wireless setup in dorm without a router

My daughter is going to college this fall and her dorm room has (1) internet jack. But the housing will not allow routers at all. Only switches and access points. Her and her roommate want to be able to use both there laptops, kindle and printer (printer-wireless or not which ever is easier). What would be the simplest way to be able to accomplish this? I can set it up for her when we take her there. Any help at all would be appreciated. Thanks.

You would want to use an access point in this case.

A Switch only lets ethernet connected computers share data between each other, and other networks (If they're connected to the switch). Access points add wireless capability to a wired network.

Although it would be way easier to use a router, IT at alot of these universities want to be able to manage all the IP addresses themselves, and not have a student router handing out addresses (it makes it way easier to control what students can and can't do with the campus internet).

The only issue I might foresee occurring is the printer not connecting to the access point correctly. Some older wireless printers need manual IP addresses assigned to them. But other than that I think it would work well.

Do not forget to encrypt the access point with at least WPA-TKIP encryption. Ideally you want to use WPA2-AES; it is one of the only encryption types at this point in time that is still trustworthy.

I recommend the following device for your access point based on personal experience:

Amazon.com: ASUS Black Diamond Dual-Band Wireless-N 600 Router (RT-N56U): Electronics

Technically it is a router, however it can be switched to access point (AP) mode, and can be used as such. In this mode, all the ethernet ports on the back, including the WAN port, become ports for computers to plug into and access the internet. It also of course is wireless, so devices can connect to it wirelessly. It has excellent throughput, wireless range, and footprint size. It's also dual band, so it can run on both 2.4 and 5 Ghz bands. The 5 Ghz is best for high bandwidth applications and for avoiding interference with other access points that are on campus. Overall a good, fast, reliable router.

Borgslayer, Thank you for the help. I have looked at this ASUS. And I have a couple of questions.
I have just downloaded the manual for this and I do not see where it tells me I can "turn router option off"
Is it easy to switch the router off and use it as just an AP? and would I be able to prove that to the floor coordinator at her dorm when we move her in?

Also if switching the router function off, allows you to use all 5 ports for computers, than where would I plug the ethernet cable from her wall outlet into?

I do like the USB hard drive function. I could plug my 1 TB in with all our pics and music for the whole house to access quickly. I think I will be getting one of these for my home.

Thanks again for your time.

What your looking for will be called "Operation Mode". This contains settings on how the router operates. Two of the main settings under this will be "AP mode", and "router mode". It is there that the unit will be configured to function as either an access point or a router.



Take a look at this FAQ page on Asus' website:

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- FAQ RT-N56U

(Ignore the fact that the screen shots used on the above page are for the RT-N10+, a lower end router in the same family; the GUI on this router and the RT-N56U are the exact same)



This next page contains screen shots showing the GUI from the RT-N56U, and that it does have the same layout:

Asus RT-N56U - System Setup - operating mode - Asus RT-N56U Dual-Band Gigabit Wireless-N Router Review - Softpedia


Its very simple to switch the device to "AP" mode, as you can see in the above links. I guess the only way you could prove that it is in AP mode is letting the floor coordinator log in to it themselves, and seeing that it really is in AP mode. There is a possibility because it has the ability to switch into router mode that they may not allow it to be used. If that becomes the case, we will need to find a different device. However, finding access points by themselves is harder now than it used to be. Most routers have the ability to function as access points, so dedicated access points aren't in as high of a demand. They just aren't quite as common as they used to be.

As to where you plug in the ethernet cable that is coming from the wall, it can go in any port. I would plug it into the WAN port because its easier to discern from the other ethernet cords that might be plugged in. Simply put, its easier to "tell at a glance" what the ethernet cord is for, and where the other end is plugged in.


Overall its a very simple procedure. As you can see in the screen shots and instructions on the top link, its as simple as selecting AP mode, applying the settings, and customizing your AP settings through the set up wizard. You just need to create your own SSID (wireless name that devices connect to), and the encryption (WPA2-AES; ideally).

The only problem with the USB ports is that they are only USB 2.0. If you have USB 3.0 drives, you won't get the benefit of 3.0 speeds. However, if your using 2.0 drives, it doesn't really matter. I haven't tried it myself, but I do believe they also support printer sharing. And if not now, most likely will in a future firmware update.

Let me know if you need any more help.

Sounds like I will have no problems. I will be ordering 2 of these.
Thanks alot Borgslayer, you have been a great help.

Thanks
Chris

Sure thing. Hope the entire process goes smoothly for you. Good luck.

I forget to mention that you should update the firmware on the routers as soon as possible. Updates help patch issues with the device, and sometimes add new features and boost performance in some cases.