Setting a router to be an access point

I could have sworn I posted this already, but I couldn't find it...

How would I go about setting up a spare router to be an access point so that I can use my 360 and computer in my room? The main router is a Verizon one, and it is in a seperate room, and I don't want to spend 100 bucks on the wireless thing for my 360 and another 100 bucks for my computer when I already have the spare router...

If it's confusing, just let me know... sounds good to me though...

Verizon is awesome!

I haven't used any of Verizon's routers, but in general, most wireless routers and access points are supplied with fairly decent wizards to guide you through the setup process of your wireless network these days.

Whether you follow a wizard or decide to go for the manual approach, you should ensure that your wireless router broadcasts at least one appropriate 802.11 standard that your Xbox 360 and computer can receive. In general, 802.11b (4.5 Mbit/s) is your best bet for getting everything to work, although 802.11g is considerably faster (19 Mbit/s) and remains fairly well-supported, especially by wi-fi equipment created in the past three years. 802.11a is an obsolete standard, and 802.11n is an unofficial standard, so steer clear of them until you know the specifications of your receivers (clients).

You should also be sure to encrypt your traffic for this particular reason. WPA and WPA2 have been virtually impossible to crack until recently, whereas WEP can easily be cracked in 10 minutes by readily available software. You're not likely to run into anyone with the resources needed to crack WPA/WPA2 (e.g. the storm botnet), so unless you want to spend time setting up VPN tunneling via SSH, WPA/WPA2 should be good enough for now.

In general though, if you manage to refrain from doing obviously stupid (?!) things, such as turning off broadcasting, not password protecting admin login to your router, and submersing your router into an aquarium teeming with technophage piranhas, you will most likely do perfectly fine!

Lol @ the check!

But I am confused on your explanation of making sure my comp and 360 can accept a,b,n,g and all that jazz...
If they are hooked up to the router, and the router is recieving the wireless signal, wouldn't it be the router that has to deal with the 802.11(n)?

NOTE: My shit is in the room directly above the Verizon router, so there isn't much junk to have to go through...
Also, Verizon already has it setup with WPA. So that's good as far as that goes...

[...]

Ah, I see! Serves me right for only reading half of your post and assuming no-one would be crazy enough to try to set up a wireless router as a client.

With some luck, you should be able to find a "client mode" setting in the admin control panel of your secondary router. If you do, you will have to input the SSID, MAC address and/or channel of your Verizon router to establish a connection. I haven't encountered any wireless routers that support client mode out of the box so far, but with some luck, you'll be able to download hacked firmware for it. If it's a Linksys router, look into Tomato.

Also, if you do find a client mode setting, you should disable the WPA encryption on your Verizon router to allow your client router to connect to it.

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Edit: If you can't get your secondary router to work as a client and you don't want to buy another access point or router, you should consider getting a single, inexpensive wi-fi card for your computer and share its connection with your Xbox 360 via your Ethernet card. CNet sells a pretty decent card for $20. Unlike approximately all client mode-bestowed APs and routers, it will also let you retain your WPA encryption. If you want to use this approach and the computer is running Windows, look into Internet Connection Sharing.

The drawback with the aforementioned method is that it requires your computer to be on whenever you want to be able to connect to your network with your Xbox 360. It may save you quite a bit on your electric bill by investing in an excellent and stable wireless router that works well with client mode (with said Tomato firmware), such as the Linksys WRT54GL. However, it won't connect to encrypted wireless networks.

Damn it! I can't log into my Verizon Router... They wouldn't give me the password and what not...

Well my router that I want to set up as an Access Point is a Linksys WRT54G, and in the "wireless" tab, there is an option to set it as an Access Point, but it doesn't work as simple as that... but according to you, it would just need the MAC and SSID set up to be similar, and it should work right?

Damn it! I can't log into my Verizon Router... They wouldn't give me the password and what not... Well my router that I want to set up as an Access Point is a Linksys WRT54G, and in the "wireless" tab, there is an option to set it as an Access Point, but it doesn't work as simple as that... but according to you, it would just need the MAC and SSID set up to be similar, and it should work right?

If you can't disable the WPA encryption in your Verizon router, it won't work. Call Verizon, or Google for a way to deactivate it. Or use the Internet Connection Sharing solution in my previous post.

Assuming that you manage to disable the encryption, you'll need to change your WRT54G router's firmware to Tomato to be able to get it to work in client mode. Do be warned that if you have a power outage (or power is otherwise lost) during the ~10 seconds that it takes to update its firmware, your router will most likely be rendered defunct for good.

Tomato Firmware can be found here: http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato