I want to connect two hardwired devices and two wireless ones. i have an AP for the wireless but IP conflicts are afoot when i try them both at the same time. i have a router. i have to configure it, but I need to know something. since it is a cisco router, i can configure any port to be the input, but how should i configure the other ports to function on my dhcp network

A couple of quick questions. What type of router? How many ports on it? Are you going to be using VLAN's? What are your plans for your network....is it all going to be one subnet (don't need a router for that) or multiple different subnets? Generally, you plug switches into a router's internal port(s) and clients or devices like your AP into the switches.

cisco 831/837. four ethernet ports, one console port, on ADSL port. i want to set port 1 to be my input (or output; the one that goes to the modem) and the other three to be for devices. im using hyperterminal and command line to configure (cisco IOS, but i dont know what version off the top of my head) essentially, this is just a basic home network. i have two laptops, one desktop and a video game system that i want to be able to share my internet connection (yes i know this will destroy my bandwidth if all devices are heavily active simultaneously, but i dont expect constant simultaneous connection) so that i dont have to switch patch cables constantly. I dont think that i need to set up vlan, just because i dont see why i need to seperate my devices, but maybe i do. i wasnt planning on it, but if it will do what i want, then im down, so to speak. as far as different sub nets, well im not sure. i have DHCP internet and honestly its not worth it to do static, even though that would be easier. essentially, i want to avoid IP conflicts without having to physically switch my ethernet cables, etc. hope that is enough information.

Ap plugs into cisco. You must assign it a static ip. Disable dhcp on it. Wired pcs connect to cisco. cisco is dhcp server. cisco x.x.x.1 ap x.x.x.2 rest of connected devices by dhcp [scope x.x.x.3 to whatever] Imagine the power if you knew how to internet search

If possible, your WAN port has to be set to accept DHCP. Since your ISP assigns your IP via DHCP this is the only way it will work. I would suggest you go with static IP's on your clients since you have so few. This is advantageous for gaming since you'll always know the IP's and won't need to check. You don't need subnets and/or VLAN's for that small a number of clients. I would suggest you get a small switch and plug it into an internal port on the router but if you have enough free ports to plug all your clients in, that will work too. Now let's say your internal interface on the router is set to: IP: 192.168.0.250 SM: 255.255.255.0 That would be the gateway address for clients. Give them IP's like the following: client1: 192.168.0.1 client2: 192.168.0.2 SM for all clients the same as above 255.255.255.0 Give your AP an IP like: 192.168.0.251 I'm not familiar with that model router but if it can do DHCP for clients then by all means go for it. Just ensure you leave the IP's assigned statically out of the DHCP scope. Your router LAN interface and the AP most definately should have static IP's.

okay, so, just so im sure i understand, the cisco will be static and all devices other than the ap will be dynamic. the gateway and dns server info will be the same as on my modem. configure the router as a dhcp server. does that mean that the router is static, but the ip, static though it may be, is pulled from the modem, thus bypassing the need for static internet? i know that im a noob about all this and i really appreciate the help. i really want to understand this stuff because im tired of having to use menu interface and only the very basic of networking. CurtR, so, in theory, the ip of the router should mirror the settings on the modem after enabling DHCP server on the router allowing static internal network that essentially shares the connection with the router?

From the console of the Cisco, go to "enable mode" by issuing the "en" command. If there is a password set you will be required to enter it. Once in enable mode (you will see a # sign in the router name) issue the command "sh startup-config". Paste the results. Using a Cisco as a newbie could get complex. From the way you describe, the Cisco seems like a DSL Modem and Router in one device, common to Westell boxes provided by Verizon. Your questions can only be answered precisely once you paste your config so I can see how Cisco lables its iterfaces when an integrated switch/hub is in place.