My network is set up like this:
Charter cable modem -> my Netgear cable modem used as a wireless router -> Airlink secondary router used as a secondary wireless access point.
Things were so easy when I used my personal cable modem hooked up to Charter internet. Then Charter said I had to user their modem except it didn't have built in wireless capability. I managed to install my cable modem, Netgear CG814WG, as a wireless router. I also added a second wireless router, an Airlink 101. All was fine. I could access either wireless network from either wireless router and also access the settings from any computer in my system. Then one morning, the power supply for the cable modem quit. Unfortunately, not realizing it immediately and unable to figure out why it was nonresponsive, I hit the reset button. I waited for the lights to come back on but they didn't. Then I checked the power supply, nothing. I couldn't find another power supply and I was unable to easily open the adapter to repair it so I pulled it out of the system. The Airlink router became my main router and that's where things remained. Then I looked through my box of orphaned power supplies. I found an Epson power supply which I think fit one of my old zip drives. The voltage and current ratings matched the burned out supply so I decided to put the network back the way it was (see line 2 of this post).
Now for the part I can't figure out. If I plug the Netgear cable modem (this modem has no internet port, just four Ethernet ports) into the computer without hooking it up to the modem, like this:
Netgear wireless router/cable modem -->Computer
I can access the router's menu and settings. If I then plug the Ethernet cable from the Charter modem to my Netgear modem/router like this: Charter modem --> Netgear modem/router --> Computer it will work ok. Now I run ipconfig (Windows XP) and the ip address shown is my internet ip address, not the router ip address. Sometimes I'll restart the modem and then the correct router address will show up but then the internet connection will not work and then I can't access the router settings either. What the heck is going on here?
Thanks for your reply.