2 Routers

Hi

I have 2 EE brightbox routers, 1 is connected and is the main source of internet, the other I would like to configure it so that it acts as an extender.

What is the best way of doing this? I've tried to follow 'how to's' ut they start to go very technical and with me being new to this I get easily lost.


If any one has got any easy to follow instructions it would be very much appreciated

If buy extender you are referring to extending your wireless network then the simplest version is

1. Take the brightbox you want to make into the extender, and connect it via Ethernet cable to a single computer and nothing else
2. Log into web interface and change LAN IP range to be a different one e.g. make router IP 172.17.17.1 and turn off the DHCP server.
3. Make sure the wireless security is configured how you want.
4. Disconnect the PC and connect the two routers via an Ethernet cable e.g. LAN port 1 to LAN port 1
5. The length of the Ethernet cable will then dictate where you can place Brightbox for best wireless coverage

Same sort of wording but for different hardware that I have previously written http://www.coolwebhome.co.uk/wap/configuring-wap.html

If the techie challenge is too much then consider buying a cheap dual band wireless access point

e.g. http://amzn.to/2ptG3Gh £34.99 Asus unit

If the linking via Ethernet cable is a no go, then consider a true wireless extender e.g. http://amzn.to/2pcb7cW £33.45 Netgear unit, though extenders have a mixed reputation in terms of not being as reliable as the access point and Ethernet cable.

Hi

Thanks for the reply.

Here's where i am at the minute.

Main router IP range was 21 - 254. I wanted to set the secondary router to 255 but it kept saying invalid ip gateway so i ended up setting it to 15 as it would accept this one and disabling dhcp server.

I've connected them via ethernet and still the second was says no broadband.

Any ideas?

The second router is always going to say no broadband when running in Access Point mode, since its router part is not seeing any traffic.

You are just using the Ethernet LAN switch, and the fact that this is shared with the wireless part too.

So tell us what ports all the cables are plugged into

In reply to a post by Mrb123:

Main router IP range was 21 - 254. I wanted to set the secondary router to 255 but it kept saying invalid ip gateway so i ended up setting it to 15

.255 is a broadcast address, cannot be assigned to any single device. You can set your second router to .254 and reduce the main router's range to .253

Edited by deleted (Sat 06-May-17 19:18:26)

Not wise to set it so low. Go for .254

But by being set so low, it looks like it was below the starting point for DHCP allocation (.21 upwards).

Oh in that case fine, I had assumed it started at .2 as per most setups

Afternoon Gents

After setting the main router to .250 and the second router to .252 I think we have a winner.!!

I haven't altered the security settings in the second router form when it was the first router, do these need to be altered?