Boost Your Wi-Fi Network With an Old Router

Are you tired of weak or no Wi-Fi signals in certain areas of your house? Instead of investing in expensive devices like Wi-Fi repeaters or powerline adapters, you can use your old router as a Wi-Fi repeater to boost your network. This article will guide you through the process of setting up your old router as a Wi-Fi repeater.

What You'll Need

• Two Wi-Fi routers (even a Wi-Fi ADSL modem will work)
• An Ethernet cable (cat5 or 6) to connect both routers
• A computer with an Ethernet port to configure the routers

Boosting Your Wi-Fi Network

If your primary router is placed at one corner of the house and you experience weak or no Wi-Fi signals on the opposite side, you can use your secondary router to boost the Wi-Fi coverage in that area. By physically connecting the secondary router to the primary router via an Ethernet cable, both routers will broadcast the same network, providing full Wi-Fi coverage without the network degradation typically associated with Wi-Fi repeaters.

Step 1: Check Details of Your Primary Router

To begin, you'll need to know the SSID and password of your primary router. Connect to the primary router via your computer and access its settings page using the router's IP address. If you don't know the IP address, you can find it using the command prompt or terminal. Once you're in the router's settings page, locate the Wireless or Wireless Security option to find the SSID, mode, password, and encryption type. Take note of these values as you'll need them later.

Step 2: Configure the Secondary Router

Next, you'll need to configure the secondary router. Start by resetting the router to its factory settings using the reset pinhole at the back of the router. Then, connect your computer to the secondary router using an Ethernet cable and access its login page. Enter the default credentials to log in, and then enter the same SSID, mode, password, and encryption settings that you noted down from the primary router. To avoid conflicts between the routers, disable DHCP on the secondary router and change its IP address. Set the operational mode of the secondary router to “router” only.

Step 3: Connect Both Routers

In the final step, connect both routers using an Ethernet cable. Connect one LAN port of the primary router to the LAN port of the secondary router (not the WAN port). This will allow the secondary router to share the internet connection from the primary router. To ensure seamless connection, make sure both routers have the same SSID and password. Disable DHCP on the secondary router and change its IP address. This will prevent conflicts between the primary and secondary routers.

By following these steps, you can effectively boost the range of your Wi-Fi network using your old router. Since the routers are physically connected, there is no network latency or degradation typically associated with wireless repeaters. However, keep in mind that the bandwidth will be shared between the two routers, so avoid connecting an equal number of devices to both routers.

If you have any queries or issues, feel free to leave a comment below.