NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
Can I use wifi router as a switch?
Can i disable the wifi and the DHCP table to use the router as a switch?
> All done. [...]
_What_, exactly?
> I am worried that the status says DHCP ON
I'd guess that that's accurate only if the router is acting as a
router, not when it's configured as a WAP.> The Genie offered to use the Netgear as an AP
After a settings reset, if it sees a private address on its
WAN/Internet interface, then it might draw the correct conclusion
automatically.> I kept SSID broadcast on recommendation. [...]
That doesn't matter much if the radio is disabled. The point was
that "Enable SSID Broadcast" and "Enable Wireless Router Radio" do
different things.
> So DHCP organises the different ports? [...]I'd say "connected devices", not "ports".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Host_Configuration_Protocol
> I had problems in the past with WAP acting like a router and
> distributing weird IP addresses on our network.Generally, you want one DHCP server per LAN. Multiple uncoordinated
DHCP servers can cause many problems. Which is why the one-step WAP
mode option disables the DHCP server. (And, why you would need to
disable it explictitly, if you don't use the one-step WAP mode option.)So, it works as expected now? (What could go wrong?)
Possibly interesting:
The short answer for you here, if you want to use the router as an ethernet-only switch:
(Some of the names below might be slightly spelled differently on different routers but the context is the same.)
- Configure it as a Wireless Access Point, which you appear to have done.
- DO NOT uncheck "Enable SSID Broadcast", all that does is configure a HIDDEN SSID that still broadcasts, that's why you still see the wireless status light. You can keep it unchecked if you want but it does not do what you originally thought it does)
- as I described in my previous post, find and uncheck "enable wireless radio" for each band that you have.
Now you basically have an ethernet only switch. That's all an Access Point really is, a switch with wireless radios.
That's all there is to it.
> In "Setup" "LanSetup" there's the option to turn the DHCP table off.
I'd say that it disables the DHCP server ("Use Router as DHCP
Server"), but that's not an important difference. Following the
suggested instructions ("Use the Router as a Wireless Access Point")
should do that, too.
> [...] So the Netgear should not show (on the pict) "Operation Mode:
> Router"?
First, you seem to be looking at a different picture. Second,
disabling the DHCP server does not stop the router from being a router.
> "Connection" (on the pict) should not show "DHCP" or is it from my
> main router?
I don't see "DHCP" on the one picture which you attached.
> SSID doesn't mean much does it? if I don't use the Netgear as an AP,
> nobody will notice if it has a SSID or not?
An SSID the name used to identify a wireless-network signal. If you
don't use the radio, then no one will care about the SSID. But "Enable
SSID Broadcast" does not control the radio. "Enable Wireless Router
Radio" controls the radio.
> Same with fixing IP. Either fixing not fixing would not change
> anything to the use of the Netgear as a switch?
I don't care very much about the LAN IP address of the WNR2000v5, but
it _will_ have one. To me, it makes more sense to know what that
address is, and for it to be on the same subnet as your main-router LAN.
Someday, you might want to talk to the WNR2000v5-as-WAP.
> I don't want the Netgear to be an AP but a switch. If AP means wifi
> Access Point
No, you really _do_ want that. Configuring the WNR2000v5 as a WAP
stops the router functions of the WNR2000v5 (such as the DHCP server),
leaving only the network-switch and wireless-network functions. You do
want the network-switch functions, right?
It also configures the WNR2000v5 WAN/Internet port as (effectively)
another LAN port, which gives you one more LAN port. (_I_ would want
that.)
It does _not_ disable the wireless-network radios, but you should be
able to do that elsewhere. (Remember "Enable Wireless Router Radio"?)
You don't understand this stuff as well as you seem to think that you
do. If you simply follow the instructions provided in the first reply,
then you should get exactly what you want. Or, you can try do it your
way, which would be more work, and which will give you one fewer
available LAN port. I don't care. Do whatever makes you happy.
> - Configure it as a Wireless Access Point, which you appear to have
> done.
If he _had_ done that, then this discussion might have been very much
shorter.
> [...] That's all an Access Point really is, a switch with wireless
> radios.
That's (at least approximately) true. (A WAP might not provide a
network switch. More precisely, a wireless router which includes a
network switch (like, for example, a WNR2000v5), when configured as a
WAP, acts as a network switch with one or more wireless-network radios.
And the radio(s) can be disabled, if desired.)
> [...] Or, you can try do it your way, which would be more work, and
> which will give you one fewer available LAN port. [...]For a more detailed procedure to use when the router lacks a one-step
WAP option, see, for example:https://community.netgear.com/t5/x/x/m-p/1463500
That's written for a Netgear C6300-as-WAP, but the steps are about the
same for any other router (any make/model) which lacks a one-step WAP
option.Note that that scheme leaves the WAN/Internet port on the
router-as-WAP unconnected. (A WAP is all-LAN. A model with the
one-step WAP option effectively reconfigures its WAN/Internet port as
another LAN port. Without the one-step WAP option, you need to use only
the LAN ports.)Of course, if you want to disable the wireless-network radio on your
WNR2000v5, then that's an extra step (as explained, repeatedly, above).I surely know my knowledge limits! That's why i'm on this community. Thanks for your light.
The Genie offered to use the Netgear as an AP
Then unchecked the box "Enable Wireless Router Radio" which i don't want.
I kept SSID broadcast on recommendation. Thank you.
Wireless light is now OFF
You say " No, you really _do_ want that. Configuring the WNR2000v5 as a WAP
stops the router functions of the WNR2000v5 (such as the DHCP server),
leaving only the network-switch and wireless-network functions. You do
want the network-switch functions, right?"So DHCP organises the different ports? essential to a switch?
I had problems in the past with WAP acting like a router and distributing weird IP addresses on our network.
> All done. [...]
_What_, exactly?
> I am worried that the status says DHCP ON
I'd guess that that's accurate only if the router is acting as a
router, not when it's configured as a WAP.> The Genie offered to use the Netgear as an AP
After a settings reset, if it sees a private address on its
WAN/Internet interface, then it might draw the correct conclusion
automatically.> I kept SSID broadcast on recommendation. [...]
That doesn't matter much if the radio is disabled. The point was
that "Enable SSID Broadcast" and "Enable Wireless Router Radio" do
different things.
> So DHCP organises the different ports? [...]I'd say "connected devices", not "ports".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Host_Configuration_Protocol
> I had problems in the past with WAP acting like a router and
> distributing weird IP addresses on our network.Generally, you want one DHCP server per LAN. Multiple uncoordinated
DHCP servers can cause many problems. Which is why the one-step WAP
mode option disables the DHCP server. (And, why you would need to
disable it explictitly, if you don't use the one-step WAP mode option.)So, it works as expected now? (What could go wrong?)
Possibly interesting: