internet.
 
My problem: I'm an idiot.
No, actually, I'm a computer tech pro, but a networking novice... I've been doing research for about 2 hours on what I would need to do, but have gotten nowhere.  And please don't refer me to the PUTSB forum, cuz I've tried that and there was so much stuff to go through, I nearly quit.
 
 
My Question: For this to work, what port on the back of the router do I use for the wireless computer to plug into? WAN? or Port #X?  I know I need to disable the DHCP that's built into the Router, but what about all the other functions? Do i need to basically turn it into a naked switch by disabling everything?
 
 
 
As for simplifying: I CANNOT MOVE THE ROUTER. I can't string an ethernet cable down the hall to bridge the two routers (my roommate's a pain, and she has 2 cats that would chew that cable in a heartbeat...) dropping a cable isn't an option either, because she's a paranoid misunderstanding little UGH! did I mention this is temporary until I move out into my own place?
 
 
The Reason:
Wireless desktop is my gaming rig... NoInternet Desktop #1 is going to be my dedicated gaming server for UT2K4... I have access to the router to do the port forwarding, etc... and I know this setup will NOT be a good gaming-server solution because of all the devices the signal will pass through, but it's for general testing only between me and a few close friends for the next 2-3 months while I tweak the server and perfect it before I move out.  NoInternet Desktop #2 is going to be my dedicated file server for my local intranet.  I'm going to use it as a backup for all my music / video files, and it will be accessible 24/7, since it's a low-power consumption small form factor PC... the reason for having #2 connected to the network is because I'm also building a carputer... I want to be able to drive up to my house / apartment, log into my wireless network, and sync all the things that are stored on the file server with the songs on the carputer with the opening of an icon... [I'm a car audio enthusiast with a lot of time on my hands]... and yes, I know there are network storage devices available... like I said, I'm working with what I have on hand... I will eventually get one of those and turn the dedicated file server into a traveling step-mania box to go with my 2 metal ddr pads...
 
here's what I have in my head for the network structure:
 

 
Please help me! I want to LEEAARRN!!
 
Thanks! And excuse the long entry... :-/

If the spare router has a built in switch just use that. Connect one port to the PC with the wireless connection, and connect the 2 other PCs to the other ports on the switch. There is some softeware on windows to share an internet connection ICS i think. Turn this on and it will provide DHCP to the other 2 PCs.  
 
The problem you may have is that you will not be able to see the wireless laptops from the 2 PCs that are now connected to the internet. The laptop's default gateway address will route traffic to the router connected to the cable internet, and that router will not have a route back to the 2 PCs connected va ICS
 
To be honest I think you need all your PCs and Laptops on the same network, and I do not think that you can do that with the equipment you have.  
 
Just my 2p worth.
 
Rob Murphy

Okay so based on your post, you want to do something like the diagram.  Yes, it can be done.  In Desktop A which I have labled, you need to enable packet forwarding (turn it into a router).  Connect it to the WAN port of your second wireless router.  Configure your second wireless router (not attached to cable modem) with DHCP server so it hands out IP addresses to the desktops connecting to it's switch side.  If you want the two networks to be able to talk to each other you will need a static route pointing to the wired subnetwork in the first wireless router using the desktop as the gateway.  You don't need to do anything else to the desktops in the wired subnetwork because they already have a default route in the direction of the wireless subnetwork.

 
I did get one of the two connected last night using the ICS method built into Windows XP (didn't try it on the other one yet, as I'm not too concerned about the file server) but in order to get it to work, I have to setup the default gateway and DNS server addresses manually on the wired computers, which is something I'm trying to avoid (because it's not just these 2 computers that plug into the router... in my spare time, I refurbish computers to sell for extra cash and I update them online, and don't want to have to configure each one individually... I just want to plug them into the router and have them work, just like any other network...)
 
any known way to accomplish that?

 
nice picture! and yes, I want to do exactly that in the diagram...
 
how do I enable packet forwarding on Desktop A?? It's running Windows XP Pro SP2, and I downloaded DHCP Turbo 3.0, and MagikDHCP server, neither of which I can get to do anything at all...
 
I will connect Desktop A to the WAN port once it's configured with packet forwarding...
 
I don't really care about the two networks talking to each other right now... as long as I can forward incoming net traffic to the gaming server on the 2nd router, then i'm fine... like i said, it's for testing purposes...
 
i'm going to be setting up the gaming server with remote admin (yes, i like the old school programs, unless there's a newer program out there that works better?) so that I can remote in using my laptop from work and tweak it when I'm not busy..
 
So about that packet forwarding? [i'll check the putsb forum for a little while... but if you have an answer  ]
 
EDIT: would enabling packet forwarding be as simple as creating a network bridge between the ethernet adapter and the wireless adapter??? :?:

System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters]
Value Name: IPEnableRouter
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = disabled, 1 = enabled)

thanks! this enables packet forwarding, I imagine... but is there any necessary setup beyond that? I assume I have to manually configure WirelessRouter2, right? I can't wait to get home to try this!!

ok... I did the registry editting and restarted the machine, then did a google search for that registry value with the words "router" and "xp" and it kept coming up with different types of security exploits...
 
this is getting more and more frustrating... I'm logged into Router2 and i'm trying different settings and nothing's working... I've got the routing computer plugged into the WAN port and it gave me the 'limited or no connectivity' message... so I assigned a static IP, and configured the advanced routing section as follows:
 
changed Router2's IP Address to 192.168.0.1 to avoid confusion between Router1 and Router2
 
RIP: WAN (Internet)
Destination LAN IP: 192.168.0.1
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.0.14
Interface: LAN & Wireless
 
UGH!!! *bangs head on desk* help please .....