Can a wireless router be used to connect a non-wireless capable computer to a wireless network?

Question

I am only able to connect to the network wirelessly. I dont have the airport wireless adapter for this desktop computer. Can an extra wireless router act as this link? Netgear wgt624, iMac 600mz, crt

Of 6 answers all were incorrect. 3 right off the bat said no. The other 3 said yes but dont waste your time and didnt read the part about not having the adapter to add an airport card to my iMac 600mhz. Ok now can I do this pretty much on my own? Netgear wont help. I dont think Macintosh is even mentioned in their support files. The router works like any other router. Just dont try to configure it with a Mac.

Answer 1

In theory yes, but it's a lot of work. You need to create a wireless bridge between the network and your router. I think this can only be done if you know all the network settings.

Answer 2

Yes.
very easy if the router has ports on the back

Most of todays wireless routers have a port for the WAN connection, the Wide Area Network, the side of the router that is actually on the Internet and usually four ports that can run standard ethernet cables to a computer.

It's easy to make a non wireless computer wireless. 1) install a netgear wireless network card in one of the PCI slots. 2) there are USB wireless network adaptors that you can simply plug into the computer that will find the wireless signal.

you just have to watch what you are doing. some routers are 802.11b and 802.11g capable. some are not some are just 'g' and some are just 'b' the network card must be able to match up to the router.

Simple as pie ala mode.

wizzie

Answer 3

No.. If you have a wireless network, you need to connect the other computer by:

A) installing a wireless receiver to the isolated computer
B) connecting the computer via CAT5E (ethernet) cable directly to the router.

If the computer has built in blue tooth technology then that also can be used. BTW don't use netgear, they are horrible.. The best consumer level product is linksys.. Also don't forget to put an encryption system on your network or else anyone can jump onto your network, potentially through your computers and attack another site.

Answer 4

Yeah, it's possible but it requires a lot of configuring, which I don't know how to do since I only use a wired network.

Answer 5

Here, this looks like what you are looking for.

GR614v6, WGT624v3, and WPN824. They may also work on other wireless routers.



To Configure Your Router as an Access Point

Important: Do not connect the wireless router/access point to your network yet, as it may have the same IP address as the router that's now connected to the Internet.

1. If the wireless router/access point is in the default state with the Configuration Assistant running, disable it:
1. Select Start > Run, and type http://www.routerlogin.com/CA_HiddenPage.htm
2. Select Disable Configuration Assistant.
2. If there's a cable on the wireless router/access point WAN port, it needs to be disconnected (permanently).
3. Configure the wireless router/access point with a wired PC, as shown.

4. Change the IP address of the wireless router/access point.
5. Disable the DHCP server of the wireless router/access point. Only one DHCP server should be used on the network.
6. Connect a LAN port on the wireless router/access point to a LAN port on the router, as shown
7. Configure SSID on wireless router/access point and wireless PCs so that they are the same.

Extra Considerations

1. Be careful not to use duplicate IPs within your network.
2. The DHCP server used by the router that is not the wireless router/access point should not have the IP address of the wireless router/access point in its DHCP range of IP pool (to avoid accidentally giving out a duplicate IP address).
3. If the router that is not wireless router/access point is also wireless:

* Separate the two devices to the edge of their wireless ranges, or else
* Use different SSIDs.

4. If the router with Internet access is also wireless, you should configure different wireless channels on each device. Use the non-overlapping wireless channels 1,6, and 11 to avoid wireless interference.

To Configure the Router with Internet Access

Connect to one of the wireless router/access point's LAN Ethernet ports, turn off its DHCP server, and give the wireless router a static IP on your LAN:

1. Connect a PC directly to a LAN port on the wireless router with an Ethernet cable.
2. Power on the wireless router/access point.
3. Reboot the PC.
4. Log in to the wireless router though a browser. (Usually 192.168.1.1, with User Name = admin and Password = password, unless you changed them from the defaults).
5. Go to the LAN IP menu and disable the wireless access point’s DHCP server by unchecking Use router as DHCP server.
6. Select LAN IP, and change the IP to 192.168.1.99.
7. Click Apply to save the settings. You will lose the connection to the wireless router/access point , since its IP changed.
8. Log in to the wireless router/access point with the URL: http://192.168.1.99
9. Connect one of the wireless router's Local (LAN) ports to your existing network.

This completes the wireless router/access point configuration.

* You can now log in to the wireless router/access point at its new address of http://192.168.1.99 and configure wireless features such as WEP and Access Control List
* UPnP, DMZ, Port Forwarding, and Port Triggering are not used on the wireless router/access point, and it doesn't matter how they are configured.

1. Configure the LAN IP address to be within the same subnet as your PCs.
o Take care not to use an IP address already being used.
o Limit the number of addresses in the DHCP range and assign an IP address outside of the range to the router you want to use as the Access Point.
2. Disable DHCP on the wireless router/access point.
3. Connect one of the LAN ports on the wireless router/access point to a LAN port on the Router.
4. Configure the SSID and any security settings on the wireless PCs to match the wireless router/access point's SSID and security settings.

a. SSIDs must be the same on all wireless devices. (These are case-sensitive: netGEAR is not the same as NETGEAR.)
b. Tip: Make sure the wireless PCs can connect before configuring WEP, WPA-PSK, or other wireless encryption.

Potential Issues

1. DHCP configuration may not work reliably because the wireless router/access point may not correctly relay DHCP information from the router. Workaround: Use static IPs on the wireless PCs.
2. If your computers use static IPs, make sure the gateway is the IP address of the router connected to the Internet, ie: 192.168.1.1
3. The router’s DHCP server’s IP range may overlap the statically assigned IP address of the wireless router/access point. Workaround: Limit the DHCP range, and set the static IPs outside of the DHCP range.

See source for pretty pic diagram

Answer 6

agree, fairly complex, you should be able to purchase a wireless adapter for probably cheaper than the time it would take to configure.