How to mimic WISP (WiFi uplink) with 2 routers?

[venkman]

Looking for suggestions on how to possibly configure an RT-AC86U and RT-AC66U router together to mimic WISP mode.

The reason the RT-AC86U alone isn’t adequate is that the WAN uplink is WiFi, instead of wired. For context, this LAN would be in a small apartment in a senior living center, where the landlord provides WiFi only (no wired connections). There will be a mix of wired (PC, VoIP ATA, printer) and wireless (laptop, phone) devices that need to communicate with each other on a private LAN, and have internet access through the provider WiFi uplink. I already have an existing RT-AC86U and RT-AC66U, so I’d like to leverage these instead of buying a new travel router with potentially worse WiFi range. If I'm able to position the uplink device where it can best communicate with the landlord's WiFi, yet plug wired devices into either of the two different routers (depending on which is closer to the device), then all the better.

In particular, it’s not clear to me how this use case maps to the various Asus router “modes” or AiMesh features. Is such a configuration possible? If so, what modes should each router use?

The included picture hopefully clarifies:

1. the goal (for reference), and
2. a hypothetical implementation using my two ASUS routers (but am asking for help in understanding how to configure this).

 

[SoFluffy]

You're on the right path here. Set the first device connected to ISP as Media Bridge like your pic shows, then of course you have some options. While you could set the 2nd device as AP, that configuration would mean you'd be using the DHCP from the ISP, and thus no NAT/firewall between your clients and all the other jack wagons using that same connection. For that reason, I'd suggest the 2nd device to be in normal Router mode. This will put you in a double NAT scenario, but this doesn't cause issues for most people, especially if you don't have control over what we're calling the ISP and you cannot open/forward ports anyway.

Edit: If going the double NAT path as I would personally do, make sure to use a different subnet on the LAN than the ISP router. Also, your pic shows a computer connected to the Media Bridge. If going Router mode and double NAT, only connect your clients to that second router. (If you decide to go with AP mode and use upstream DHCP, then connecting clients to the Media Bridge would be fine.)