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DD-WRT will turn most of the Linksys wireless routers into relay stations.
Thus eliminating the need to hardwire between routers.
One can then connect hardwired OR wireless clients to either router.
P.S. Turning off DHCP has nothing to do with it.
If he has probablems getting a signal in the structure that isn't much help. There's no need to complicate this iwth firmware flashing and the like. Use the lan port and turn off dhcp. You can now think of it as a wireless switch that allows you to build out from it.
Grabbing another generic wireless router (personally I like linksys) and turning off dhcp is the solution I'd go with. Configure the new router with an IP address different than the first router and also outside the range of its dhcp pool (might also write this on a piece of masking tape and stick it to the bottom so you know what it is if you ever want to log into the router in future to fiddle), then turn off dhcp on the new router. Take it to your workshop and plug a wire in connecting one lan port on each router. You can plug any wired clients in the workshop to the remaining lan ports. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Turning off DHCP has *NOTHING* to do with weather a router functions as a router/wireless AP (the default mode), a bridge, or just another switch.
DHCP (Distributed Host Control Protocol) is just a method for passing out IPs to clients.
WITHOUT disabling DHCP:
1) If you hook a wireless router up to another wireless router, by way of an Ethernet cable from a LAN port on the first router to the second's 'WAN' or 'Internet' port, the first router will provide the second with an IP over DHCP, leading to the following
[WAN]
|
[FIREWALL/ROUTER DEVICE 1]––––>Clients on default IP range.
|
[FIREWALL/ROUTER DEVICE 2]––––>Clients on default IP range
NOW. If the default IP ranges are the same (Say, because both routers are the same brand), *THEN* you will have problems, but not because of 'DHCP', rather because both routers are going to be configured for the same IP range (192.168.1) and you will have an IP conflict. The 'fix' for this, is to change 'ROUTER 2' to a different IP range (say, 192.168.2.0 instead of 192.168.1.0).
2) If you hook a wireless router up to another wireless router, by way of an Ethernet cable from LAN port to LAN port (this assumes a crossover cable, or the router having automatic crossover switching), then the second router will function as a switch. Wireless clients MAY or MAY NOT be able to connect back to the 'first' router, depending on the programming of the router in question.
The IP conflict situation also still potentially exists. Specifically, if you have 2 identical routers, you will have 2 identical IPs (one per router) both answering as Default Gateway. One of them is hooked up to DSL. The other, to nothing. Some routers may not activate the default-gateway IP unless there's a live connection... Others will have it 'up' all the time.
Disabling DHCP won't 'solve' this, but entering 2 different IP ranges WILL.
With that out of the way, the DD-WRT solutionDD-WRT has the advantage over the '2 routers and a cable with factory firmware' solution, of allowing
bridging.
What bridging does, is make 2 separate physical networks *appear* to be one network (short form, before someone comes in and jabs at me for not using exacting technical terms).
So, if you have 2 DD-WRT routers, with the 2nd functioning as a 'relay-bridge', all of the above is a non-issue. The 'bridge' has no IP itself, and simply integrates everything connected to it into the wireless network that *it* connects to.
Thus, a 'relay bridge' config - provided you can get signal from the AP in the house out (with directional antennas, people have been able to get very long distance connections between 2 Linksys routers) - means anything you plug in (or connect by wifi) to the DD-WRT router in your outbuilding, will appear to be directly connected to the router in the house. And no trenching cable, etc....
It is really, really simple... www.dd-wrt.org explains everything.
Buying the WRT54GL makes it as simple as possible, as the 'L' model is designed for custom firmware like DD-WRT...
For other routers, it may get more complicated....
It *is* wise to turn off DHCP on 'downstream' bridge or switch configurations, to avoid multiple DHCP servers on the same network, *UNLESS* you are doing the '#1' option above (because by having the Lan -> WAN port wired connection, you are actually setting up separate, firewalled networks behind each router.
DD-WRT does this automatically, when you select a configuration other than 'AP' or 'Relay' (Eg, 'client bridge' or 'relay bridge')...
But DHCP has nothing to do with what 'mode' the router operates in.