In case this helps somebody figure out something that had me scratching my head, here's how you setup a wireless router as a wireless access point (WAP).

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Why would you want to do that, you ask? Most people don't. Normally you would hook up your router to your DSL or cable modem and let it do its thing.

But in Microsoft world, if you are running a network/domain server such as Small Business Server (SBS), it wants to control everything, including doling out DHCP IP/gateway addresses and being the DNS server. It will not play nice with a router trying to do the same things.

(You might also want to do this if you already have a wired cable/DSL router and want to add wifi capability using an inexpensive wireless router.)

So here's what you can do.

1. First, hook up a PC directly to one of the LAN ports on the wireless router. The wireless router should NOT be hooked up to your network or the WAN. The PC should be the only connection.

2. Disable and re-enable the PC ehternet adapter to get a fresh IP address from the wireless router.

3. Log on to the wireless router configuration web page (usually at 198.162.1.1 or something like that) with the default user ID and password (usually admin/admin or admin/[blank]).

4. In your wireless router settings, turn OFF the DHCP server for client attachments (and PNP too, if it has that feature). Your network server will still be the DHCP server.

5. Leave the router's internet connection set to automatic/DHCP. (It is not necessary to assign an external/internet WAN IP, gateway, DNS server, etc.)

6. Change the router LAN IP to a fixed IP that is inside your subdomain but outside the range of IPs assigned by the network server DHCP. (For example, if your server is setup to assign IPs in the range of 10.0.0.100 to 10.0.0.149, set the router IP to 10.0.0.150.) At this point, you will probably have to re-log on to the router using its new IP address.

7. Give the router/WAP a name (SSID), and configure the wireless settings (frequency, channel, etc. - defaults are probably fine.)

8. Set the security mode to WPA2 Personal with TKIP or AES encryption or both, or some level of security compatible with your other wireless devices. (AES encryption is preferred, setting to both might be more compatible with more wifi adapters.)

NOTE: It is highly recommended that you not run an open, unsecured wifi hotspot. If you need to use one of the more advanced "enterprise" security modes with dynamic keys and certificates and such, you will have to do some stuff on the server. Here's an article with some guidance.

9. Assign a passphrase (this is the "password" used to access your wifi network from wireless PCs/devices).

Save all the settings, and at this point the wireless router/access point is configured. (While you're in there, you should change the user/password for accessing the wireless router/WAP configuration page, and you should turn off remote configuration.)

10. Disconnect your PC from the wireless router/WAP reconnect it to your LAN network hub/switch. Disable and re-enable the ethernet adapter to get reconnected with the correct IP addresses, etc.

11. Connect the wireless router/WAP to an available port on your LAN network hub/switch using a LAN port on the wireless router/WAP. DO NOT use the WAN port on the wireless router/WAP and DO NOT connect it to your DSL/cable modem. It should be hooked up with one cable just like any other PC/device in your LAN.

At this point you should be good to go. Test using a wireless notebook or something. The wifi adapter settings must match the settings (security mode, passhprase, etc.) of your wireless router/WAP from the above steps. You should also be able to log on to the wireless router/WAP configuration page (using its IP address set in step 6 above) from any PC in the network if you need to check the settings.

If it doesn't work, or you forget to write down the IP address and user/password for configuring the router, you can reset it back to factory default settings and start over.