Using a wireless router as a repeater

[grlandry]

I am using an AT&T supplied 2wire homeportal 3801 hgv gateway for telephone and wireless functions. The Linksys RE1000 wireless-n range extender does not provide the range needed. Can a Linksys N900 or E3000 wireless N router be used as a repeater? If so, how are the gateway and router to be configured?

 

[DelJo63]

modem ==>primary router (wifi on chnl 1)
             |
          (a lan slot)
             |
             +-----wired connection --(a lan slot) secondary router (wifi on chnl 11)

the secondary wan slot is left empty

* use the same SSID and password on both for simplicity
* config the secondary to NO use DHCP - - this forces the primary to do all assignments

full print/file share is functional in this setup ( I use it myself).