Can I configure a wireless router while the internet isn’t available? I swear I’ve done something like this before, but can’t get it to work now. I have an old wireless router lying around, and want to use it for a second wireless network at a far point in my home. I have ethernet there, but want wireless available for things like iPads etc.
So basically I need to get into the router and change the SSID name, turn off DHCP, use a non-conflicting IP address, yada yada, so it doesn’t collide with the “real” router on the network. I thought I could do this by hooking an ethernet cable directly from a non-networked PC or laptop to the router, then bring up the configuration page, make all my setup changes, done! Then I’d just hook the router to the ethernet network and away we go.
Except… I can’t get the router to talk to my PC using a direct ethernet connection. Windows tries to establish the connection and gives up with an error, so I can’t get to the router config page. I know if I plugged the router into my cable modem everything would probably work. But that’s way on the other side of the house on a tall shelf. Is there some way to get the router to allow itself to be configured without hooking it to the internet?
ETA: it’s a NetGear WGR614c
