How to set up temporary public/unsecured WiFi access in home?

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cteno

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Mar 3, 2010
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I would like to offer house guests WiFi access for their portable devices without giving out my wireless password or temporarily turning off WiFi security.

Linksys web info like
http://kb.linksys.com/Linksys/GetArticle.aspx?docid=28cee6a2fb0d4176a2210942d1d5836c_Setting_up_the_Linksys_E4200_in_bridge_mode.xml&pid=8
and
http://www.manualslib.com/manual/405113/Cisco-E900.html
seems more oriented toward having both routers on all the time, which is not safe here. Some say I can just connect a second wireless router to my main FiOS router via ethernet cable, leave the FiOS router (Actiontec M1424WR) broadcasting securely all the time, and only switch on the unsecured (or differently passworded) "guest" router when needed.

So I got a Linksys E900, but haven't been able to make this work. For one thing, I haven't been able to convince the E900 to accept an IP address other than 192.168.1.1, which the FiOS router also wants. And so far, haven't been able to make both routers work while my desktop PC is connected (ethernet) to the FiOS router. Have tried reinstalling modem driver a few times, and changing a few settings that seemed relevant.

Can someone please point me to a beginner's guide to running one secure and one unsecure WiFi router at the same time? Do I need different hardware?

All advice appreciated by me and my guests.
 
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abailey

abailey

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Ok do you care if your guest are on your home network? If you don't care then on the Linksys E900, turn off its DHCP server. Then connect your Fios router to your E900 with an ethernet cable from the a FIOS LAN port to a E900 LAN port. The E900 will get an IP address from the FIOS router and then you can connect to the E900 and configure its wireless with a different SSID. Now if you do not want the guest to be on your network I don't know how to do that with the E900 with the setup you describe. You could purchase an AP like this: http://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-UniFi-Enterprise-System/dp/B004XXMUCQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402073218&sr=8-1&keywords=ubiquiti+unify+ap
It has built in support for quest isolation behind another router.
 
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cteno

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Thanks for your reply, abailey.



I'd prefer not, though perhaps due to ignorance. Don't want to risk guests poking into my system, or (perhaps accidentally) injecting malware. I just want them to be able to reach the Internet - not printers, files or anything else on my network.



Sounds like just what I need, though I was hoping to spend less.

How about this, if I'm not being nutso: Plug the E900 into the Actiontec, get them working as you describe, and unplug the ethernet connection from my own PC to the Actiontec when I turn on the E900 for guest use? I don't really need to have everything working at once.
 
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abailey

abailey

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Sure that would work. Also, you may be able to get the E900 to do like the AP I linked to above. I just don't know how to do it.
 
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