AEBS setup question

Question

I am going to install a AEBS in an office I am moving to. I have an ethernet cable that comes out of the wall. I don't know if it comes from a modem or a router. Does this affect how I configure the AEBS, eg. Bridge mode or not (don't understand this mode)?
Can I just connect to the WAN input & set it up to create a new network?

Answer 1

Among other things, a router normally supplies DHCP services for a network, which means that it hands out IP addresses to connected devices. You only want one device controlling DHCP, so if you have two routers on a network, you should turn off the DHCP services on the second device to allow the main router to control the network.
When DHCP is off, the router is in "bridge mode", which means that it simply passes IP address information through to connected devices. The second router can be configured to create a wireless network, but DHCP will still be controlled by the main router.
In most cases, you don't want two routers both handling DHCP on a network because conflicts will usually occur when this happens. The usual results are loss of internet connection and some devices may not be able to communicate with other devices. There are exceptions, but things get tricky. For most users, the simplest approach is the best and most reliable.