Use a router as a switch: setup?

[jonathan7007]

I need a couple more hard wired ports for a couple of weeks. Can I set up a low-end 10/100 Engenius router as a switch hanging off a LinksysWRT310? That Linksys is attached to the cable modem with a 3" cable and has all four ports filled now. Both computers are running Win7: Home Premium 64-bit and Win7 Pro 64-bit. The Linksys was working just fine so no issues with that gear.

What needs connectivity temporarily:
>Desktop 1
>Desktop 2 (temporary)
>Canon all-in-one networked printer/scanner
>Black and white laser printer
>Switch and access point at the other end of the house -- long CAT5e cable (connects to a TiVo so needs the gigabit speeds)
.... so I really just need one extra port at this moment.

Want wired Ethernet/Internet speeds. There are a couple of other devices that connect to the Linksys with wireless, though, because they come with wireless radios: laptop and tablet.

I tried to setup -- over my browser -- the little Engenius router for this task by switching the cable from WRT310 to the Engenius. I connected this added router to a LAN port on the Linksys with a short cable supplied by Engenius. I placed that patch cable into the WAN port on the little Engenius. I placed the printer cables in the Engenius ports but Win7 can't see them. (Can't ping the printer IP that, for instance, the printer can report to me. Can't print test pages.) In set-up turned off DCHP and the new router's radio.

The WRT310 settings have not been changed in any way.

(I tried to search in the forum for this topic, but the engine doesn't make complex searches possible.)

Thanks, in advance, for any suggestions.

jonathan7007

 

[jlazzaro]

see http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

you should not be using the WAN port on the Engenius, stick to the LAN ports.

 

[jonathan7007]

Thank you. Will try... had thought of that And should have tried it before posting.

 

[kmmatney]

Did you turn off all DHCP services on the engenius router? You for sure need to do that. I used an old router as a switch (but not print server) for a long time and it worked great, but I had to connect to the router directly (with a cable) and turn off all services related to DHCP.

 

[jumpncrash]

you also need to make sure that the new router has an IP in the range of your current network, and not the same IP as your current router.