I was told by the Best Buy employee that I could hard wire (with an Ethernet cord) from the current router I have in the house (WNR2000) to the WiFi extender in any of the ports on the back to boost the signal. Looking though the user manual his statement seems to be incorrect as it states:
CAUTION: Do not use Ethernet cable to connect the range extender to a router. If you do so, the range extender does not work because it is designed to use only a wireless connection to the router.
Let me give some background on what I am trying to do as to better inform the readers. I have a steel sided and roofed pole barn about 250ft away from the house. I can get my home WiFi (WNR2000) on the outside of the barn sometimes (weak signal), but as soon as you go into the building it doesn't stand a chance. What is the best option to get WiFi inside the barn? I have already ran CAT5 wire to the barn but need to know what the best option is for having wireless inside. If the extender is not the correct option, that is fine as I have not opened the package after reading the manual online. Thank you in advanced,
Is it worth simply getting another wireless router, or will the EX6100 perform the same as one? The only issue I see with the EX6100 is there is no additional ports to hard wire a TV, laptop, etc if needed. Thank you for the help, I really appreciate it.
You really need to decide what functionality you need - you asked for WiFi in the barn - since you already have a cable run out to the barn, I would suggest a network switch to allow for other wired devices, along with the access point or extender.
As far as getting another router - personally, I feel that multiple routers in a single network should be avoided like the plague, but more & more of today's consumer routers have an "AP" mode that allows them to be used as an access point, so I've stopped telling people that - although - I will state that generally speaking, it is not a good idea unless you have a very good grasp of networking.
For what it's worth - the EX6100 also has routing capabilities - if routing capability is what you need.
Perfect, thank you for your help fordem. Sounds like EX6100 is what I need. I'm glad I didn't hook up the extender I had gotten from Best Buy. Something didn't feel right...
