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I currently have an Asus RT-N56U WiFi router used to serve a combination of wired and wireless devices in my house. To take advantage of some recently installed ethernet lines,I need to move the router into the basement where the newly installed ethernet cables terminate. My plan is to to install a wired router in the basement, and then configure my current wifi router into AP mode, to serve wireless clients from its current position above ground. My question is this:

In AP mode, do the LAN ports on a WiFi router still function? If not, I will need to purchase an additional switch to connect both the WiFi Access Point and wired devices to a single ethernet line connected to the wired router in the basement.

Thanks for your attention.

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  • Why wouldn't they function is the question :)
    – Ashtray
    Commented Sep 4, 2014 at 4:59
  • @ashtray Excellent point. I guess I was assuming that the LAN ports might be implemented behind the NAT stack. Sounds sort of crazy when I say it out loud.
    – remeika
    Commented Sep 4, 2014 at 5:44
  • You shouldn't have any problems - barr losing one port to connect the bridged router to your main router.
    – Kinnectus
    Commented Sep 4, 2014 at 7:52
  • To be clear, the two devices will be connected by an Ethernet cable connect to one of the LAN ports on the router you are using as an AP? If the answer is "yes", this should work perfectly. (Just make sure to disable the DHCP server and don't use the WAN port.)
    – David Schwartz
    Commented Mar 10, 2017 at 18:46

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The LAN ports will still work, they are independent of the router WIFI setting.

You should connect it as shown below to have everything in the same network: enter image description here

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    And make sure the secondary router has its own IP in the same range as the main router subnet (but outside the DHCP scope), set the gateway of the secondary router to be the main router IP and the subnet the same as the main router; and that you turn off DHCP server on the secondary router.
    – Kinnectus
    Commented Jul 27, 2018 at 13:12
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    I could be incorrect, but if he uses Asus RT-N56U as AP, then it is possible he doesn't need to set these settings. If the Asus router turns on and receives DHCP from the wired router, the Asus router will turn off it's DHCP server and will use the DHCP from the wired router. I've done this before with my Asus RT-N56U. Although I cannot remember if I plugged the network cable into the WAN or the Ethernet port for this to work. Again, I may be incorrect, but it is worth a try because it saved a lot of effort if it works.
    – Inferno IV
    Commented Jul 27, 2018 at 13:19
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    If you use an Asus route in Access Point Mode, this picture is INCORRECT... After you place the router in AP mode, you connect the link to the main router/switch to the Internet port of the Asus router. The 4 LAN ports function as a switch (essentially, it becomes a 5 port smart switch with a wireless AP embedded in it). You must set a static IP address on the Asus prior to switching to AP mode, as an example, in my house my main router is 192.168.172.1 and my Asus RT-N66U functioning in AP mode is set to 192.168.172.2
    – acejavelin
    Commented Jul 27, 2018 at 13:57
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    @acejavelin. The picture is not incorrect, as you could use any of the 5 ethernet ports on the secondary router as an uplink, including the Internet port. In (some/most?) ASUS routers the internet/WAN port becomes a normal switch port in AP mode.
    – StarCat
    Commented May 28, 2019 at 11:21

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