Connecting Two Routers Wirelessly

[Sai0]

Ok here is the deal.
My modem is in my room, as well as my computers and router.
I have 4 computers wire-connected to one 4-port router.

Now here is where things get tricky.
My sister recently moved into our home temporarily.
She works at home using a computer for her job. So she requires internet access.
It would be simple to just put a wireless adapter onto her computer and let her connect with my router directly, but no.. Her connection and a phone(ethernet ported) she uses with it must both be connected to some device called SonicWall and THEN only WIRE-connected to her own(since mine is full) router. Since this sonicwall has no wireless ablity

So that is my problem.

Now my question is

Can HER router (supports wireless) connect to MY router (support wireless)
If there is no way to do this. Im out of options as I'm not going to buy new devices to make it work.

Connecting both routers using a cable is totally out of the question as our rooms are very far apart.

My Router: Zonet (R1.97d4)
Her Router: Linksys (WRT54GS)

 

[Guest]

It may work if both routers support WDS (wireless distribution system) see the specs.

 

[eibgrad]

As fihart suggests, WDS may be a possibility, but that’s usually problematic for many reasons. Both routers need to support WDS (not always the case). And since WDS is not a wifi certified protocol, implementations vary across manufacturers. So compatibility is often an issue. Sometimes it’s even a problem across product lines w/ the SAME manufacturer. So I don’t hold much hope this is possible (but I would still check).

What would work is if you (she) installed dd-wrt (third party firmware) on the WRT54GS (according to the dd-wrt database, every version is supported) and placed the router in "client bridge" mode. Now the WRT54GS connects to your Zonet like any other USB/PCI wireless adapter. I’m not sure however if the process is reversible (probably can, but you’d need to research it to confirm). Frankly, dd-wrt would be a vast improvement over the current Linksys firmware (this ability to use it as a wireless Ethernet bridge being one small example), but she may not agree.

I also checked Tomato (another third party firmware option), and its supported as well ***if*** the hardware version of the WRT54GS is v1 thru v4. v5 or above is NOT supported. Tomato is very nice as well and a little easier for newbies to manage than dd-wrt. In the case of Tomato, you would select “wireless Ethernet bridge” mode.