Trouble Configuring Netgear Router As An Access Point

artmanphoto · 12 Nov 2012

Hello - I don't know if this is the correct forum area for my question.

I am trying to configure a Netgear WNR3500 router to be used as an access point.

My AT&T U-Verse Gateway router is in the basement of my house and the WNR3500 is in my office on the second floor of my house. I am using the Netgear Knowledge Base article ID 19852 titled "Set Up a Wireless Router as an Access Point on a Network".

In Step 5 is says in Advanced tab Setup > LAN "In the IP Address field, change the LAN IP address of the router (WNR3500) to 192.168.1.100 (same IP segment of the main (AT&T) router (192.168.1.1) and uncheck the DHCP server box.

I did that and the wireless access point doesn't work.

The AT&T Gateway wireless router IP address is 192.168.1.254. I also tried changing the WNR3500 LAN IP address to 192.168.1.200 and the access point still doesn't work.

I think I am doing something wrong with the LAN IP address.

Can anyone help me configure the WNR3500? This seems so simple but I am stuck.

Thanks, Bill

2xg · 12 Nov 2012

Hello Bill,

See if you can follow this Tutorial.

chev65 · 13 Nov 2012

There is some info in that Tutorial which isn't exactly correct however most of the information is still useful.

You will need to configure the IP Address of the second and/or additional router to be in the same Subnet of your first Router. If your main Router has a DHCP Range of 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.50, you may assign a Static IP of 192.168.1.3, 192.168.1.4 and so on….to another router that you will be adding to your Network.

To correct this information, you don't assign static IP's that are in the range of DHCP addresses. Notice how the assigned static IP's fall into the range of DHCP. These should be outside the DHCP range, for instance starting from 192.168.1.51 and up should be used for static IP's because it's just outside the range of DHCP addresses being used by this router.

If you need to use 192.168.1.2 and up for the A/P's then you can simply adjust the DHCP range in the routers settings, say move it from 192.168.1. up too 192.168.1.5, this leaves room for the static IP's at the bottom of the range. If you don't do this then the routers DHCP could assign addresses that are already in use which is a common problem, saw this happen just last week.

This next paragraph made no sense to me at all.

3. On the additional router(s), setup the wireless configuration which is identical to the current or main router. You may use Wireless Channel 1, 6 or 11 which have very good signals. The Network Encryption (WEP, WPA, WPA2) will need to match the SSID (wireless network name) of the main router.

First of all the you can have a different SSID on each router if you want, they don't need to be the same although moving from one to the other would be more seamless that way because it would auto connect to the best signal. Sometimes it's better to have two different SSID's for the A/P's for various reasons. You have some flexibility here.

OK, the encryption has nothing to do with the SSID "name of the network" I'm not sure what they mean by "the encryption needs to match the SSID"?

Then they say encryption is the security which it's not, it has the two mixed up as they are two different things, security is WPA2 where encryption would be TKIP or AES.

It might be worth mentioning that TKIP isn't made to work at wireless N speeds. AES is made to work at wireless N speeds, both are encryption methods where security is WPA2 etc.

There is also more to channel selection than just choose 1, 6, or 11 but that's another subject really.

edwar · 13 Nov 2012

Well have you setup the Wireless side?

Here is what you do.
Connect the new netgear to one PC without any other network connection, just that one PC and the NG router. From Lan port on PC to LAN port on router (Do not use the Internet (WAN) Port on the router).
Open a Web browser and type in 192.168.1.1, username is admin and password is password. Once you have the router setup pages displayed go into the Advanced section and then Advanced Setup. In the Wireless setup Uncheck "Enable Routers Pin" and put a check in "Keep Existing Wireless Setting and click Apply. Then close that area and go to the Setup area in that same list on the left then Wireless Setup. Enable SSID, Type in a Name for your wireless network and then select WPA2-PSK (AES) as the security. Then type in a Password you want to use and then "WRITE IT DOWN" then click Apply.
Once you have that done go to the LAN setup section, same list. For the IP address of the router type in 192.168.1.253 (that will make sure the NG router is out of the ATT router LAN DHCP pool). Then Uncheck "Use Router as DHCP Server and again click Apply. At this point you may lose the connection with the router and you may have to set a Static IP on the computer to something like 192.168.1.(from 1 to 252). Then you will need to type in the new router IP address, 192.168.1.253, and log back in to it. Now go to the Advanced section again and then to Administration and change the routers password, AND WRITE IT DOWN. You will then need to log back in. Once that is all done connect from the ATT router LAN port to a LAN port on the NG router (Do Not Use the WAN/Internet port on the NG). you will need to reset the PC you were using to Obtain IP auto and reconnect that PC back to your home LAN.

That should do it. All wireless devices should now see the SSID you set and all you have to do is type in the wireless password to connect.

artmanphoto · 14 Nov 2012

Edwar, thanks for the great info. I'll do as you say and report back. Bill

chev65 · 14 Nov 2012

I had already posted the relevant information by cleaning up the slightly flawed tutorial. I'd say that now the OP is even more confused than before. You also should NOT need to set a static IP on any of those machines as long as DHCP is enabled on the first router.

These confusing tutorials and convoluted directions is the reason why I always tell people to purchase a dedicated access point instead of a second router to set up an A/P. Simple switch on the side sets up the A/P simple as that. You don't need to mess with IP's at all, in fact my A/P uses DHCP so there is no need to even give it a static IP.

I won't get into the fact that if the secondary router needs to be reset for any reason then the Op will need to go through the entire set up procedure again.

And there are a million different and much easier ways of moving the secondary router out of the first routers DHCP range as I already explained.

This set up procedure is easy for us yet ridiculous to understand for the average home owner. And that tutorial was fairly accurate but it was obvious that the person writing it did not know what they were doing when they failed to place the static IP's outside the DHCP range.