D link dwl g730ap in Client mode

I am having fits trying to get my link dwl 730 to work in Client mode. I have no problem at all using it as a router and it is a great little travel router. I am supposed to be able to get it to work in Client mode and I just can't get the computer to recognize it. I have it set to a WAN of 192.168.1.30 as opposed to 192.168.0.30 from the factory. If I log on to my Verizon Fios's actiontech modem I can see it at a LAN of 192.168.1.11 so it is doing something. My windows XP laptop keeps giving a message that there is limited or no connectivity, and when I try and connect to it via that machine and a browser I keep getting page not found errors. If I switch it back to router mode, I can connect no problem and get to the browsers pages, but it looks like I have to be able to do it in client mode. I'd like to get this thing working and then ultimately use it to allow my tivo HD to access my network.

Can anybody think of any settings I need to look at or may be missing? I appreciate any help, thanks in advance!

Ok, I have it working. I'm not sure I was doing anything wrong, but I do understand how it works now and will describe it here.

First of all, as in the documentation, the default address of the device to manage it is 192.168.0.30. I was able to manage it on this address after performing a reset by powering down while holding down the reset button. I expect there is a slightly different method to just do a reset, as when I first hit the management page after that, it was in simple mode, asking for a firmware update file. I rebooted it again, and it had obtained factory defaults when I hit the management page.

I went to the wireless section and put in my wireless network's ssid and WEP key. I did a site survey, it found my network and I selected and connected to it. There doesn't seem to be anything on the status page to indicate that it's actually connected. It shows the information you've entered, but if you enter it wrong I'm not sure it would appear any differently.

On the LAN page, change the address of the device if you desire. Fill the the gateway of your wireless network, likely your access point IP, and enter it as the DNS server. This is likely what you missed doing if you were actually able to access the management page.

If all has gone well, you now need to set your network connection to DHCP - the DWL-G730AP will act as a bridge device. You will get a DHCP issued address from your regular wireless access point, and all other settings.

I really fault D-Link for not spelling this out more clearly. They don't identify the step of using a static address then going back to DHCP, and don't identify it as a bridged configuration. Granted, not all buyers are at a level to understand or care about this, but to those used to working in several different modes, this is important information. I am suspicious that there are a lot of people who are not able to use the existing instructions to utilize it in Client mode.

Good luck, I hope you're able to get it going.
Kevin

Thank you to kgouldsk for pointing out that the DWL-G730AP is basically a bridge when in client mode. I spent some time today trying to get this to work as well, and there is one more detail I think is important to point out:

If you are using MAC address reservations for your clients in your wireless AP, then you need to add the _wired_ MAC address of the client computer you have the G730 connected to - NOT the MAC address of the G730 itself.

It took me a while to figure this out, and I did it by temporarily disabled the client access list and seeing who showed up.

Hope that helps others.

Tyler

You will need static address on PC such as 192.168.0.100 to access the device at 192.168.0.30 - once you have access, set wireless up, then change client LAN to dynamic, ... then change your PC back to dynamic IP addressing; then restart both/all ... both the 730AP and your PC will then get IP addresses from your wireless router (which must have DHCP enabled); I use client mode into Belkin 7633 and all works fine. (PC static address to start with is the trick)... the other modes provide DHCP from what I recall.