Hooking up 2nd router to network

[strep3241]

Ok let me see if I can explain this right. I am no network pro at all, so may not know the right terms or use the right wording.

So we have a modem/router provided by the ISP in the house. Now there are 2 desktops hard wired and a laptop and a printer in the house connected wireless to that modem/router.

Now we have a building that is about 200ft away that we have ran a ethernet cable from the modem/router to inside the building. Internet in that building works fine as long as we connect to that cable.

Now what I want to do is to be able to have wireless internet inside that building. This is where I get really confused. I am guessing I need to hook up a router inside the building. How do I need to setup that additional router? The router I am using for the building is a Linksys wrt3200acm.

I have looked up a few guides on this but one issue I seem to be having is being able to connect to the 2nd router.

 

[razel]

You need to set that wrt to AP (access point) mode. AP mode turns those wired Internet bits into wireless for that building. It will have it's own WiFi name (SSID) or a different one, the choice is yours.
The wrt3200 probably has 4 or 8 LAN ports. When set to AP last I tried you generally attach that one cable from the other building to the LAN port.

 

[strep3241]

How exactly do I go about setting it to AP mode? This is where I am having trouble. If I set the 2nd router to AP mode, will I be able to connect to it wireless and hard wired? Is AP mode the same as bridge mode?

What about cascading the 2nd router to the modem? Would that apply at all in this situation?

The wrt3200 has 4 LAN ports

EDIT: Well it seems I can't use the AP mode with the 2nd router, doesn't have that option. After talking to linksys, I set the 2nd router up in bridge mode. So I set the 2nd router up in the building and so far, everything seems to work fine. I can connect to that router both wireless and wired.

Now when using bridge mode, I lose all the functionality of that router like the MU-MIMO tech unless I am doing something wrong. I realize that I could have done the same thing with a cheaper router. Is there a way to do what I am doing without losing all the functionality of that router?

 

[razel]

I suppose they call AP, bridge mode. MU-MIMO is a WiFi function, not routing mode (AP, bridge mode, etc). If Linksys told ya you'd lose MU-MIMO then perhaps their software disables it when switching to bridge. I frankly would tell you to install DD-WRT on it since that's what the Linksys WRT series is meant for, but you can get lost configuring it.

Though I wouldn't lose sleep over MU-MIMO. Your devices need to also support it and it only is an advantage when you have both devices chewing up ALL WiFi bandwidth at any time, which I'm sure won't occur unless you have gigabit Internet. If you are saturating WiFi bandwidth, then the proper solution is to wired up such devices as much as possible. Otherwise, in reality, it's an edge case for a home.

 

[strep3241]

I suppose they call AP, bridge mode. MU-MIMO is a WiFi function, not routing mode (AP, bridge mode, etc). If Linksys told ya you'd lose MU-MIMO then perhaps their software disables it when switching to bridge. I frankly would tell you to install DD-WRT on it since that's what the Linksys WRT series is meant for, but you can get lost configuring it.

Though I wouldn't lose sleep over MU-MIMO. Your devices need to also support it and it only is an advantage when you have both devices chewing up ALL WiFi bandwidth at any time, which I'm sure won't occur unless you have gigabit Internet. If you are saturating WiFi bandwidth, then the proper solution is to wired up such devices as much as possible. Otherwise, in reality, it's an edge case for a home.

Linksys didn't tell me that, when I changed the setting to bridge mode, it gave me a message saying all router functions would be disabled. And after I saved the changes to bridge mode, many of the options on the router setup page went away.

That part in bold, unless I am misunderstanding it, that doesn't make any sense to me. Correct me if I am wrong but if I have gigabit internet(I only have 30mb's), wouldn't that mean less of a chance of using up all bandwidth?

 

[razel]

Yes MU-MIMO is an edge case and I also suspect that it's still available to you in bridge/AP mode.

 

[mxnerd]

https://www.linksys.com/us/p/P-WRT3200ACM/

Operation Modes:

• Wireless Router
  
• Access Point
  
• Wired Bridge
  
• Wireless Bridge
  
• Wireless Repeater

===

Checked its simulator, it really does not have AP mode.

http://ui.linksys.com/WRT3200ACM/

It's absolutely false advertisement.

 

[strep3241]

Yes MU-MIMO is an edge case and I also suspect that it's still available to you in bridge/AP mode.

What do you mean by MU-MIMO is an edge case?

https://www.linksys.com/us/p/P-WRT3200ACM/

Operation Modes:

• Wireless Router
  
• Access Point
  
• Wired Bridge
  
• Wireless Bridge
  
• Wireless Repeater

===

Checked its simulator, it really does not have AP mode.

http://ui.linksys.com/WRT3200ACM/

It's absolutely false advertisement.

I didn't think I seen that option when I was changing settings.

In my situation, what would be the advantage of using either bridge or AP mode?

 

[ch33zw1z]

What confuses people is devices like a SOHO "router", it's really 3 devices in one: a switch, a WAP, and a router.

IMO, Get a switch and a straight WAP for the other building

Otherwise, follow a guide like this to config the 2nd router as a WAP/switch

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/bas...onvert-a-wireless-router-into-an-access-point

basically, login to the 2nd router.

1. Disable WAN (don't use WAN port)
2. set an IP/subnet in the same subnet as the main router(which is the DHCP server), and outside of the main routers DHCP range. You don't need a Default gateway or a DNS for this config
3. disable DHCP on the 2nd router.
4. Config the wireless how you want
5. save and reboot

when the 2nd router comes up, reconnect to it using hte IP you gave it.

All your DNS and DHCP requests will come from the main router to your clients....

Check out the OSI 7-layer model.

Everything in the LAN is layer 2, and layer 3 is handled by the main router.