Need Help Setting Router as Work Network AP?

[joesmed]

Hello,

I volunteer doing some tech stuff at an elementary school and some of the teachers would like a new Netgear N600 (WNDR3400) router set up so they can log into the network on their laptops as if they were on a wired PC, such as the usual Win 7 login:

DOMAIN\username
Password

(The network is Windows Server 2003, Cisco switches, etc; laptops are Win 7 32-bit. The router will plug directly into the network drop (wall jack) in this room (same spot a PC would plug into).)

Problem is, I can get out to the internet on a laptop I've already logged into (credentials cached locally already), but how do I get a new laptop to be recognized by the network, as if it were a wired connection? Do I need to setup the router as an AP? Never done it so if someone can assist I would be very grateful!

Thanks!
Joe

 

[smitbret]

#1 - In the WNDR3400 setup menu, you'll need to disable DHCP and NAT.

#2 - At the main router, assign a static IP address for the WNDR3400 that is outside of the DHCP range for the network. You'll need to find the DHCP range on the main router. It is usually something like 192.168.1.100 - 192.168.1.199. Change that to something like 192.168.1.110 - 192.168.1.199. Then assign one of the addresses 192.168.1.100 - 192.168.1.109 to the WNDR3400 (i.e. 192.168.1.102). The WNDR3400 is now an AP.

#3 - Plug WNDR3400 into the ethernet jack that runs back to the main router.

#4 (optional) - Reboot everything (Main Router & AP) at this point but probably isn't necessary.

#5 - Plug into the AP or login to the AP and create a wireless connection. Alternateively, you could create the wireless network while doing step #1.

#6 - Let them buy you drinks and pat you on the back.

Keep in mind that they will have access to the entire network just like they plugged right in to the wall jack.

 

[JackMDS]

Using Wireless Cable/DSL Routers (or Modem/Wireless Router) as a Switch with an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html



😎

 

[CubanlB]

If they have an IT department you might be irritating someone by causing issues with a rogue access point.

I worked in a school environment and rouge APs were sometimes a major cause of problems.

 

[smitbret]

If they have an IT department you might be irritating someone by causing issues with a rogue access point.

I worked in a school environment and rouge APs were sometimes a major cause of problems.

Yeah, I shouldn't have assumed he was authorized to do this.

 

[joesmed]

I am fully authorized : ) just very little networking background. Setting the static IP is no problem but the other ip allocation is a bit confusing. For example, on this particular subnet the router will pull an ip address something like 10.146.16.50. Setting that to static is no problem, but then change other ip addresses on the subnet in DHCP? Can you tell I'm a mechanical engineer? : )

Thanks for the help!
Joe

 

[kevnich2]

The school is using cisco switches and you're wanting to setup a SOHO wireless router as an Access Point?? Something doesn't sound right with that. Does the school not have any other wireless available using dedicated enterprise WAP's?

If all you really want to achieve is wireless access on laptops, I would suggest calling whomever setup the network in the first place, either the district IT dept or something similar and see what they have for options as far as installing wireless access in your building.

 

[CubanlB]

The main issue here would depend on the size of your network.

Wireless SSIDs usually get a vlan of their own. (or more than one depending on the size of the deployment)

Just connecting an AP to a port meant for a wired machine is going force the AP to transmit all broadcast traffic over the SSID in the same vlan. This means that a large majority of the broadcast frames getting sent out over the wifi will just be taking up radio time and eating up performance, because the client they they are looking for is not there. In large broadcast domain, this can be a lot of traffic that all wireless clients have to wait for.

For your use, all other "IP allocation" is irrelevant, as you want this device to to function as just an AP. APs usually do not handle DNS, DHCP or anything other network infrastructure tasks outside of providing SSIDs.

The static IP you are assigning is strictly to manage the AP.

If you configure DHCP on the AP, it will hand out addresses that the real DHCP server has no idea about, and if the scopes of the DHCP ranges overlap (which they would have to to make the wireless clients work) there are going to be duplicate IPs on the network, which is no good.

 

[joesmed]

That's right - the school cannot afford wireless at this point (the world of elementary education in America), so I'm trying to at least provide them with a means to use a few wireless laptops on the network, which is a solid, established Windows/Cisco network. Wireless done "correctly" is a very expensive proposition and at least a year away. This is just a stop-gap measure to help out.

Will I need to make changes to DHCP on the server? That's my main concern - whether I have to do something other than provide a static ip to the router (and turning off DHCP on the router). The server (network) side is the confusing piece.

Thanks in advance

 

[smitbret]

That's right - the school cannot afford wireless at this point (the world of elementary education in America), so I'm trying to at least provide them with a means to use a few wireless laptops on the network, which is a solid, established Windows/Cisco network. Wireless done "correctly" is a very expensive proposition and at least a year away. This is just a stop-gap measure to help out.

Will I need to make changes to DHCP on the server? That's my main concern - whether I have to do something other than provide a static ip to the router (and turning off DHCP on the router). The server (network) side is the confusing piece.

Thanks in advance

You need to identify the DHCP range in on the Cisco (Main Router) and set a static IP Address on the WNDR3400 for something outside of that DHCP range that is still in the same subnet.

So, if the DHCP range for the network is 10.146.16.1 - 10.146.16.100, then you'll probably want to use something like 10.146.16.101 for the WNDR3400. You'll need to check the Reservation tables and make sure it's not already in use or at least ping that IP address and see if you get a response before using it. I usually prefer to just reduce the range by 1 (10.146.16.1 - 10.146.16.99) and then use the address I just freed up (in this case 10.146.16.100).

You will turn DHCP and NAT completely off in the WNDR3400. Assign the static IP of the WNDR3400 in the WNDR3400 interface as the gateway. The current IP is probably 192.168.1.1 (I believe that's the NetGear default). Change that to the 10.146.16.xx that fits your network. Then on the server side set up the static IP using the MAC address of the WNDR3400.

The server will take care of all DHCP. In fact, I believe the WNDR3400 may have an AP mode that you can set in the interface that takes care of the unwanted router functions when you set it.

Keep in mind that I am a self-trained, home network only type guy and the posters above have probably forgotten more than I have ever learned.

 

[kevnich2]

That's right - the school cannot afford wireless at this point (the world of elementary education in America), so I'm trying to at least provide them with a means to use a few wireless laptops on the network, which is a solid, established Windows/Cisco network. Wireless done "correctly" is a very expensive proposition and at least a year away. This is just a stop-gap measure to help out.

Will I need to make changes to DHCP on the server? That's my main concern - whether I have to do something other than provide a static ip to the router (and turning off DHCP on the router). The server (network) side is the confusing piece.

Thanks in advance

Have you taken a look at ubiquiti unifi? It's not nearly as expensive as you might think and performance/reliability is on part with enterprise cisco units at 1/5 the cost. Take a look at them. Depending on the cisco switches you have, you can install a couple of unifi units to give the entire building coverage, keep them on separate vlan's and all tie into a central management computer. This is assuming you have a L3 capable switch or a router at the school that can route traffic between vlan's.

The beauty of those is once you get them set up, they practically run themselves and are very reliable and only cost about $70 apiece.

I'd also check with your district to make sure all the proper access controls, web filtering, etc is implemented correctly or you may have issues later on. Don't assume anything.

 

[joesmed]

Thanks a ton for the help guys - will be working on over the next couple of days so will let you know how it goes.

Joe