Using a 2nd router

Theimprover

My broadband router is in the corner room of the house and I am finding the signal to be weak when to far from the router.
Is it possible to use a 2nd router as I have a few spare ones or is it best to go buy a TP link?

threein99

Theimprover wrote: »

My broadband router is in the corner room of the house and I am finding the signal to be weak when to far from the router.
Is it possible to use a 2nd router as I have a few spare ones or is it best to go buy a TP link?

You can plug a router into a TP link to provide Wifi

Theimprover

threein99 wrote: »

You can plug a router into a TP link to provide Wifi

Yes I am aware of that, I was just wondering is it possible to pair a 2nd router to my existing one instead of wasting money buying a TP link. I suppose the TP Link is the best way to go. Do you know which TP link I would need? Would the starter pack do me I wonder?

editorsean

Most Wi-Fi routers can double up as a Wi-Fi access point with a few configuration changes, basically such that the extension router acts purely as a passive device. You will need a network cable to run between the main router and where you plan placing the extension router.

The following is a rough guide based on how I did this before with a few routers, including old Eircom routers:

1. Don't connect the two routers together yet.
2. Connect a computer to your main router and check the DHCP range in the router's web interface. If it ends at .250 or higher, change the end range to .249. This way you can assign a fixed IP to the extension router on the next step.
3. Connect your computer to the extension router and in its web interface, change the router's IP address to be on the same subnet as your main router. E.g. If your main router is 192.168.1.254, then change the extension router's IP to 192.168.1.250.
4. Go to the new IP address to go back into the router's web interface. If it does not appear, try unplugging the network cable briefly.
5. Change the extension router's Wi-Fi settings such that it uses the exact same Wi-Fi name, password and security (e.g. WPA2 AES) as the main router. This way a Wi-Fi device will automatically use whichever router it is picking the strongest Wi-Fi signal from.
6. Turn off DHCP (and DHCPv6 if present) on the extension router.
7. Connect a network cable from any LAN socket of the main router to any LAN socket of the extension router.
8. Restart the extension router.

If all goes well, any Wi-Fi device already set up with the main router should continue to pick up Wi-Fi from around the area of the extension router.

If you would like to go the HomePlug Wi-Fi route, I would suggest picking up a starter kit that provides Wi-Fi, such as this example.

You can also use a pair of plain HomePlugs (without Wi-Fi) in place of the network cable in the above guide, although the price difference between the regular and Wi-Fi enabled HomePlugs is small.

Theimprover

editorsean wrote: »

Most Wi-Fi routers can double up as a Wi-Fi access point with a few configuration changes, basically such that the extension router acts purely as a passive device. You will need a network cable to run between the main router and where you plan placing the extension router.

The following is a rough guide based on how I did this before with a few routers, including old Eircom routers:

1. Don't connect the two routers together yet.
2. Connect a computer to your main router and check the DHCP range in the router's web interface. If it ends at .250 or higher, change the end range to .249. This way you can assign a fixed IP to the extension router on the next step.
3. Connect your computer to the extension router and in its web interface, change the router's IP address to be on the same subnet as your main router. E.g. If your main router is 192.168.1.254, then change the extension router's IP to 192.168.1.250.
4. Go to the new IP address to go back into the router's web interface. If it does not appear, try unplugging the network cable briefly.
5. Change the extension router's Wi-Fi settings such that it uses the exact same Wi-Fi name, password and security (e.g. WPA2 AES) as the main router. This way a Wi-Fi device will automatically use whichever router it is picking the strongest Wi-Fi signal from.
6. Turn off DHCP (and DHCPv6 if present) on the extension router.
7. Connect a network cable from any LAN socket of the main router to any LAN socket of the extension router.
8. Restart the extension router.

If all goes well, any Wi-Fi device already set up with the main router should continue to pick up Wi-Fi from around the area of the extension router.

If you would like to go the HomePlug Wi-Fi route, I would suggest picking up a starter kit that provides Wi-Fi, such as this example.

You can also use a pair of plain HomePlugs (without Wi-Fi) in place of the network cable in the above guide, although the price difference between the regular and Wi-Fi enabled HomePlugs is small.

Thanks for the reply, unfortunatley I cant run a network cable between 2 routers so looks like I will have to go with the HomePlug Wifi route.

Cheers for the info though.