Am I crazy? (running two wireless routers)

Looking for a way to extend the range of my Linksys BEFW11S4
(specifically, through a poured concrete wall to my pool area,) I came
across the advice that the easiest and most reliable way would be to
acquire a WAP, and properly enclose it for outdoor use. (no big deal,
found a good web page on doing that.)

But it's been a while since I'd shopped for these things, and now, am
I crazy, or have WAP and switch prices flip-flopped? I'm seeing 4-port
switches out there for waaaay cheaper than WAPs. ($30 for an SMC
router at CompUSA, after rebates) while a simple WAP's running around
$100.

So, would it be sensible for me to buy a new router instead of a WAP,
then use the new router as my connection and sharing point to the DSL
modem, and configure the old Linksys as a WAP? As I see it, disabling
DHCP on the Linksys, connecting from the Linksys uplink port to a
numbered port on the SMC with a straight-through cable, telling the
Linksys to use DHCP to acquire its IP address (already does that, but
is that fixed to go through the WAN port or not?), putting them both
on the same SSID, but different channels, and disabling any
extraneous firewall or other feature on the Linksys is what I would
need to do. Anything I'm missing here?

Thanks in advance for any help offered!

Seems to me to but the router in the highest point in the house, if you can.
You may want to look into maybe getting a signal booster.

Dr. *D*

--
The protection of the machine is a process and is not a given!

Linksys has a support document on doing that very thing.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?M2D731A05

Note: You only want one DHCP server and that would be the main router.


Bob


<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> Looking for a way to extend the range of my Linksys BEFW11S4
> (specifically, through a poured concrete wall to my pool area,) I came
> across the advice that the easiest and most reliable way would be to
> acquire a WAP, and properly enclose it for outdoor use. (no big deal,
> found a good web page on doing that.)
>
> But it's been a while since I'd shopped for these things, and now, am
> I crazy, or have WAP and switch prices flip-flopped? I'm seeing 4-port
> switches out there for waaaay cheaper than WAPs. ($30 for an SMC
> router at CompUSA, after rebates) while a simple WAP's running around
> $100.
>
> So, would it be sensible for me to buy a new router instead of a WAP,
> then use the new router as my connection and sharing point to the DSL
> modem, and configure the old Linksys as a WAP? As I see it, disabling
> DHCP on the Linksys, connecting from the Linksys uplink port to a
> numbered port on the SMC with a straight-through cable, telling the
> Linksys to use DHCP to acquire its IP address (already does that, but
> is that fixed to go through the WAN port or not?), putting them both
> on the same SSID, but different channels, and disabling any
> extraneous firewall or other feature on the Linksys is what I would
> need to do. Anything I'm missing here?
>
> Thanks in advance for any help offered!

(E-Mail Removed) wrote in message news:<bdaqfd$cea$(E-Mail Removed)>...
> (E-Mail Removed) <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > telling the
> > Linksys to use DHCP to acquire its IP address (already does that, but
> > is that fixed to go through the WAN port or not?),
>
> The Linksys will only look for a WAN DHCP address. You are going to
> use the LAN (uplink) port so you will have to pick an appropriate fixed
> address that is outside the DHCP pool from the main router, but within
> the subnet mask. That isn't so hard, just move the top or bottom address
> of the existing DHCP range by a little bit.
>
> Use the Uplink port of the Linksys to a LAN port on the main router.

Got it, thanks to all who answered! I'll pick up another router
tonight and see how it goes. I'll probably go with a Netgear instead
of an SMC, since the price is slightly cheaper on in-store pickup.
CompUSA prices internet vs. in-store somewhat differently for some
products.

(E-Mail Removed) <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Got it, thanks to all who answered! I'll pick up another router
> tonight and see how it goes. I'll probably go with a Netgear instead
> of an SMC, since the price is slightly cheaper on in-store pickup.
> CompUSA prices internet vs. in-store somewhat differently for some
> products.

I haven't tried Netgear, but the Linksys and DLink both have substantially
better range than the SMCs that I've used.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5