Have E4200 need to expand wireless signal, get a 2nd E4200? [ Edited ]

[jranders]

I'm looking to add a 2nd E4200 to my house.  Current one is in the basement connected to modem and wired to vonage and main pc in basement office.  Signal strength is good on first floor right above the AP, okay at the far end of the house, and poor upstairs.  I just ran Cat5e cable from my E4200 to the other side of the house and up to the first floor.  I want to connect another E4200 and setup with a different IP, disable NAT & DHCP, and same SSID as my other E4200.  Is this the best solution to extend my wireless? 

Basically I want to hardwire my Xbox at the point of the 2nd E4200 and extend wireless signal.  I want dual band as well since I'm getting some Roku boxes for Netflix HD streaming on multiple tv's. Is there a better model to go with for the 2nd router (switch/ap)?

[jranders]

I'm looking to add a 2nd E4200 to my house.  Current one is in the basement connected to modem and wired to vonage and main pc in basement office.  Signal strength is good on first floor right above the AP, okay at the far end of the house, and poor upstairs.  I just ran Cat5e cable from my E4200 to the other side of the house and up to the first floor.  I want to connect another E4200 and setup with a different IP, disable NAT & DHCP, and same SSID as my other E4200.  Is this the best solution to extend my wireless? 

Basically I want to hardwire my Xbox at the point of the 2nd E4200 and extend wireless signal.  I want dual band as well since I'm getting some Roku boxes for Netflix HD streaming on multiple tv's. Is there a better model to go with for the 2nd router (switch/ap)?

[gv]

Generally, a router is used to create a new network, not to extend an existing one. The "correct" device to use to add another (wired) access point to your network would be to get an access point like the WAP610N. The "correct" device to use to add more wired ports would be to get an ethernet switch.

You can use the E4200 and "abuse" it as simple ethernet switch and access point. That's possible but all internet-related functions of the E4200 won't work then, in particular you won't be able to access the E4200 from internet (e.g. if you connect a USB drive).

I would personally prefer a WAP610N and an ethernet switch as it gives you more placement options for the access point (e.g. on the wall) and where you put the switch. And I am not really a fan of those "all-in-one" solutions as each added component adds complexity to the device and thus more potential points of failure, i.e. if something fails the whole device fails and you have to replace the whole device. You can't just replace the switch because an ethernet port has gone bad...

But that's my preference. You can use another E4200 (or E3200). Or a switch and a simple access point like the WAP610N.

[letten]

I had similar problems (bad wifi coverage on 2. floor) and considered a second router reconfigured as switch/AP.

But finally I decided to run ethernet cables from fiber-modem to a more central place in the house to place the router there (actually, right in the center of the house between 1. and 2. floor). Coverage is fine now, also placed a switch in the attic and ran ethernet cables to different rooms from there.

[Wizzard]

If you want to use two router they should be connected with Ethernet Cable .

Also as you want to extend the range you can use the combination of WAP610N and WET610N which will work as an Expander for your network .

[smitty870]

If you have an old wireless N router laying around you can check out DD-WRT.  It will allow you to use a router as an access point and some other routers have options to setup as access points.  The latest E4200 firmware has a bridgemode

Bridge Mode
Select Bridge mode to use your router as a wireless access point instead of a router. Make sure that you connect this router’s Internet port to the Ethernet or LAN port on the router that is connected to your modem.

If you just connect a router to any point in your network via lan without setup of bridge mode then you essentially create two networks.  One will be unable to access another's shared drives, printers, media servers etc...

[guicarp]

This is exactly what  I want to do; Extend my wireless range from my E4200 with the WAP610N, but after 1.5 month and 2 "live support chat sessions" it still don't work. can you help me out with this? steps to follow, settings, ....

[troia]

@guicarp

assuming that your router already works and does not have a problem, you may follow the instructions on this link to set it up

[mmcpher]

"Also as you want to extend the range you can use the combination of WAP610N and WET610N which will work as an Expander"

I have an E4200, a WAP610n and a WET610N.  All I need now is to figure out how to properly set them up.  I think I had it working, but can't recall which trial didn't produce error! 

[ScarletJamie]

---

mmcpher wrote:

"Also as you want to extend the range you can use the combination of WAP610N and WET610N which will work as an Expander"

I have an E4200, a WAP610n and a WET610N.  All I need now is to figure out how to properly set them up.  I think I had it working, but can't recall which trial didn't produce error! 

---

Hi, just follow the steps below.

1. Reset all devices.

2. Download Cisco Connect version 1.4 here to set up the E4200 router.

3. Setting up the WAP610N http://www6.nohold.net/Cisco2/ukp.aspx?vw=1&docid=a9395fcd4f7242938566eefd9ffab198_Setting_up_the_WA...

    4. Configuring the basic wireless settings of the WET610N using manual setup.

         http://www6.nohold.net/Cisco2/ukp.aspx?vw=1&docid=0c82c5881bff42558622a7f12fe48736_17600.xml&pid=80&...

       Remember that the WET610N lets you connect your ethernet-enabled devices such as gaming consoles or DVRs to your wireless network.