How to Use Wireless Linksys Router With U-verse
By John Granby
AT&T U-verse is a connectivity package that provides consumers digital TV, landline telephone service and Internet connectivity all over a single connection to the home. The standard Internet connectivity package includes a wireless network router, which also may act as the modem connecting the home to the AT&T U-verse service. Thus you can't replace it outright with your own wireless router, such as a Linksys. However, you can use your Linksys as a wireless bridge to extend connectivity to other parts of your home with some configuration settings allowing it to work with the existing router.
Step 1
Power on the Linksys router, but don't plug it into your home network. Plug an Ethernet cable into the Ethernet port on your computer and the other end into one of the Ethernet ports on the back of the Linksys. These ports are clearly labeled "Ethernet" and are outlined in blue color.
Step 2
Disable the wireless Internet connection on your laptop, if you're using your laptop to connect to the Linksys as well. This is important because you must be connected only to the Linksys, and the wireless connection will get in the way of your efforts.
Step 3
Open your Web browser and type "http://192.168.1.1" into the address bar and hit "Enter" to access the Linksys router login screen for the configuration menu. Log in to the router using your user name and password. If you don't remember this information, you can reset the router to factory defaults by pressing the "Reset" button, located on the bottom of the router, for five to 10 seconds until the LEDs on the router blink. The default login method is to leave the user name field blank and type "admin" into the password field. Click "Log In."
Step 4
Click on the "Setup" tab, and then click on "Basic Setup." Click on "Disabled" in the "DHCP Server" line in the middle of the screen. Click "Save Settings" at the bottom of the screen.
Step 5
Click on the "Setup" tab to return to the setup menu. Enter "192.168.1.250" into the "LAN IP" address field and click "Save Settings." This ensures your Linksys router's IP address corresponds to the AT&T wireless router's subnet address. Almost all home subnets have the address scheme 192.168.1.xxx, where xxx is incremented and allocated to each computer or device that connects to your network. In this case, you give your Linksys router an address that's not likely to interfere with your network, and 192.168.1.250 is usually safe.
Step 6
Unplug both routers to power them off. Connect a standard Ethernet cable to one of the AT&T router standard Ethernet ports, usually labelled "Ethernet" or "Computer") and connect the other end to the "Internet" connection of the Linksys router, which is labelled "Internet" and is outlined in yellow color.
Step 7
Disconnect the Ethernet cable from your laptop or PC to the Linksys router. Re-enable wireless network service on your laptop. Power up the routers.
References
Tips
- Even if you don't have a Linksys router, the setup process is similar. Just log in to the configuration menu of your router, disable DHCP, and ensure the router's IP address matches the existing subnet.
Writer Bio
John Granby began his writing career in 2000 as a founding member of a tech industry website targeted at WAP developers. He has provided in-depth coverage of the wireless industry, served as a speaker at several conferences and authored a book on Bluetooth. Granby earned a Bachelor of Science in computer engineering from Purdue University.