How to get Wifi from an Ethernet port without a computer

So right now I'm in college living in the dorms...and we dont have wifi. And it sucks. We wont be getting it until the beginning of next year, and some of the guys on the floor have been talking about getting a router to get wifi. I was just wondering how this works/if this works. I have wifi at home but the router is hooked up through our home computer. We have ethernet ports so I was just wondering if you can just plug your router into that and it will work, or do you HAVE to have it hooked up to a computer or what?

I tried searching on google and I couldnt find much.

Can you give a more thorough explanation of what you're trying to achieve?
I don't fully understand what you're trying to do
Either its a lot simpler than I'm making it out to be, or a lot more difficult than I'm making it out to be.

He means that his wireless base station at home is connected to a computer via wires, but he still has WiFi.

Yes you can have a router without any computer. There are many easy plug and play style routers out there. I'm not much of a network guy but someone one the forums will help you out.

Any router will do. However, with most routers you will have to have your laptop/computer hooked up via ethernet to the router in order to set up the WiFi. There are PnP-style routers like the Fonera router, like Jams mentioned, that will automatically broadcast WiFi without any tweaking.

After you're done setting up your router, unplug your computer, and you got yourself some WiFi ) You want to set your router to get an IP via DHCP (not PPoE, etc.). I've used routers from a couple different companies, but Linksys has been the most reliable for me.

[quotebeae6f2bd4="hilaryfanatic09"]So right now I'm in college living in the dorms...and we dont have wifi. And it sucks. We wont be getting it until the beginning of next year, and some of the guys on the floor have been talking about getting a router to get wifi. I was just wondering how this works/if this works. I have wifi at home but the router is hooked up through our home computer. We have ethernet ports so I was just wondering if you can just plug your router into that and it will work, or do you HAVE to have it hooked up to a computer or what?

I tried searching on google and I couldnt find much.[/quotebeae6f2bd4]
Heheh. We did the same thing. Our campus has wireless everywhere but in the dorms...so we bought a Linksys router for $50, connected it to the Ethernet port, we had to connect it to the computer just to CONFIGURE it with the software and such, and then we disconnected it from the computer, and now we're wireless, sharing it with my roommate and suitemates and some other people.

We had to do this because there's a bed on each side of the room, and one bed is next to the box with the ethernet port, while the other side has no ports. My roommate would have had to get a long-ass cable and run it across the room every time he would want to use the internet. So we went wireless and we're not going back. D

Yeah, TFOAF, thats whats I have to do with a long ethernet cord. It sucks.

Aside from that I have a new related question. I want to get an iPod Touch for Christmas. We have wireless around campus and in my dorms lobby, but just not my room. This wasnt too much of a problem, I was just gonna go to the lobby when I wanted to use Wifi on my touch. Well, I found this on our school website

[quotec4a13a891d]Currenty, the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch do not support 802.1X with PEAP authentication, which is required for wireless connectivity. In order for the iPhone or iPod Touch to be compatible with the schools network, an update would need to be made available from Apple with 802.1X support. The ResNET department will continue to test the iPhone and iPod Touch compatibility as updates are made available.[/quotec4a13a891d]

Now I know none of you can tell me for sure, but since the schools wifi wont work, do you think it would work if I set up my own router like I was planning on doing anyway? Like TFOAF said, I would just set up a router to my dorm rooms ethernet port, so I think this would be the kind of wireless network I need...but I'm not sure. I just really want a touch but I don't think it will be worth it if I cant even use wifi on it.

Just buy a router...It'll work no problem

Alright sweet. I'll look out for some good deals. I know sometimes you can snag one on sale for 30 or so.

[quote75e8760d33="TFOAF"]Heheh. We did the same thing. Our campus has wireless everywhere but in the dorms...so we bought a Linksys router for $50, connected it to the Ethernet port, we had to connect it to the computer just to CONFIGURE it with the software and such, and then we disconnected it from the computer, and now we're wireless, sharing it with my roommate and suitemates and some other people.

