WAP and switch

A friend is in need of a new combined WAP and four port switch. It is to provide coverage in an old stone house where the existing service fails and there is only a single underground Cat5e from the main hub.

It does NOT need to offer the latest/greatest/fastest speed and no need for "bells and whistles" Just needs to be a basic 802.11g on 2.4 GHz = never any interference due to the remote location. Connection to the main hub will be on a 100Mb Ethernet link, ports can be 100Mb or 1Gb.

However, it must be very easy to configure and set up

Any suggestions?

In reply to a post by MHC:

Any suggestions?

Why not use an old router with the IP address set to some thing that does not conflict with the existing network, and DHCP disabled.

Presumably this is to provide additional coverage as old thick, possibly damp, stone really kills wireless.

The Linksys E1200 (N300, 10/100 ethernet ports) can be configured as a bridge which will give you five ethernet ports and a wireless access point - you loose all the fancy router features (firewall, port forwarding, guest network, etc), but it doesn't look like you are after those. Pretty simple to set up http://www.linksys.com/us/support-article?articleNum...

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

In reply to a post by MHC:

Any suggestions?

Why not use an old router with the IP address set to some thing that does not conflict with the existing network, and DHCP disabled.

Becasue there is not one available! One was in use but has recently decided to give up on them ... and I am only a near 600 mile drive away, hence the need to a nice easy set up.

Not especially cheap, but reliably informed by three separate punters that these are very easy to use/install/set up .....

https://unifi-mesh.ubnt.com/#home

Cost probably prohibits this ...

And I really do need simple.

Possibly order a 2nd hand old router on ebay that is the same as one that you have. That way you can easily talk them through configuring it. Or buy any product, configure it yourself and then send it to them.

I may have located one, albeit old, that will do for the short term. One I know well and can easily configure by phone.

Then, I will probably get them to buy a stand alone WAP and use a small 4 port switch that I believe is sitting around unused. Switch connected via the Cat5e/Ethernet to the router and then WAP into that.

Cannot run any more Cat5e easily - it is external grade with a long convoluted route; powerline extenders do not work due to layout and connections.

In reply to a post by MHC:

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

In reply to a post by MHC:

Any suggestions?

Why not use an old router with the IP address set to some thing that does not conflict with the existing network, and DHCP disabled.

Becasue there is not one available! One was in use but has recently decided to give up on them ... and I am only a near 600 mile drive away, hence the need to a nice easy set up.

why not configure one, and post it to them

OK, no networking wiz meself either. [glum]