Can I get internet using a Netgear N600 wireless router without having access to my apartments modem or ethernet ports?

[NMC2214]

Our apartment complex has given us free internet, but I want to set up a router. we don't have access to the modem, and there are no Ethernet ports in our apartment. Can anybody help me?

 

[photonboy]

You wouldn't use a router to connect to the internet.

If you have free wi-fi, then you would just add that to whatever computer has access. You would need to know the NAME which should appear as one of the local wi-fi connections and if it's secure (which it should be) you'll need the password as well.

Example:
1. Start computer
2. Click on network connection and "add wireless network"
3. Choose the proper name "Apartment network name" for the shared wi-fi network, and
4. Use password if needed

You'd then be connected to the INTERNET through the apartment's modem. (It's like accessing a Starbuck's network)

A router can connect different devices on a local network if you need to transfer files between them but otherwise it serves no purpose in your case.

 

[bill001g]

You need a special router that allows its wan port to be a wireless connection. This is not a common configuration. hawkings makes a router like this called haw2r1. It has a extra radio chip that it uses to connect to the remote wireless. This is a special form of repeater that has a dedicated radio to connect back to main wireless and then another radio to connect to the end clients. Normal repeaters are dependent on a protocol called WDS that you may not be able to get to work if you do not control the main router. Besides WDS repeaters greatly reduce throughput.

If the device you have is not the DSL version you can load dd-wrt on it and maybe you can use it but it depends on your requirements. You can use the 2.4g and 5g radio independently one for wan. Its going to depend on if you can use the 5g radio either for your clients or your connection to the main router. Now if you goal is just to get ethernet ports you can use the radio to connect to the main internet. This is a special form of client-bridge mode that uses the router.

You can also buy a client-bridge device that connect to the wireless internet and then plug its ethernet port into the wan port of your netgear.