We had to do this because there's a bed on each side of the room, and one bed is next to the box with the ethernet port, while the other side has no ports. My roommate would have had to get a long-ass cable and run it across the room every time he would want to use the internet. So we went wireless and we're not going back. D[/quote75e8760d33]

that'd almost certainly be a violation of the school internet use policy

[quotec43833ded3="doylnea"][quotec43833ded3="TFOAF"]Heheh. We did the same thing. Our campus has wireless everywhere but in the dorms...so we bought a Linksys router for $50, connected it to the Ethernet port, we had to connect it to the computer just to CONFIGURE it with the software and such, and then we disconnected it from the computer, and now we're wireless, sharing it with my roommate and suitemates and some other people.

We had to do this because there's a bed on each side of the room, and one bed is next to the box with the ethernet port, while the other side has no ports. My roommate would have had to get a long-ass cable and run it across the room every time he would want to use the internet. So we went wireless and we're not going back. D[/quotec43833ded3]

that'd almost certainly be a violation of the school internet use policy[/quotec43833ded3]
Nope. Our R.A. said it was okay, and a lot of people have a router too. We encrypted it. Also, even though it's connected in our room, we all are logged on through our "one-time" setup usernames/passwords at the school through our names. I assume it's determined by our MAC addresses of our computers, so nothing could possibly happen to us, and only the specific user if they were doing something bad.

[quotedc53bd0597="TFOAF"][quotedc53bd0597="doylnea"][quotedc53bd0597="TFOAF"]Heheh. We did the same thing. Our campus has wireless everywhere but in the dorms...so we bought a Linksys router for $50, connected it to the Ethernet port, we had to connect it to the computer just to CONFIGURE it with the software and such, and then we disconnected it from the computer, and now we're wireless, sharing it with my roommate and suitemates and some other people.

We had to do this because there's a bed on each side of the room, and one bed is next to the box with the ethernet port, while the other side has no ports. My roommate would have had to get a long-ass cable and run it across the room every time he would want to use the internet. So we went wireless and we're not going back. D[/quotedc53bd0597]

that'd almost certainly be a violation of the school internet use policy[/quotedc53bd0597]
Nope. Our R.A. said it was okay, and a lot of people have a router too. We encrypted it. Also, even though it's connected in our room, we all are logged on through our "one-time" setup usernames/passwords at the school through our names. I assume it's determined by our MAC addresses of our computers, so nothing could possibly happen to us, and only the specific user if they were doing something bad.[/quotedc53bd0597]

I doubt your RA is not a network admin. It's a gigantic clusterfuck to administer sub-networks. Whether or not you're logged in doesn't mean jack to the IT group; you yourself pointed out the problem with creating a wireless subnetwork. IMO, you're asking for trouble, whether or not other people have a similar setup.

Yeah, were not supposed to do that either. But my RA has one (he may be allowed since hes an RA, and his internet isnt monitored) and he said I could do it if I wanted and know the consequences. Other people have them too. He said that before he was an RA he had one and eventually got caught and they just took away his internet for like a week, so I don't know. I may try it because it doesnt seem like a huge deal, but I dont want to buy a router and then not be able to use it.

[quotea8aee30d48="doylnea"][quotea8aee30d48="TFOAF"][quotea8aee30d48="doylnea"][quotea8aee30d48="TFOAF"]Heheh. We did the same thing. Our campus has wireless everywhere but in the dorms...so we bought a Linksys router for $50, connected it to the Ethernet port, we had to connect it to the computer just to CONFIGURE it with the software and such, and then we disconnected it from the computer, and now we're wireless, sharing it with my roommate and suitemates and some other people.

We had to do this because there's a bed on each side of the room, and one bed is next to the box with the ethernet port, while the other side has no ports. My roommate would have had to get a long-ass cable and run it across the room every time he would want to use the internet. So we went wireless and we're not going back. D[/quotea8aee30d48]

that'd almost certainly be a violation of the school internet use policy[/quotea8aee30d48]
Nope. Our R.A. said it was okay, and a lot of people have a router too. We encrypted it. Also, even though it's connected in our room, we all are logged on through our "one-time" setup usernames/passwords at the school through our names. I assume it's determined by our MAC addresses of our computers, so nothing could possibly happen to us, and only the specific user if they were doing something bad.[/quotea8aee30d48]

I doubt your RA is not a network admin. It's a gigantic clusterfuck to administer sub-networks. Whether or not you're logged in doesn't mean jack to the IT group; you yourself pointed out the problem with creating a wireless subnetwork. IMO, you're asking for trouble, whether or not other people have a similar setup.[/quotea8aee30d48]
Hmm, lol. I don't think my campus cares. D