Setting up second wifi router

Does anyone know if the incoming internet LAN cable to the Archer C20 AP router should be going into the WAN port or a LAN port? Does it matter? Thanks!
 
FelixDaHousecat said:
Does anyone know if the incoming internet LAN cable to the Archer C20 AP router should be going into the WAN port or a LAN port? Does it matter? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Always put the cable that comes from your service provided into the WAN/Internet port. In this case the blue one.

1596878472708.png
Some of the Archer C routers came with either a "5th" WAN/Internet port or a USB port + the WAN port was one of the 4 switch ports.

Some, like the D7, have an auto sensing port labelled LAN/WAN (first on the left). That is the one to use.
1596878674404.png
 
Thanks for the info and clear explanations! The main router I'm using has the internet going from the ISP into the WAN port - and I know to always do this. Both routers are similar to the first pic. For the Archer C20 (the AP router) which is getting internet from the main router (the AC1200), do I also need to put the cable coming from the main router into the WAN port of the C20 if it's my AP router? I just want to make double-sure. Thanks!
 
FelixDaHousecat said:
Does anyone know if the incoming internet LAN cable to the Archer C20 AP router should be going into the WAN port or a LAN port? Does it matter? Thanks!
Click to expand...

In your situation your want it in a LAN port.

WAN port = Router.

LAN = Access Point.

You never want a router behind a router on your local network. You’ll effectively have two separate networks with a Double NAT if you do that.

In rare cases changing it to access point mode possibly changes the WAN port to a LAN port but it’s not often.

You can turn any old router into an Access Point without any “mode” options just plugging it into the right ports and disabling the correct things.

Simple way to think of it is that you only have one WAN (your ISP link) so you should only ever use one WAN port. Everything else should be a LAN.
 
SauRoNZA said:
In your situation your want it in a LAN port.

WAN port = Router.

LAN = Access Point.

You never want a router behind a router on your local network. You’ll effectively have two separate networks with a Double NAT if you do that.

In rare cases changing it to access point mode possibly changes the WAN port to a LAN port but it’s not often.

You can turn any old router into an Access Point without any “mode” options just plugging it into the right ports and disabling the correct things.

Simple way to think of it is that you only have one WAN (your ISP link) so you should only ever use one WAN port. Everything else should be a LAN.
Click to expand...
Those are both TP link routers, they are specifically designed to have an AP mode and for the network cable that run between the main router and the AP router to go from LAN port on main router to WAN port on AP

How to configure TP-Link Router in Access Point mode?（case2）

How to configure TP-Link Router in Access Point mode?（case2）
www.tp-link.com www.tp-link.com
 
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Koosvanwyk said:
Those are both TP link routers, they are specifically designed to have an AP mode and for the network cable that run between the main router and the AP router to go from LAN port on main router to WAN port on AP

How to configure TP-Link Router in Access Point mode?（case2）

How to configure TP-Link Router in Access Point mode?（case2）
www.tp-link.com www.tp-link.com
Click to expand...

If the mode has been changed and it does change the configuration of the WAN port sure.

Any other LAN port would have the same result.

It sounds like the one older router doesn’t do this functions.

Either way universal rule applies to anything else that doesn’t have this function that you can achieve the same things always just using the LAN port.

I’d still use the LAN port as a fail safe just in case of a reset and forgetting about this.

****

Just checked the C20 he speaks of as the second router doesn’t have a WAN/LAN port.

So it should absolutely not go into the WAN port.
 
Hey guys,

I don't know what's happening but the C20 is going totally awol. I've tried hard-resetting it multiple times now. Have set is as AP, it is not connected to any other network while I'm setting it up. Randomly after I change a setting like a password, or the IP address, or the WiFi name, the router become inaccessible and when i look at ipconfig just gives a totally random ip address and it's impossible to login to the device, on cable LAN or via Wifi. Wasted hours on this thing - is the router corrupted somehow? I don't understand because it was working fine briefly this morning and now it's impossible to use because keeps kicking me off and giving itself a random IP address and I can't login until I do a hard reset, then the whole cycle repeats itself. Very frustrating.
 
Is it ok if I try setting it up as a normal router and just disabling DHCP server and giving it IP 192.168.1.2 (main router 192.168.1.1) with the same subnet mask? Will this create an issue? It seems like it's impossible to set it to AP mode cause it keeps cutting me off.
 
Nevermind - I think it's corrupted somehow. It's doing the same thing even if I try set it up normally. Can anyone recommend a decent,reliable router that I can just use as an AP with good range? Thanks!
 
FelixDaHousecat said:
keeps kicking me off and giving itself a random IP address
Click to expand...
I always use DHCP assigned addresses. On the primary router I reserve the addresses for the other network devices.

Example:
My network is 10.0.0.x
10.0.0.1 = Primary router (DHCP server)
10.0.0.21 - 10.0.0.254 are available in the DHCP start and end addresses, with a 24 hour lease time. This is for phones, tablets, computers and smart devices.
10.0.0.2 - 10.0.0.20 are set aside for address reservations like other routers/AP, printers, NAS, Pi ... those type of things that I need to access from any device.

Where there are more than 1 wifi device (router or AP) I set the SSID and password the same. On each device I set the channel. The closer the devices are to each other the further apart the channels are. Only ever set one device as the DHCP server.
 
Thanks for the advice, really appreciate it. Was going to try setup my AP router that way, without DHCP server and with a static IP in that range and let the main router assign all other addresses. It's just that now with the Archer C20 router when I try change settings it lets me change a few, then generates a totally random IP address for itself and I have no way of logging back into it which is bizarre. It worked perfectly for years with no issues so don't know why it's doing this now. I've just tried putting the firmware back on it in case. I've had to go back to my old basic Tplink Router in the mean time (TP link-TL-WR840N). I've just reset the firmware on the C20 and it's giving me the same problems. After setting up config on it it just suddenly gives me a totally random IP (I had set it to 192.168.1.2/255.255.255.0 with DCHP off), and I'm unable to login to it.
 

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Think it's corrupted or something, which is a shame as it worked really well and had much better range than the WR840N. I've just wasted the day on this and feeling pretty disheartened.

Also, I was hoping to move the AP router to the lounge (to connect to smart TV/Dstv decoder)- I had to use a connector (I bought this Ugreen one) to do it.
Capture.PNG
Unfortunately internet doesn't work on the AP when I use it. I'm already using one connector earlier on with the same line - is it ok to use multiple connectors on one line? I would assume so. I have ordered a replacement and hope this one will work instead:
Capture.PNG
Are some of these connectors only designed for Cat6/Cat5? I'm pretty sure my network cable is standard Cat5e.
Thanks again for all your help on this thread.
 
tRoN said:
Why don’t you get a proper AP like a ubiquiti Unifi and avoid the second router completely
Click to expand...
Thanks - looks like a great option. Just a little pricey, also wanted to also have a LAN cable going from the AP to the DSTV decoder as it can't use Wi-Fi.
 
I followed this guide for old router - works great as repeater

 
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