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I am not an IT person, so I don't want to sound ignorant. I am currently using the WNDR4500v2 router as my main router. Most of my home networked devices are hard wired using switch boxes and hubs, but my ipads and phones are using the wireless portions. The signal strength wanes a bit, the further I am from the router, so I decided to upgrade to an AC router and turned to the Linksys AC2600. I still want to use the WNDR4500 but as a repeater or range extender on the first floor of my home. I have watched videos and read many instructions on doing this, but most of them (if not all) use the same router brand for both. My other concern is that the videos that I watched show connecting an ethernet cable from the new router to the converted router. Is this a permanent thing, or is that just for the preliminary setup? Is there anything specific to the netgear router that I must do to allow the two different brand to work, or is this a generic process? I'm sure that this is an easy process, but I don't want to screw it up. Should I or can I use the DD-WRT firmware for the old router? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
You can set up the router to work as an access point instead, but that does require an ethernet cable between the linksys and the WNDR4500. If that's not practical, I suggest purchasing either an AC WiFi extender (for instance the Netgear EX6400 or EX7300) or a powerline networking/AC access point combination (for instance the Netgear PLW1010).
I appreciate the information and suggestions. Actually using it as an AP would work for me. I already have ethernet going through the floor from upstairs to the family/entertainment room on the first floor. Would it have to be a direct connection from the linksys or can it be through the switch hub? thanks for all of your help.
Unfortunately the range-extender mode of the WNDR4500 can't be used with good WiFi security. You need to either use no security at all, or you need to set up your wifi network to use the outdated (and insecure) WEP protocol. The link speed is also limited to 54 gbits. So I don't recommend putting the router in this mode. You can read about it in the manual starting on page 88: http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/WNDR4500/WNDR4500_UM_25Oct2013.pdf
You can set up the router to work as an access point instead, but that does require an ethernet cable between the linksys and the WNDR4500. If that's not practical, I suggest purchasing either an AC WiFi extender (for instance the Netgear EX6400 or EX7300) or a powerline networking/AC access point combination (for instance the Netgear PLW1010).
You can set up the router to work as an access point instead, but that does require an ethernet cable between the linksys and the WNDR4500. If that's not practical, I suggest purchasing either an AC WiFi extender (for instance the Netgear EX6400 or EX7300) or a powerline networking/AC access point combination (for instance the Netgear PLW1010).
I appreciate the information and suggestions. Actually using it as an AP would work for me. I already have ethernet going through the floor from upstairs to the family/entertainment room on the first floor. Would it have to be a direct connection from the linksys or can it be through the switch hub? thanks for all of your help.
