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How to Use A Router as a Wireless Adapter – Techerator

The document provides a guide on how to use an extra wireless router as a wireless adapter to connect to a network, allowing multiple devices to gain connectivity without individual wireless cards. It outlines steps for installing DD-WRT firmware, configuring the router settings, and connecting wired devices. This method is particularly useful for enhancing network access for devices like media centers and gaming consoles.

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Miguel Tristan Macarandang
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© © All Rights Reserved
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0 views

How to Use A Router as a Wireless Adapter – Techerator

The document provides a guide on how to use an extra wireless router as a wireless adapter to connect to a network, allowing multiple devices to gain connectivity without individual wireless cards. It outlines steps for installing DD-WRT firmware, configuring the router settings, and connecting wired devices. This method is particularly useful for enhancing network access for devices like media centers and gaming consoles.

Uploaded by

Miguel Tristan Macarandang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How to Use A Router as a Wireless Adapter


Dustin Patterson September 2, 2009 24 Comments

There may come a time where you have an


extra wireless router on your hands (such as
the Linksys WRT54GL) that you’re not sure
what to do with. One thing that I have
recently found useful is to use the router as a
wireless adapter to connect to a wireless network.

Using a router as a wireless adapter will not only provide you with wireless
connectivity, but will also give you a multiple-port switch to connect your wired
devices. This is a great way to allow multiple devices to have network
connectivity without needing a wireless network card for each device.

1. Start by checking if you router supports a 3rd party firmware. (For this guide,
I will be using the free DD-WRT firmware).
2. Download and install the firmware according to the instructions for your
router model.
3. Enter http://192.168.1.1 into your browser and login using the default
credentials, which is typically a blank username and the password admin.
4. Click Wireless.
5. Change Wireless Mode to Client.
6. In Wireless Network Name (SSID), enter the name of the wireless
network you would like the router to connect to.
7. Click Apply Settings.
8. Click Wireless Security (If the wireless network you are connecting to
doesn’t have security enabled, you can skip this step.)
9. Select the corresponding Security Mode and enter the network key and click
Apply Settings.
10. In the top right corner of the web interface, your router should now get a
WAN IP that is provided by the wireless network.
11. Click Setup and then select Basic Setup.
12. Change the Local IP Address of your router to something other than the
default, such as 192.168.5.1. This is done to prevent conflicts with your
existing network.
13. Enter the Gateway of your wireless network. (You can find your Gateway
information under Default Gateway by entering ipconfig in the command
prompt on a computer already connected to your wireless network.
14. Optional: Click Setup and select Basic Setup. Under WAN Port, check the
box to Assign WAN Port to Switch. This will add the WAN port to the 4 port
switch, giving you 5 ports to share the wireless connection.

Once the above steps have been completed, your router with DD-WRT firmware
will be connected to your wireless network as a client just as if you connected to
the same wireless network with a laptop. Any devices that are connected to the
4/5 port switch will now have network connectivity as well.

Published by Dustin Patterson Dustin Patterson is the co-founder and


editor of Techerator and holds an Industrial Technology degree
emphasizing in Electronics and Control Systems from the University of
North Dakota. He enjoys technology, music, coffee, and all types of
desserts. View more posts

24 Comments 
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Sort by Oldest  13 ⥅

Evan Wondrasek • 13 years ago


Excellent guide - this is perfect for media centers (my TV, Blu Ray player, and Xbox all have
ethernet ports now). Xbox 360 users should definitely check this out, it can easily save you
$100 on Microsoft's wireless adapter.
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Jacob_K • 13 years ago


nice guide. there is a way to set up a router in bridge mode to connect 2 wireless routers.
works good for gaming systems and video streaming if you use wireless N router bridge.
helps with not having a router that doesn't support 3rd party applications.
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Matthewbrown • 12 years ago


This is a great article but you need to remember that the ssid is case sensitive when
entering it into the router
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

W3lshm3n • 12 years ago


it all works fine on the router but still can't get a connection
6△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Rags_06 • 12 years ago


This doesn't quiet answer my question on how to make my external HD available to be
modified from other wireless computers. How would one do that?
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Frankay • 11 years ago


As soon as i hit apply after changing "ap" to "client" it disconnects me from the routerand
doesn't let me make any more changes It goes into a cannot load page. I need help with this
part.
7△ ▽ 1 • Reply • Share ›

Steven > Frankay • 6 years ago


How can fix that?
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Jon Borknøyfjord > Steven • 4 years ago


Make sure you're connected to the router by cable, not by WiFi. In client
mode, the router will no longer function as a wireless access point.
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

thanks man • 10 years ago


Damn genius!
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Jakobud • 9 years ago


Should have chosen Tomato, considering that DD-WRT is pretty much not in development
anymore and it has a lot of broken features (like QOS doesn't work at all, etc).
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Evan Wondrasek Mod > Jakobud • 9 years ago


Unfortunately, Tomato's development also appears to have been effectively
abandoned, as the last update was over 3 years ago. However, many forked versions
of Tomato have been created to try to keep it current, but has also caused much
fragmentation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Matt Berg • 9 years ago


Terrifically helpful! Thank you!
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

RaymondRicks • 9 years ago


Really an excellent guide. I was able to turn an old Virgin Media DLink DIR-615 into a
wireless hotspot/adaptor and saved on running ethernet cables upstairs and also saved on
buying a Sky adaptor for my second Sky box. Took me about 45 minutes to get it up and
running and now my son can have a decent connection upstairs as well. Thanks for sharing!
2△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

John Dirk Cañete • 8 years ago


Got the smart tv connected to the internet in just 5mins thank you for the guide :D
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Heracleus • 8 years ago


Perfect solution for otherwise useless router and cheap substitute for expensive Wi-Fi
adapters, thank you for sharing
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

pranish shrestha • 7 years ago


would I be able to use my router normally afterwards? I mean using a router like a router
19 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Albert Tso > pranish shrestha • 7 years ago


Just redo configuration setup to AP mode instead of Client.
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Siddharth Jain • 7 years ago


I have dlink dsl-2730u router it is compatible with ddwrt but I am not able to find the
download link for firmware please help !!!
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

99webmail-Gmail Help • 6 years ago


Amazing article, Really its very helpful to me.. This is really nice place to get help for how to
use a router as a wireless adapter..
for easy articles help for it click at http://www.99webmail.com/
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Angel Smith • 5 years ago


Nice Article. Loved reading it
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Anna Smith • 5 years ago


Very informative blog thanks for sharing
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