Thinking about using third party router for better signal - some questions

Okay, that answers my question then - thank you.  Seems like a pretty dumb setup to be honest because that VAP2500 obviously has some limitations as far as signal strength and in my situation it cannot be placed elsewhere.

I suppose the VAP2500 has to stay directly connected to the 5268AC as well right?  As in I couldn't connect it to the new router to take advantage of the new router's better signal and so on?  Probably copy protection and other stuff for the streams that would cause a problem and I don't even know if there are accessible settings for the VAP2500 to do so.  Can you clarify on that?

I suppose the VAP2500 has to stay directly connected to the 5268AC as well right?

Yes.

take advantage of the new router's better signal

The 5268's or any 3rd party router's range has nothing to do with the wireless TV boxes. 

The VIP2500 is the "router" for the wireless boxes.

You could put a longer ethernet cable with rj45 ends between the 5268 and the 2500 and move it around to see if moving it closer helps.

I'm well aware how an access point, router, etc works and moving the 5286 or 2500 is not an option as I mentioned in my post.  It was a long shot question I'll give you that... I was wondering if maybe it was possible to plug the 2500 into my new router and then, if possible, access settings to 'tell' the 2500 to use the new router instead (use the new router as the access point for the wifi boxes and the 2500 still verifies the connection/account if it even does that now).  Like I said, a long shot, but maybe you'll get what I meant now.

I guess I'll have to live with the poor 2500 signal.  It would make a lot more sense if these were designed to be more compatible with third party equip since the ATT equip isn't quite up there in performance.  Why is the 2500 even needed in the first place outside of some reason to save money on the actual ATT router and charge another 'rent' fee for it?

Either way I appreciate the clarification on the 2500 - thanks.

I am not sure of the exact protocols but in order for the wireless receivers to access your dvr which is wired to the gateway, that wap also needs to be wired to the gateway too.  There some info being passed through to the dvr and back and also to att to enforce authorization of the devices (dvr and receivers) for use by the account.

Figured as much.

I do have an issue now though as I just made this switch to using a new router.  The wireless tv boxes no longer work, but are reporting as synced.

Here is a run down of what I did :

- changed the 5268AC to use the 172.16.0.x rather than its original 192.168.1.x (rather than changing the new router)

- hooked up new router and got it all setup (changed to dmz plus for this device on 5268AC in the firewall and then made the 10-13 changes as per https://forums.att.com/t5/AT-T-Internet-Equipment/U-verse-for-BUSINESS-2Wire-3600HGV-bridge-mode-or-another-AT-amp/td-p/2707013)

- I changed the network name (2.4, 5, and guest) of the 5268AC and appended it with '-ATT'

- changed the new router's network name (2.4, 5, and guest) to my old ATT name and pass so no changes would be needed on any devices

- wifi now works for both the ATT and new router and the DVR tv works

- I turned off the wifi channels on the ATT router as I will no longer need them (2.4, 5, guest) and will be using the channels of the new router

Everything seemed fine up until I went to use one of the wifi tv boxes.  There was sound and a guide, but no picture.  Restart the STB and it goes through its process and says 'connection success' or whatever, yet holds on the ATT UVerse logo screen with the spinning gear icon in the corner.  The VAP2500 has all three blinking lights which means they 'should' be synced properly.

So, I thought maybe I needed to reset the VAP2500, everything shows synced after doing through its process, yet the same thing happens with the logo and gear icon spinning on the STB tvs.

Do I need to keep the wireless channels active for the VAP2500 to work?  That makes no sense at all to me since the VAP2500 is an access point itself and is directly connected to the 5268AC, but is that the problem here?  I am getting ready to try that out here in a few, but wanted to post this in case an installer might know what is going on for sure.  Any info would be appreciated.

moving the 5286 or 2500 is not an option as I mentioned in my post.

Moving the 2500 a few feet this way or a few feet that way (or more) is the only way you will be able to change where it covers better.

charge another 'rent' fee for it?

There is no rent fee for the 2500, only for the 5268.

In regards to the wireless boxes not working now. 

Hold down the little red button on the back of the 5268 for 30 seconds to factory reset all settings. This should get it up and working again at least. Then make one change at a time in the settings to find out which setting change breaks the function of the wireless boxes.

Just saw you replied which is basically what I just finished up doing.  Reset the 5268 to defaults then changed everything back to exactly how it was with the exception of changing the subnet ips this time around - kept them at the default of 192.168.1.x.  I didn't do anything to the new router other than change its subnet to 192.168.2.x since the 5268 was using the defaults now.  Outside of that I changed everything back to exactly how it was before, refreshed all the devices to get the new ips, and it all works... at least for the last few hours now.

Not sure exactly what the issue was because I find it hard to believe changing the 5268 subnet from the defaults would cause a problem, but that is the only thing different between this afternoon and last night.  Oh well.

Glad you got everything work.

Hi.  We are having issues with one of our WiFi Uverse tv boxes pixelating.  The WiFi is low in that room.  If we separate the internet on a different router, will this fix the problem?