Setting up access point.

jellikin

Hi, I'm trying to turn an old Netgear router into a wireless extender / access point. I have enabled the bridge feature but need to know if the extender needs to be connected by ethernet cable to the main router.

Enterprise_1701C

So long as the main router is wireless then you should be OK without the ethernet cable. Have you tested it?

jellikin

I have tried without cable but doesn't connect to internet.

debitcardmayhem

You probably need to tell folks that you are trying a Netgear xxxxxxx as a wireless access point to a YYYYYrouter . You will possibly need an ethernet cable connection, plus you will need to switch off DHCP on the slave, and use a different Channel but still use the same SSID. More info needed

Enterprise_1701C

It is a good idea to check you are not outside the range of the router too, have you put the access point at a point where you can still get a good signal on your laptop/tablet? Have you tried moving it closer to see if you get the net?

esuhl

IIRC, most consumer routers can't be used as wireless repeaters (i.e. where they pick up a weak wi-fi signal and re-broadcast it).

I have a spare router that I use as an access point, however. I just disabled DHCP on it and assigned it an IP address from the DHCP pool set by the other router, then connected the ethernet switches on each router with a network cable. Works a treat.

WilliamO

I agree with esuhl - I had a belkin router lying around and set it up as an access point. The way I did it was to:

disconnect my talk talk router (all cables)

Plug in / set up the belkin router in the same way as the talktalk router (with exactly the same details), so I now had two identical routers, settings-wise.

disconnected the belkin router (all cables)

reconnected the talk talk router (all cables)

connected the belkin to the back of the talktalk router via ethernet cable and then assigned the belkin router an ip address one above the talktalk router's.

I did the above following an article in Web User magazine about 18 months ago or so. Worked a treat. I thought it was going to be complicated, but it wasn't.

WilliamO