Wired connection to a wireless one, using a normal router.

[TiM!]

Hey guys, here's a long shot if you ever saw one.

Staying at a place in Cornwall for a few days that claims to have a wired only internet connection. I assume they just mean there are fixed locations to plug in a ethernet cable for internet. We have a number of tablets however, so that's pretty useless to us.

Can I plug in my old Netgear router to one of these points and get wireless access?

This is my router: http://www.netgear.co.uk/home/products/wirelessrouters/work-and-play/DGN3500.aspx#

Cheers,

Tim

 

[alpenwasser]

Well, I'm not a network professional, but I have networked (or helped, at least) every place I've lived at in the past 18 years, so I would say it's neither completely unrealistic nor a safe bet. Very helpful, I know :lol:

What your router would basically need to do is create a wireless network that connects to an already present network via that router. That already existing network will presumably be running over another router which will be administering the DHCP and handing out IP addresses.

I have actually done this with two Netgear products once (one wired Gigabit network router and one wireless router), and it worked. The wireless router needed to have the capability to let another router administer the DHCP, at least that's what I needed to do when I set up my network(s).

The wired router was boss, being connected to the internet and giving out IP addresses for both the wireless and the wired networks connected to it. This way, they became basically one network with regards to machines accessing each other. The wireless router became merely an access point instead of an actual router.

I couldn't find anything on your router that indicates whether or not it can do this, and I also don't know whether or not the included ADSL modem has any influence on this.

Hence: It might work, but it's not a safe bet as far as I can tell.

 

[Snortan]

It should work. Also I would hide the SSID since some hotels would like to charge you for every device that uses "their" internet.

 

[alpenwasser]

Also I would hide the SSID since some hotels would like to charge you for every device that uses "their" internet.

Forgot to mention that, agree on this recommendation. I just would have considered it proper security though, didn't know about that multiple charging thing. Capitalism :lol:

 

[Snortan]

Yea, some hotels charge per mac addresses so if you were to use a cable and switch between multiple computers they would charge for every mac address.

 

[TiM!]

Thanks guys, I'm sure I've got it now.

Just run a little test at home. I've changed the settings to as above and hooked the netgear up to my bt home hub which is what we normally use for all our devices. It's hooked up through my switch with cat5e. So pretty much how it will be there. I can connect devices to the netgear and get internet.