Connecting a Linksys EA7500 router to my D-Link DSL-2750B Wireless Gateway

[Bill007007]

I purchased a new Linksys EA7500 router that I would like to connect to my D-Link DSL-2750B Wireless Gateway. We have Verizon DSL internet service. I could not connect my new Sony smart tv to the D-Link Wireless Gateway because it was a little too far away, so I purchased the Linksys router which should have a better range. This is what I think I need to do to configure the two. I should configure the D-Link Gateway to Bridge Mode. The instructions for doing this are in the User Guide. Connect an ethernet cable from one of the LAN ports of the D-Link Gateway to the WAN port of the Linksys router. What else do I need to do? Do I have to disable wireless and DHCP Server on the D-Link Gateway? How do I do this? Thanks for any replies.

William

[Capricorn1]

If all you are trying to do is use the EA7500's Wireless Access Point to get better range, you can just use the EA7500 as a WAP rather than a router.

If that's your goal:

On the D-Link DSL-2750B:

1. Check to see if your D-Link DSL-2750B has a DHCP server set up to serve the entire range of IPs on the LAN. That is the starting IP address it serves is 192.168.1.2 and the ending IP address is 192.168.1.254. (192.168.1.255 is reserved for network broadcast messages). You are going to want to reserve a few IP addresses for "fixed" or static IP assignment.
2. If necessary, change the DHCP server a lease a subset of the total. For example change the DHCP server starting and ending octets from 2 and 254 to 2 and 172. This reserves the range from 192.168.1.173 through 192.168.1.254 for fixed IP assets (assuming the LAN is on the 192.168.1.0/24 network). I generally set my printers and routers to fixed IP addresses. I also set any machine like a game console or gaming PC to a fixed IP address in case I need to set up port forwarding for specific games later.

On the EA7500:

1. Do not attach the EA7500 directly to your D-Link DSL-2750B (or switch connected to the D-Link) yet.
2. Attach a laptop (or desktop) using wired Ethernet to the LAN side of the EA7500. It will just be the E7200 connected to the laptop. There will be no Internet service (nor is it needed).
3. Reboot the laptop or disable/enable the wired Ethernet to get an IP address from theDHCP server on the EA7500.
4. Log into the D-Link DSL-2750B admin web site using the laptop.
5. Disable the DHCP server entirely (but your laptop will maintain the IP address it was given for some time)
6. Change the LAN IP address of the EA7500 to something other than the same IP address of the D-Link DSL-2750B (but on the same subnet). That is, if the D-Link DSL-2750B is at 192.168.1.1 (and the EA7500 is also set to use 192.168.1.1 as its LAN IP address) change the EA7500's IP address to something like 192.168.1.254.
7. Run a cable from your D-Link DSL modem's LAN to the LAN side of the EA7500. If the D-Link DSL-2750B is at 192.168.0.1, change the E7500 to something like  D-Link DSL-2750B is at 192.168.0.254.
8. Reboot or power cycle the EA7500 (You may want to reboot the laptop as well to have it get a new IP address from the D-Link DSL-2750B's DHCP server.)

You should be good to go. You can log into the EA7500's admin web site using http://192.168.1.254 or https://192.168.1.254 from any laptop or desktop on the LAN. Substitute the IP address you chose in step 6 above for 254 if that is not what you used. I have an older Linksys E1200 that I use that way myself. You can now set up the wireless LAN in the E7500. You have bypassed the firewall and WAN on the E7500 entirely, but if you just need a better WAP, this will do the job.

[Bill007007]

Hello Capricorn1:

Thanks for the detailed reply. Well, it's not what I had in mind. Let me explain. We have 2 Apple computers, 1 desk top and 1 laptop, and the new Sony smart tv. That's all I have to connect to the internet. I would like to connect the 2 Apple computers to the Linksys 5.0 GHz network and the Sony tv to the Linksys 2.4 GHz network. The Sony tv cannot connect to the 5.0 GHz network without an adapter. I will not be using the D-Link Gateway's wireless network. Since I won't be using it I would like to disable it so that it does not transmit throughout the house. We are concerned about electro-magnetic radiation. I intend to centrally locate the D-Link Gateway and the Linksys router, inter-connected by a 3-foot ethernet cable, so that the tv and the 2 computers will all be well within the range of the Linksys router. If you could provide instructions for this setup I would greatly appreciate it. If it is not possible to connect it this way or if it doesn't work well, I could always then try the WAP configuration you outlined. Thank you very much.

William