Not sure where to put this, but I have a Netgear AC1200/R6220 and I'm wondering how I could convert this router to act like a wifi adapter? I want to be able to pull internet from any of the free wifi spots that are available.
My wifi adapter shows me alot of different wifi connections to log into. Since my signal is weak I made a wifi antenna that has a strong range. I noticed that my range put me in many areas the has open free wifi. So I bought the router because of the two antennas that will be connected to my 2 outdoor antennas that i made. If there was a way to convert my wifi router to do the same as my wifi adapter which is pull in a list of possible wifi connections that I can choose from. I do not want the router to have a connection to my home router unless i choose too. What I am looking for is a way to make my router work like a wifi adapter. Is this posssible?
To obtain Internet access from a public network or other network that you are allowed to use but don't fully control, you would run a routed client. https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/routedclient
In the diagram, you will be the red network on the left side. The public Wi-Fi is the blue network on the right side.
It's actually simpler than the page makes it out to be, since the OpenWrt default configuration is (much like the stock firmware default configuration) already set up to connect to a wired Internet service and masquerade to it. All you need to do is substitute the wired Internet connection to a wireless client, and make sure the addresses don't overlap to allow proper routing.
By default a firewall is in place so other users of the public network can't directly access your private network.