Extend home network

coff66

Hi folks,

Complete novice here.

Apologies If this has been asked before but looking for guidance on the simplest way to have wifi and wired internet in a garden room away from house. I have Cat 6 running from the router in the house to the garden room and have it all terminated correctly. It is working fine as a wired connection at present in the room but would like to have wifi and wired connections there too. I have a second gigabit router from Vodafone that's not being used, would it be possible to set this up to provide both wifi and wired connection!? If so, what steps do I need to take to set up it up in this way? If not, is there a simple plug and play option to achieve what I am looking for!?

Thanks,

Coff66

smuggler.ie

Disconnect computer (wire and/or WiFi) from 1st router network.

Connect your computer to 2nd router directly (LAN or WiFi) , go to it's webpage on browser by IP, log in. 2nd router IP and credentials printed on the label.

Match 2nd router WiFi settings as the 1st (SSID and pass, leave channel on auto), make sure hit APPLY button at the bottom of the page. Not mandatory, you can keep separate WiFi .

Disable firewall on 2nd router, make sure hit APPLY button at the bottom of the page.

Set 2nd router with static IP in the range of 1st router and disable DHCP, make sure hit APPLY button at the bottom of the page. where 1st=192.168.1.254 (or 192.168.1.1) then 2nd=192.168.1.253 (unless 253 is already assigned to other device!!).

Now connect 2nd router to your network with Ethernet cable into LAN port (yellow) in the garden room.

Connect your computer to your network, go to browser and type in 192.168.1.253 (IP for 2nd router) to confirm connection.

Additional: Once happy - save config file and store safely - it will allow you quick restore your settings if you'd need to reset 2nd router for whatever reason.

If you match WiFi settings from your 1st router, all WiFi devices will roam - no additional actions needed.

Remaining LAN ports(yellow) on 2nd router can be used for other wired devices.

enjoy

coff66

Thanks for the detailed reply @smuggler.ie. Please forgive my ignorance with this question. When connecting to the the second router, does it need to be connected to the fibre coming into the house or, will all the directions you have given work with it just powered on and connected to the laptop!?

smuggler.ie

As instructed, for 2nd router setup, computer direct connection to router(LAN port, yellow), no internet, no fiber, NO other connections.... well, yeah you need power ☺️

Once, as instructed, setup is completed, 2nd router will become AP(access point) for WiFi and switch(for wired connection)

As long there is Ethernet cable link from 1st router to the 2nd router (LAN-to-LAN), it will be part of your home network and share same internet as your main router, as you asked - Extend home network

coff66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119438196#Comment_119438196

Thanks again @smuggler.ie.

Was away over the last week, just got to put this in action today and all worked perfectly! Easy to follow instructions made it possible! WiFi and wired connections working! Much appreciated!