Can I wifi connect to an AP wired to the main modem/router?

Yes, you can just drop a wireless access point at the nearest available ethernet port. In fact, many ppl grab an old router to save a few bucks. Just disable its DHCP server, assign it an IP address in the same subnet as the primary router (but not being hand-out by the primary router's DHCP server), and patch its LAN port to the ethernet port.

Can you go into a little more detail about how to do that? I understand disabling the DHCP on the AP. What do you mean assign an IP address in the same subnet as the primary router?

Let's assume your primary router has the IP address 192.168.1.1 (very common). Then your network is using the 192.168.1.x subnet, so you have the ability to assign additional IPs from 192.168.1.2 thru 192.168.1.254 (192.168.1.255 is reserved for broadcasts). But some of those IPs are "pooled" and being handed-out by the primary router's DHCP server, so don't use any from the pool.

By pooled you mean an IP that's already in use? So pick something near the end of the subnet?

By pool I mean, a predefined range, perhaps 192.168.1.100 thru 192.168.1.199. You need to check w/ the primary router’s configuration to verify exactly what that range is. So you can use anything outside that range (lower or higher) except 192.168.1.1 (the primary router), 192.168.1.255 (the broadcast IP), and of course, any other devices that might be using a static IP (like you're about to do). You’re just trying to avoid IP conflicts and make sure no two devices are using the same IP.

I looked everywhere in my router's page and I think this is what we're looking for

http://www.imagebam.com/image/0667ea158454040

Does CPE mean the pool of addresses the router will use? If so, it doesn't list the range so how will I know which address I can pick?

Also do I enter the static IP on the access point or the primary router or both?

I don't see a LAN port on the router. I see a WAN port, the 4 ethernet ports and an uplink port. Do I use the WAN?

thanks for the help btw. sorry this isn't going as easy as you or I hoped  

Ok I think I got it. I'll report back if I have any problems. Thanks again for the help!

Ok after some frustration I was able to successfully set up the router as an access point and get connected. The part that I wasn't aware of was that I needed to create a static IP on MY computer. When you said to create a static IP on the second router I was looking at the broadband connections in the router where it says DHCP, Static IP, PPPoE, etc. and trying to set that up as the static ip.

And then everytime I disabled the DHCP my Windows Network Connections would get that yellow triangle that said Limited or No Connectivity and then I couldn't get back into the router and had to do a factory reset. But after reading many tutorials, most of which also didn't say to create a static IP on my computer (they basically said the same thing you did, change 2nd router ip to range outside main router's pool, disable dhcp, plug into lan port), I finally came across one telling me to create a static IP in my TCP/IP properties.

So I have a few more questions: when creating the static IP in TCP/IP properties should I set the DNS server's addresses to the 2nd router's IP address or to my ISP's DNS address?

And does the other person who is connecting to the AP through a LAN cable also need to create a static IP on his computer?

You do NOT have to use a static IP on your computer! The reason we disabled the DHCP server on the second router was precisely so that when your computer made a DHCP request on the network, it would bypass the second router's DHCP server (since it's not running) and move to the primary router (who's DHCP server is running). The only way I can imagine DHCP not working (assuming you did everything else correctly) is if you mistakenly connected the second router's WAN port to the LAN cable in the other room. As I said in my initially response, you connect them LAN to LAN, you never use the second router's WAN port in this configuration. You're only interested in the switch portion of the second router, which is defined as the LAN ports. The WAN port is for routing, which doesn't come into play here.

[primary router (192.168.1.1, dhcp enabled)](lan)<-- wire -->(lan)[second router (192.168.1.2, dhcp disabled)]<-- wireless -->[your computer]

Hmm I don't know what is wrong. After I factory reset the router I connect a LAN cable from my computer to the LAN port on the 2nd router. I log in and change the router ip address to 192.168.0.200 and disable DHCP and UPNP. I save the setting. Then a few seconds later I get the yellow triangle Limited or No Connectivity. I can't get back in or do anything else with the router so I have to factory reset again

I don't know what I could have possibly messed up on in such a few steps. I have a D-Link DIR-601 router. I can show you with screenshots of what I'm doing if you need to see.

Ok lemme ask something. If the 2nd router has DHCP disabled and I don't have a static ip set on my pc and the 2nd router is not connected to the primary router yet should I still be able to login into the 2nd router? Or do I have to wait until after I connect the 2nd to the 1st and then it will give me access to the 2nd router again?

Because after I disable DHCP on the 2nd router, if I don't set a static IP on my computer for the ethernet or the wireless device I won't be able to log back into the router to make anymore changes.

You're basically correct. If the second router is not connected to the primary router, then you don't have access to a DHCP server. And if your client is making DHCP requests, they go unanswered, and then your client isn't configured at all. And then you can't talk to even the second router. Yeah, a pain.

That's just part of the hassle in getting these things setup. Until the second router is talking to the first, you'll just have to manually configure your IP address. For example, if the second router is 192.168.1.2, then just make your computer 192.168.1.3 for now. You don't need anything else except the netmask (255.255.255.0), no gateway IP, no DNS, no nothing, just IP and mask.

Alright I tested it all out and it works great. I was able to connect wirelessly and with LAN cable to the AP without assigning a static IP to my computer. Now next time I'll know if I set up another AP the very last thing I should do is disable DHCP! That had me confused!

So if I need to forward ports do I do it on the 2nd router or the primary router?

The second router is now just a bridge. Once it’s working, you can pretty much forget about it, it's just seamlessly passing data back and forth. Think of it as a "virtual wire". You do all your port forwarding where you've always done it, on the primary router.

Sweet man thanks so much for the help! I really appreciate it.

Oh one last thing, I promise. If I do decide to assign a static IP for my pc what do I enter for the DNS address? Do I have to put the AP's IP address or can I put my ISP's or google's DNS?

If you want to assign a static IP, I strongly suggest you stick w/ DHCP. Most DHCP servers allow you to bind a specific IP address to the MAC address of your network adapter. So even though you're using DHCP, you're assured you’ll always receive the same IP address, which is important for port forwarding (and why I believe you're asking). It's a lot better in the long run than manually assigning a static IP on the client for the very issue you're asking about; you get all the other stuff as usual (gateway IP, DNS servers, etc.). And if any of that changes (let’s say the ISP changes their DNS servers), those changes are propagated to your client thanks to DHCP.

But if you insist on manually assigning a static IP (or perhaps your router doesn't support static IP assignments in DHCP), then you can use whatever DNS server(s) you like, including Google's DNS, OpenDNS, or just take note of what DHCP returns and use that (probably your ISP's DNS server(s), or possibly the router itself).

Ok I think I know how to do the static in dhcp. Thanks again for all the help!  

Best answer selected by flyz.