Got one of those older generation BluRays or Flat Screens that requires a CAT 5 connection? No CAT 5 wiring in the house and your wifi router is not in a convenient location for a direct connect?
Here’s an great way to extend your network without having to upgrade that non-wifi gear.
The ZyXEL WAP 3205 can serve as an inexpensive wireless bridge to enable CAT5 functionality for devices that don’t natively come with wifi. I have two of them, one that powers my Avaya voip phone and another that connects to a first generation BluRay player that didn’t come with wireless. They work flawlessly with my Cisco Linksys N/G router.
Here’s a quick and dirty set of instructions to help you set one up.
Turn off your Laptop’s wifi radio. Set your laptop’s LAN IP address to 192.168.1.3
Fire up the 3205 and plug your laptop’s CAT 5 cable into the LAN 1 port.
Open a browser and navigate to 192(dot)168(dot)1(dot)2
When you see the login screen, leave the user field blank and type 1234 into the password field.
Select “Expert Mode” from the upper right corner of the menu.
Click Maintenance on the left side of the menu followed by > Sysop and select Client Mode.
Now select WLAN > Site Survey and look for the SSID of your wireless router. Check the radio button next to it and click the “add” button at the bottom of the menu.
Navigate back to Configuration > Wireless LAN > Profile. Select the configuration you just added and click the “edit” button.
Enter your wireless routers security key in the password field . Click “Save”.
When the Profile screen comes back up, if you’ve done everything correctly you should see a green check mark next to your new profile. This indicates that it’s seeing your wireless router. Click the radio button for your configuration again and click the “activate” button.
When the device refreshes you should be good to go.
Don’t forget to restore your laptop back to it’s original LAN settings.
To use the 3205 in Bridge mode, simply connect your Cat5 cable to the LAN2 port.
Need a manual? Here’s one.
