Adding 802.11b to a Draft-n Network

[Bulldog]

I have a small home WLAN with a draft-n router. My son likes to get online with his Nintendo DS Lite, which only supports 802.11b and WEP. Fortunately, he doesn't do this often, because it means I have to switch the router to 802.11b mode and use WEP. I also disable my other WLAN clients, because I'm not willing to let the PCs go online behind WEP. Then, once my son is done, I switch everything back to 802.11n and WPA2. Kind of tedious.

Rather than spend $170 on the new Nintendo DSi, which supports 802.11g and WPA2, I thought of buying an inexpensive 802.11b/g router, which I understand I can attach to my draft-n router with a network cable. The second router will be setup in 802.11b/WEP mode, ready to go when my son wants to play online.

Will doing this compromise the security or performance of my draft-n network?

How would I access the configuration utility of the b/g router, since it probably uses the same 192. address?

Thanks for your help.

 

[thiggins]

If you add the second router configured as an access point, then if anyone cracked WEP, they would be on your LAN.

But if you leave the new router as a wireless router, make it the first router (connected to the Internet), then connect your second router behind the first, your main LAN will be protected by the second router's NAT firewall. See How To: One Internet connection - Two Private LANs

The downside is that your main LAN will be double-firewalled. This could be a problem if you need to VPN in/out or run any servers.

Another solution would be to get a new draft 11n router that supports "guest" WLAN access. (Belkin N+, D-Link DIR-825). These create a second WLAN with its own security settings and traffic separated from your primary LAN.

 

[Bulldog]

I've got two possible solutions to read about...thanks for your help.