Does a router require a hardwired connection to a cable modem, or can I connect a router wirelessly if the cable modem can be used as a wireless access point?
Basically, I need to have the cable modem and router set up in different rooms. Here’s the deal. The TV in our living room is internet enabled but requires a wired connection. We have ATT U-verse and I used to have the TV connected to the gateway with an ethernet cable. A while back, ATT had to replace our equipment and the new equipment required him to run some new cable which had to go to a bedroom with an outside wall (since the cable outlet in the living room is on an interior wall). The setup now is the gateway and main TV box with the DVR are in the front bedroom, and the TV in the other bedroom and the living room use the wireless TV boxes.
So now if I want to stream Netflix on the living room TV, I have to bring in the laptop and hook it up to the TV. I’ve been thinking that if I could connect a router wirelessly to the gateway, then I could put the router in the living room and connect the TV to the router, and I wouldn’t have to mess with hooking up the laptop.
I’ve never had to set up a router before. My home wi-fi has always been through a cable modem with wireless access. If it is possible to connect a router wirelessly, what’s the basic procedure for setting this up? Would I have to connect the router to the laptop and program it through the laptop?
I don’t have another router at the moment. Maybe a router isn’t what I need, but I want something that I can physically connect my TV into for internet access. I was thinking if I had a router in the same room with the TV, I could connect the TV to that, and the router could be wirelessly connected to the modem in the other room.
Connecting the laptop to the TV works for what I want, but it is kind of inconvenient to do it that way. I’d like to have something I can set up once and just leave it connected to the TV.
This is probably what you want, for simplicity’s sake. The only downside is that wireless bridges can be a little more expensive than standard routers. Here’s an example.
You COULD theoretically connect one router to another wirelessly, in one of two schemes:
Some routers can be set into a bridge mode, in which they function just like the standalone bridge above. Why would you want to do this when you could just buy a standalone bridge? Well, because of economies of scale, sometimes routers are actually cheaper than bridges despite having more functionality. The downside is that you have to be a little bit more tech-savvy to get this setup working, and not all consumer routers support this mode out of the box. Some require third-party firmware. Here’s one such device that can be set into bridge mode. It is less than half the price of the dedicated bridge above, even though it can do more, just because every person and their mom needs a router and there’s fierce competition out there. Nobody but geeks know what a “wireless bridge” is, so they’re niche products that sell for more.
You can also connect one router to another the “standard” way, but then you have two layers of network translation going on. What basically happens is that your second router would be routing the stuff from your first router. The cable router would (for example) assign 192.168.1.36 to your second router, and your second router would assign 192.168.100.2 to your ethernet-connected TV. This normally isn’t a big deal unless you need to do port forwarding, which is usually done for games or special file sharing/IM apps. Your TV probably won’t need that. The benefit of this is that you can use any bog-standard WiFi router with an ethernet port to achieve this.
So you want to keep your service modem (which has WiFi) where it’s wired, but have WiFi connection to your TV in another room? I assume the TV uses an HDMI connector and that’s how you want to feed it?
There are HDMI-WiFi adapters. Google for them. Cheap one-step solution unless your actual situation is more complicated than you’ve outlined.
Why use a howitzer when a spud gun will do the job?
Netflix? Get a Chromecast for $35 and control it from an app on your phone or your laptop. Plugs into an HDMI port and connects your TV to WiFi for exactly this sort of thing.
