How to use a Linksys E2500 Dual Band router as access point only

Good dual band router. I like them.

That's not a typical system, but it's easy enough. All you have to do is to *NOT* connect anything to the WAN (internet) port on the E2500. Everything else is the same as if you had an internet connection. Since nothing is connected to the WAN side of the router, it's not really acting as a router. You'll need the basic services of the router (DHCP). DNS will point to the router IP address 192.168.1.1, so that's not an issue. Make sure all your client devices (laptops, desktops, smartphones, tablets, etc) are set to get their IP address from the router (DHCP again). Mostly, you'll be setting up the wireless.

1. Plug in a wired PC via an ethernet cable into one of the LAN ports on the E2500.
2. Go to: http://192.168.1.1
3. You will be greeted by two or more attempts by Cisco to sell you their cloud services to "manage" your router. Decline both invitations, warnings, threats, and advertising. Eventually, you'll get to the internet setup page. Ignore it. It should look like this:
4. Go to the Wireless setup page. Select "manual" and *NOT* WPS. Change both SSID's to something you can recognize. Click "Save".
5. Go to the Wireless Security tab. Select "WPA/WPA2 Mixed Mode" for both 2.4 and 5.7GHz. Insert a cryptic pass phrase. It can be the same for both bands. Hit "Save".

That's the basics. You should be able to connect to the E2500 via wireless from any wireless device. Life will be a bit more complicated when you try to do things over the network. Presumably, if you can do it via a wired ethernet connection, it should work exactly the same via a wireless connection.

You will want to check the Linksys web pile for firmware updates.

Incidentally, you may want to Google for "3com LAN modem". These are network devices that allow sharing a dialup modem via an ethernet network. I use the long obsolete 3Com 3C886 for backup when the broadband goes down.

Yuck. No thanks.

Thanks for your advice. I have another question. I just learned that one of my younger cousins is going to be able to get a DSL connection to her home and needs a router to connect an XBOX and her TV and Blue Ray DVD player to the Internet. (I wish i could get DSL out here in the country.) I also learned she has an almost brand new D-Link DAP 1522 Bridge/Access Point that she would trade for my LinkSys Router. Is the D-Link Access point a better fit for my situation? How would I install it? Would I install it on my PC using the Ethernet port and leave it connected? Would it be set as an access point or in Bridge mode? Harold A. Climer Dept of Physics,Geology,and Astronomy Room 223 GROTE HALL University of Tennessee Chattanooga

Groan...

The Dlink DAP-1522 and the Linksys E2500 are fairly similar. Both are dual band, both have router sections with similar features. However, the DAP-1522 has a built in gigabit ethernet 4 port switch, while the E2500 is limited to 100Mbits/sec. If your *WIRED* ethernet traffic involves large files or requires high performance, I would go for the Dlink gigabit flavor.

You would install it exactly as I described for the E2500. The main point is that you do NOT plug anything into the WAN or "internet" port.

Neither. You would read what I previous wrote, explaining how you would use it in the normal router mode but with nothing connected to the WAN or "internet" port. If you set it to the access point or bridge mode, the DHCP server is disabled. You need the DHCP server to assign IP addresses to your wired and wireless clients.