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I have several devices that can only connect via wired connections. My ISP supplied router is more or less fixed in position, and bringing a wire from these devices to the router's current position is not practical.

Is there a router that can connect to the network wirelessly, which I can then connect wired devices to it?

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I don't mean to be obnoxious, but if my answer below is not acceptable, you should clarify this---I'm willing to explain more... – AugR Nov 10 '10 at 23:48

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I think what you are looking for is called a "wireless bridge" [see Edit 2 below]. You can buy specially-designed wireless bridge devices for lots of money ($100 to $200 or more), or you can find an old wireless router you aren't using that's compatible with DD-WRT. (The latter option can be free if you already have an old, compatible router.)

DD-WRT is open-source router firmware that has the nice little feature (which I've made use of quite recently in a situation probably similar to yours) of being able to set the router to act as a wireless bridge. You simply configure the router via a typical web interface to connect to your already-active wireless network, and then any device you wire to the DD-WRT router will be connected to your network.

I would recommend starting from DD-WRT's wiki.

[Edit 1] In case you're looking for a specific router suggestion: When I did this, I used an old Belkin router, but I've heard that the Linksys WRT54GL is an excellent router on which to use DD-WRT, as well as in its own right.

[Edit 2] Per @bbaja42 in the comments, here is an informative page at DD-WRT's wiki explaining some differences between an actual bridge device and a client router.

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Yes, I did that with Dlink DIR-300, which was for ~$25 at the time. – liori Oct 3 '10 at 0:37
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small correction; it's not wireless bridge it's called wireless client mode – bbaja42 Oct 7 '10 at 19:18
Thanks, @bbaja42. Interesting to know the differences. – AugR Oct 7 '10 at 22:09
Tomato can also act as a wireless bridge, and according to some people, is more stable than DD-WRT. It's not supported on as many routers, but for those that do support it, it's quite nice. – nhinkle♦ Oct 8 '10 at 0:36

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