Broken WAN Port -- can I use the LAN port?

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

So, I know this is more of a 'support' question, but it's directly related to hardware. I've also seen a few posts about how to do this, but it's on different hardware and all are 3+ years old and the responses are for old firmware.

I have a NetGear R6250, and it looks like the plastic shell around the WAN port has been broken off. I suspect the hardware is still functional, but an Ethernet cable won't stay connected.

So the question is... Is it possible to re-allocate the 4 LAN ports so that one port is the 'new' WAN port, and the three remaining ports can be used normally as LAN ports? I know some routers have different capabilities based on their chipsets, but I don't know enough to be able to determine if this router has this functionality.

Thanks in advance!

2

I don't see why not. Just need to make the appropriate config changes. It's just a name for a network. The hardware doesn't know what it's called. Besides if it's broken now it can't get any worse.
I've reassigned wan and lan ports multiple times on various hardware, just need to make sure you don't configure yourself out of the router and be methodical with the changes.

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3

Thanks for the quick reply -- my first question is... Does this require any particular chipset or feature, like VLAN support (if that's even a hardware support issue)?

The second is, since you have some experience with this, can you walk through some steps to complete the task? I have modest networking skills beyond consumer grade routers (setting up DHCP/DMZs/port forwarding, etc.), and this is 'above my pay grade' but I'm interested in learning more.

4

Let’s see the following - this will help us see details to best advise:

Please connect to your OpenWrt device using ssh and copy the output of the following commands and post it here using the "Preformatted text </> " button:
grafik
Remember to redact passwords, MAC addresses and any public IP addresses you may have:

ubus call system board
cat /etc/config/network
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5

I'll have to provide this tomorrow when I'm back at my workbench. Thanks!