On Fri, 31 May 2019 08:01:25 -0700, Wiffer
wrote:


Posted to 4 Windows groups? Seems excessive...


WiFi Indulgence

I have switched Internet providers to Spectrum.
They provided a modem (with phone support) and a separate wifi router
(at my request two boxes, no extra charge to do so but $5/mo for the
wifi router. Acceptable to me.). Tests out at 100Mb/sec. But their
wifi router is not all that fast internally and signal strength is just
barely adequate in my front room. So ...

I have a cat5 wire running from this WiFi Router located in the back
room to the front room. There I have a switch to allow connections to
the TV and other devices. I only want to use the wifi on devices that
are not close to or able to use a wired connection.

Before all of this I purchased an access point and also a supposed high
power internally fast wifi router. Both on hand in the box unopened.

Sounds like you want an access point in the front room. My choice would
be to use your WiFi router for that purpose and return the dedicated
access point. A WiFi router can fill multiple roles, while an access
point is usually just an access point (while usually costing more).

The access point is not the same brand as the Spectrum WiFi router if
that matters.

Doesn't matter.

Now the questions:
If I connect the access point to the cat5 in the front room can I use it
? What do I need to do to set it up ? Will it have the same SSID ?

If you decide to use the access point, you'll need to check to see what
its IP address is. You'll need to make sure it doesn't conflict with
anything already on your LAN, and obviously you'll need to make sure it
has an address on your LAN. If it's in a different subnet or it has a
conflicting address, you'll need to change it. Use an address that's
outside of your current DHCP scope, if applicable.

You'd connect the access point to a port on your current switch. You'll
either use its default SSID, a totally new SSID, or the same SSID as
your existing WiFi router. There are pros and cons to each scenario, but
all three will 'work'. Be sure to set the proper security protocol (at
least WPA2) and WiFi password. Note that the WiFi password is not the
same thing as the administration password.

OR

If I connect the fast wifi router to the cat5 in the front room can I
use it ? What way would I set this up ?

That would be my choice. You'd log into the router first and set its IP
address as described above. You'd disable DHCP, since you don't want
this device to hand out IP addresses. You'd set the SSID as described
above, as well as the security protocol and password. Once configured,
you'd connect an Ethernet cable from your existing switch to a LAN port
on the WiFi router. Leave the WAN port unused.

To set it up I need to isolate it from my LAN and plug directly into a
laptop to adjust the SSID etc, correct ?

Correct, and if it has a default address that's on a different subnet,
you can let its DHCP server assign an IP address to the laptop, but
you'll be disabling DHCP once you connect. If you need to change its LAN
admin IP address, be prepared to manually change your laptop's IP
address to once again be in the same subnet. You'll temporarily lose
your connection until you update your laptop's address.

Really I am asking what is the best solution to get wifi in the front
room that is a strong signal ? I have three wifi security cameras there
that I want active.

Are they motion sensing or always on? If always on, that's a lot of
wireless data being flung into the air. Pay close attention to which
WiFi band (2.4GHz vs 5GHz) and which channel(s) you're using.