wireless router with 2wire home portal

3416 Views 6 Replies 3 Participants Last post by johnwill, Jul 17, 2010

Gibson56

Discussion Starter · Jul 16, 2010

Hi i have a question i just got a new laptop with wireless n. I read up on it and realized that wireless n is a lot better, the problem with that is the my 2wire homeportal 3800hgv-b only does wireless g/b. Now i have to use the home portal for my at&t u-verse but i was wondering if i could also hook up a wireless n router to it and disable the wireless on the homeportal so i could have wireless n for my house, or would that not work for some reason. Also if it will work will it matter what brand i buy for the router or will it have to be a certain brand so it will be compatable with the homeportal
Thanks in advance.

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manic

· #2 · Jul 16, 2010

N is backward compatible, so the b/g should not be a issue. But yes
you can connect another router to the gateway, make sure you
disable wireless on the att gateway though. Then make sure your ssid's
are correct when trying to connect. Dont confuse the ssid being broadcast
from the att gateway., easy to do. That is why you disable wireless.
If you call att for support you wont get any, out of scope and they dont
recommend doing it, but you can, you will be on your own with support
though.

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johnwill

· #3 · Jul 16, 2010

You can bridge the Homeportal and eliminate it's routing function and use an 802.11n router exclusively, which would probably be the best option.

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Gibson56

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 16, 2010

Alright will this be reasonably easy or is it going to turn into a project. I know my way around computers but with networking im not that great at, i just want to make sure that im not going to be wasting money on a router that i can't get working.

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johnwill

· #5 · Jul 16, 2010

You can also connect the new wireless router as a WAP and have two wireless channels, which will allow you to have more wireless bandwidth, never a bad thing.

Connecting two (or more) SOHO broadband routers together.

Note: The "primary" router can be an actual router, a software gateway like Microsoft Internet Connection Sharing, or a server connection that has the capability to supply more than one IP address using DHCP server capability. No changes are made to the primary "router" configuration.

Configure the IP address of the secondary router(s) to be in the same subnet as the primary router, but out of the range of the DHCP server in the primary router. For instance DHCP server addresses 192.168.0.2 through 192.168.0.100, I'd assign the secondary router 192.168.0.254 as it's IP address, 192.168.0.253 for another router, etc.

Note: Do this first, as you will have to reboot the computer to connect to the router again for the remaining changes.

Disable the DHCP server in the secondary router.

Setup the wireless section just the way you would if it was the primary router, channels, encryption, etc. Note that you should use the same SSID and encryption key for the secondary router but a non-conflicting channel. I recommend channels 1, 6, or 11 for use for the best results.

Connect from the primary router's LAN port to one of the LAN ports on the secondary router. If there is no uplink port and neither of the routers have auto-sensing ports, use a cross-over cable. Leave the WAN port unconnected!

This procedure bypasses the routing function (NAT layer) and configures the router as a switch (or wireless access point for wireless routers).

For reference, here's a link to a Typical example config using a Netgear router

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Gibson56

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 16, 2010

alright i will go get a wireless n router then and see if it works. Any recommendations or ones to stay away from. I will probably be going to get one either tomorrow, or next week if i cannot get one tomorrow.

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johnwill

· #7 · Jul 17, 2010

Here's a decent 802.11n model for $40, hard to go wrong at that price. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127241

FWIW, I have one of these and it's worked well, it's my secondary router.

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