Using a DrayTek Vigor Router as a wireless Access Point

This article will show how to set up a DrayTek wireless Router as a wireless Access Point. This would be in addition to an existing router providing Internet access on the network, which does not need to be a DrayTek router.

As an Access point rather than a router, the AP-mode router can accept connections from the wireless stations, extend the coverage of wireless signal and expand the wireless network, while keeping all the Wi-Fi clients on the same network.

In this guide, as two routers will be continuously referred to, the main router providing the Internet access will be called "Internet-router" and the DrayTek router providing wireless access will be referred to as the "Wi-Fi router".

Router Configuration

To begin, keep the Wi-Fi-router disconnected from the Internet-router, this is because without reconfiguration, the Wi-Fi-router will be attempting to operate as the main router on the network, which could break Internet access for clients connected to either router.

In this example, the Internet-router is already set up to provide Internet access, with these settings:

Internet-router IP Settings
IP Address	192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask	255.255.255.0
DHCP Server	Enabled
DHCP Server - Pool start IP	192.168.1.10
DHCP Server - Gateway IP	192.168.1.1

For the Wi-Fi-router to work with the existing Internet-router, it will need to have these settings - the configuration of which is covered in a moment:

Wi-Fi-router IP Settings
IP Address	192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask	255.255.255.0
DHCP Server	Disabled
DHCP Server - Pool start IP	-
DHCP Server - Gateway IP	-

This puts it on the same IP subnet as the Internet-router so that it can be managed, while not disrupting the DHCP address assignment from the Internet-router.
Adapt this to your network configuration, simply turn off the Wi-Fi-router's DHCP server and give it an IP address on the same IP subnet as the Internet-router, that doesn't conflict with other IPs / servers and devices on the network.

While the Wi-Fi router is not connected into the rest of the network, connect a PC / laptop into one of the W-Fi-router's LAN ports and wait for it to be assigned an IP address.

If the IP address of the Wi-Fi-router isn't known, it may be necessary to factory-reset the Wi-Fi-router. This will reset its IP address to 192.168.1.1 as well as clear all other settings and passwords, so make sure the Wi-Fi-router isn't being used for anything important, or has important settings before doing so. See here for more details if it's necessary to reset the router.

Once the Wi-Fi-router has assigned an IP address to the connected computer, log into its web interface. Now go to [LAN] > [General Setup] page and on there, click the LAN1 - Details Page button.

• Set the Vigor router's IP address to be different from the Internet-router's IP address, while on the same subnet. In this example, as the Internet-router is on 192.168.1.1, the Wi-Fi router's IP address will be 192.168.1.2
• Ensure that the Subnet Mask matches the subnet mask used by the Internet-router
• In the DHCP Server Configuration select "Disable Server"

With those changes made, click OK and the Wi-Fi-router should then prompt to reboot the router. Click OK again to restart the Wi-Fi-router.
Once the router has restarted, it will now be safe to connect the Wi-Fi-router into the Internet-router's network.

Physical Setup - Connecting Routers

Using an ethernet cable, connect the Wi-Fi-router's LAN port to one of the Internet-router's LAN ports:

With the two routers connected to each other, the LAN ports on both can be used to connect network devices.

Check that connectivity is working normally on both before proceeding, with the DHCP server disabled on the Wi-Fi-router, devices connected to that router should now be assigned an IP address by the Internet-router and receive Internet access through the Internet-router.

Wireless Setup

Access the Wi-Fi-router's web interface, which in this example is now accessible on https://192.168.1.2

Wireless Network Name

Go to [Wireless LAN 2.4GHz] > [General Setup], enable Wireless LAN and set the SSID. If you have other existing Access Points on the network, you can set the same SSID details so that your client devices will see just the one wireless network.  

 

Click OK when you are done to save and apply the changes. If the router is a dual-band model, such as an "n+", "ac" or "ax" suffix router model, do the same for the [Wireless LAN 5GHz] > [General Setup] to configure the wireless network name on the 5GHz band.

Wireless Network Security

Go to [Wireless LAN 2.4GHz] > [Security], select the security mode you wish to use and the passphrase / Wi-Fi password. If you have other existing AP's on the same network, you can set the same security mode and passphrase details, to allow your client devices see and use just one wireless network. 

Click OK when you are done to save and apply the change. For dual-band (ac, ax, n+) routers, make sure to set the same security settings in [Wireless LAN 5GHz] > [Security].

Once the wireless networks are set up on the Wi-Fi-router, wireless clients will then be able to connect to the Wi-Fi-router's wireless and use the Internet-router's Internet access and network resources.