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Configuring an SMC router as a wireless access point


There will be situation where you've purchased a wireless router incorrectly; buying a wireless router without built-in modem, buying an ADSL router for a cable connection, etc.

If you do not wish to exchange for an item of similiar value & you are unable to get a cash refund, you may wish to configure it as a wireless access point.

The following provides the instruction for setting up an SMC router as a wireless access point but can also be used as a guide to reconfigure other brands of wireless router as an access point.

1. Before you start installation of your SMC broadband router, you will need to find out your current network IP address, gateway and subnet mask. You can do this by click Start, Run then type CMD.

2. At the command prompt when the black screen appear, type ipconfig /all. If there is an error message just type ipconfig to try again.

3. You will get a display like the following;

===============================================

Windows 2000 IP Configuration

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: 

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.4
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

===============================================

4. Take note of your machine IP address which in the above example is 192.168.1.4 and the gateway address which in above example is 192.168.1.1

5. Disconnect the network cable of the PC which you want to use to configure the SMC router and then connected it to one of the three LAN port labelled 1, 2, 3. Do not connect the WAN port to your PC. Also do not connect to your existing network yet.

6. Set your configuration PC's IP address by clicking on Start, then Control Panel, the network. "Right click" on your Local Area Connection and select properties. Double click on your Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and set the IP address to the range of your SMC router, ie any thing from 192.168.2.2 - 192.168.2.254 by selecting Use the following IP address.

7. Set the subnet mask which is 255.255.255.0 and default gateway which is 192.168.2.1.

8. Click on OK and close all the options.

9. Start Internet Explorer and type http://192.168.2.1 on the address and press enter. There will be a prompt on the screen for password. By default the password is blank so you just need to click on login.

10. If you are unable to access the router even after clicking on login, you may need to reset it to default by pressing the reset button at the back of the router and hold it for 5 seconds and then turn off and on the router without releasing the button. This is the standard way that I reset routers but I am not sure if it is the correct reset method on SMC routers.

11. At the setup screen, click on Advanced Setup. I have attached the instruction manual of the SMC 7004WFW router which you can also go through as a guide.

12. You can ignore the section about WAN configuration since you are setting up this router as a wireless access point only.

13. Click on LAN. In the menu shown, disable the DHCP server by selecting Disabled. Setup your LAN IP address to an address within the range of the address of your cable modem router. ie. in the above example, my machine IP address is 192.168.1.4 and subnet mask is 255.255.255.0, I can set it from 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254 avioding only my router address which is the gateway specified in ipconfig. My suggestion is to set it to the last IP which is xxx.xxx.xxx.254 on your network.

14. Once you have done all that, you must click on Apply to apply the settings to your SMC router. Once you have done that, you will not be able to access your router as your IP address range of your PC (which you set earlier in the range of 192.168.2.2 - 192.168.2.254) is outside the subnet of your SMC router.

15. You will then need to set the configuration PC's IP address back to the range of your cable modem router's network subnet in order to access your SMC router which is xxx.xxx.xxx.254 or whatever IP address you have set earlier in point 13. Go though the same steps in point 6 to change your PC's IP address. If you are previously set to obtain IP address automatically, you can also revert back to it to save you the trouble of having to config the settings.

16. Start Internet Explorer and type the SMC router's IP address in (eg. http://192.168.1.254) on the address and press enter. If you see the router setup page, you are ready to configure your wireless access. If you are unable to see it, you will need to check your IP address settings in your configuration PC's network connection.

17. If you're having problem access the router page, you may also try renewing your IP address if you have previously set the configuration PC to obtain IP address automatically by going to Start, Run type CMD and then type ipconfig /release, press enter and then follow by ipconfig /renew to obtain a new address.

18. Once you can access the router setup page, click on Advanced Setup again and click on Wireless. You can ignore the portion about Channel and SSID and click on Encryption instead.

19. Select WEP Mode to 64-bit or 128-bit WEP.

20. Type in your choice of Passphrase which is similiar to a password for any wireless client station to access your router and then click Generate. Write down information under Key on a piece of paper and then click Apply.

21. Go through Chapter 5 on the instruction manual on how to setup your client with the above generated keys. As the step to configure client machines may varies from OS to OS, difference in configuration method for different brands of wireless adapters, you may need to check the instruction manual on the wireless adapter on how to set it up.