Best way to connect

Question

I currently have a hardwired network, four PCs using a four port router that goes to a cable modem.  I want to add a notebook to the network, which I can get with bluetooth, WiFi, or both.  Can I get a WiFi router, connect one PC by wire and the notebook by WiFi, and then connect that combo to one of the ports on my current Linksys router?  Or should I get a USB Bluetooth adapter, plug it into one of the PCs, and use that as my access point for the notebook?

duffyanneal · Answer

Yes you can.  As you said you can unplug one of the computers from the wired router and plug it into the wireless router.  Plug the wireless router into the open port on the wired router.    A simpler solution would be to replace the wired router with the wireless router.  Most wireless routers have 4 wired outputs in addition to the wireless output.  Just plug all four wired computers into the wireless router and configure it to access your cable modem.

jmwills · Answer

Personally if it were me, you are going to need another router any way, so get a cheap (802.11b) wireless router and plug it into the wired routers uplink port. This will you to subnet the LAN and keep any wireless connections away from the wired connections for security from unauthorized users.

If you get the same make of router you have now, you will need to reconfigure the IP address of the second router. Fro example: Linksys uses 192.168.1.1 for their static IP on the router so you would need to configure the second router to use an address of say, 192.168.2.1 and the Ip addresses issued by the second router would look something like 192.168.2.100-255 and the first would be 192.168.1.100-255

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Best way to connect

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