Wireless Repeater/extender...

Just a quick question;

Can I use my old router as a wireless repeater/extender and is it quite straightforward to accomplish?

Many thanks in advance...

You can only do it by connecting them by a (long) ethernet cable or power-line plugs.

What are the IP addresses of the two routers, as in 192.168.0.1/192.168.1.1/192.168.1.254 and so on? You probably need to change that of the old one to something suitable, which we can tell you once we know them both. Then you disable the DHCP server on the old one and connect them up.

Will you need a laptop or other mobile device to keep working when moving around, or do you just want better wireless coverage? I think there is a way of doing the first, as someone claimed to have done it, but just at the moment I don't remember the detail

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Will you need a laptop or other mobile device to keep working when moving around, or do you just want better wireless coverage? I think there is a way of doing the first, as someone claimed to have done it, but just at the moment I don't remember the detail

I think the essence is to use the same SSID, but different wireless channels, so it can switch as needed.

In reply to a post by shaneosborne:

Just a quick question;

Can I use my old router as a wireless repeater/extender and is it quite straightforward to accomplish?

Many thanks in advance...

Hi, instructions on how you convert your old router into a wireless access point.

http://www.tested.com/news/how-to-use-an-old-router-...

http://i.dslr.net/pics/faqs/image93081.jpg

http://www.homenethelp.com/web/howto/static-ip-addre...

If your old router can be reflashed with OpenWRT DDWRT or similar firmware you can do almost anything with it (doesn't make coffee, yet). Not for the faint-hearted though, as you will find if you go and read a bit. If you say what router it is, some kind reader may already have been through this process.

WDS itself seems to be a potential nightmare. I have an upstairs LAN and a downstairs LAN and want to bridge (not route) them wirelessly and have tried various approaches too numerous to detail right now, none of which has worked anything like as well as the Linksys WET11-based approach I have been using over a number of years with various AP/routers (but the WET11 is only 11Mbit and only WEP).

OpenWRT etc is next on my list, but for now, for my requirements (which aren't the same as the OP's) the WET11 lives on.

In reply to a post by dandnsmith:

I think the essence is to use the same SSID, but different wireless channels, so it can switch as needed.

And the same password. That is what I do. Works fine - with various brands of router

The bit I was uncertain about, hence my caution, is whether or not it switches seamlessly as you walk aroiund, like a mobile between masts. Or does it disconnect for a few seconds and then reconnect to the other?

Edited by RobertoS (Sat 18-Feb-12 18:24:10)

Hi Roberto,

I live in a 1906 house with thick stone walls. I've got 4 WAPs (old routers) linked via homeplugs setup as described earlier.

You are correct in thinking that there is a momentary disconnection, but unless you are streaming something, you do not notice that.

Noinchki

It's a Sky supplied D-Link Router...

I think I have a Sky supplied Sagem also but may be thrown into the abyss (my cupboard) and may take a good while to find :/

Thanks .