what to do with old routers when we change ISPs

[arnprasad]

Hi, I have changed my ISP from BSNL (TP link one costing around 1500) to Hathway (D-Link Dir-600M Broadband Wireless Router - Buy D-Link Dir-600M Broadband Wireless Router Online at Low Price in India - Amazon.in) and last week jumped to ACT (Netgear R6220 AC-1200 Smart WiFi Router with External Antennas - Buy Netgear R6220 AC-1200 Smart WiFi Router with External Antennas Online at Low Price in India - Amazon.in)

I live in a two storey house with the router being in ground floor. Most parts of my first floor receives pretty feeble signal and since I got these two routers lying around wanted to amplify wifi.

I opened a similar thread a year ago and based on the advice, I dragged a network cable from my router to first floor (Around 40-50 feet). Now in first floor I tested the cable and it works fine. Then I connected the cable to my TPLink router and tried using it as a repeater (??) - basically receiving internet from cable and distributing is as wi-fi on first floor. I downloaded the manual and tried everything - but for some reason it wouldnt work (the internet light on the router wouldnt light).

Now, the Netgear router that ACT gave me -although pretty expensive, the signal is same as the earlier ones on first floor. Hence now I have both the TP Link one and D Link one lying unused.

Need help to use them so that wifi in first floor is also out in full strength.

Just to re-confirm, I have dragged a network cable from my Netgear router on ground floor to first floor and it works. Need a solution to plug that cable into either of these routers and make them a wifi for first floor. Thx

 

[kcnanand]

configure the old routers (if they are wifi) in bridge mode to extend wifi range. also check if your old routers support DD-WRT firmware. you will find enough articles over the internet of "Bridge Mode" and "DD-WRT"

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/reuse-an-old-router-to-bridge-devices-to-your-wireless-network/

 

[regeHA]

Depending on the router features, you can use WDS or bridge to extend the range. WDS, in theory, has some advantages.

I have set up WDS, takes all of 2 minutes, and works perfectly without any issues. You can also draw ethernet cable to a PC or NAS if needed.

This is the easier way, other options include pulling ethernet cable, power line adapters, etc.

 

[haisaikat]

My advice is that since you have two routers of various make and model so off0the-shelf WDS may not always works unless firmwares support that. If you are okay to go DD-WRT route you will unlock many potentials of your router and even most likely be able to use as repeater / bridge etc.

One third option is to revisit your already tried project of using the lan cable drawn and hooking the router to the end for wifi extension. Could you please confirm that you did the setup as below
1. Lan cable originates from one LAN port of your primary internet router.
2. Lan cable terminates on the other floor into one of the LAN (not WAN) ports of the 2nd router.
3. 2nd router has WAN setup disabled or set as Dynamic IP
4. 2nd router has a fixed static IP setup on WAN side with subnet and gateway, etc of the 1st routers IP address range (for example if 1st router provides IP to clients from 192.168.1.100 to 150 then 2nd router LAN side IP address is setup as one IP within that range)
5. You are configuring 2nd router by connecting to its LAN port via wired connection to your laptop and accessing its setup page using the IP set in above step.
6. 2nd router has DHCP disabled / set up as DHCP Relay (with if available the option to specify IP of primary router as DHCP server)
7. 2nd router has the same SSID and Security method and key as that of the first router
8. Primary router has a fixed wireless channel (say 1) and not set up as Auto
9. 2nd router has a fixed wireless channel that is at least 4-5 channels apart from that if primary router (say 6) and not set to Auto.

 

[superczar]

Just to re-confirm, I have dragged a network cable from my Netgear router on ground floor to first floor and it works. Need a solution to plug that cable into either of these routers and make them a wifi for first floor. Thx

There is no need to install custom firmware etc - What you need to do is
a) Connect the ethernet cable coming from main router to any one of the LAN ports of the second router (I think you are connecting it to the single WAN port) - DO note that the Internet light won't come on the second router but don't worry about it

b) Change the router IP on the second router to - If your main router is say 192.168.0.1 then set this one as 192.168.0.x where x is anything but 1 (e.g. 192.168.0.2)

c) Switch off DHCP server on the second router (will be there somewhere under advanced settings)

d) Either create a new network in the wifi settings or use the same SSID (name) as your primary with the same password - The former would require you to manually switch networks on your laptop when on the upper floor

 

[arnprasad]

Hi Apologize for delay in getting back after getting all those fabulous suggestions. Since I am not a techie, outsourced it to a niece who is a mtech in computers and she couldnt figure it out either!

So this saturday, i will get it back and try it out myself..please let me know if any of you would be kind enough to have a quick 10 min chat with me on saturday in case I am stuck.

 

[greenhorn]

for me using the same SSID for both routers didnt work out. so running with two separate network names

 

[rayvonnee]

There is no need to install custom firmware etc - What you need to do is
a) Connect the ethernet cable coming from main router to any one of the LAN ports of the second router (I think you are connecting it to the single WAN port) - DO note that the Internet light won't come on the second router but don't worry about it

b) Change the router IP on the second router to - If your main router is say 192.168.0.1 then set this one as 192.168.0.x where x is anything but 1 (e.g. 192.168.0.2)

c) Switch off DHCP server on the second router (will be there somewhere under advanced settings)

d) Either create a new network in the wifi settings or use the same SSID (name) as your primary with the same password - The former would require you to manually switch networks on your laptop when on the upper floor

This is exactly what i have done using a tp link router and works perfectly. If im not wrong the tplink would either be WR841N or WR740N.
I have both these routers with me setup as repeaters so in case you are stuck up, just pm me.

 

[regeHA]

for me using the same SSID for both routers didnt work out. so running with two separate network names

Most of the time placement is the issue, the base router can continue to have a stronger signal or even with a weaker signal may not hand off the device to the extender/repeater.

I have done it both ways, using the same SSID as well as multiple/separate networks, though the advantage with using the same SSID is seamless integration for devices like Chromecast and Roku.

To create a wifi access point from a Lan termination, plug the LAN cable NOT into the INTERNET port of the Wifi router, but into one of the LAN ports. (I assume the router has 1 Internet and 4 LAN ports). Set up the Wifi in this router with the same SSID and password. You are done.

The router internet light will not turn on, and the router diagnostics may say that there is no Internet, but it will pass forward the Wifi devices to the parent router and give you access.

I have five such devices at home. They work well. PM me if still unable.

Have a similar setup though with WDS which worked right out of the box for me.

I have a tri-band router, though WDS limits it to 2 more routers acting as repeaters/extenders.

I simply use the 3rd AC network exclusively for audio streaming with multiple audio endpoints.

 

[sud98]

Does it make sense to have one AC router or multiple smaller capacity routers?

I have three floors which are connected by a Cat6 cable, so was wondering if one AC router of say 1750 or 1900 b/w will be enough and I will re-use all the old n300 routers for extension?

 

[regeHA]

Does it make sense to have one AC router or multiple smaller capacity routers?

I have three floors which are connected by a Cat6 cable, so was wondering if one AC router of say 1750 or 1900 b/w will be enough and I will re-use all the old n300 routers for extension?

The new recommended system is actually a mesh network, using 3 or more devices having the same SSID and spread over the entire home area. Ubiquiti is a good example, also Eero and Luma. If setting up for the first time or buying new then a Wi-Fi mesh network is the recommended option.

The problem with using old routers as extenders/repeaters will mean lack of AC network and being limited to wireless N or N150. Not so much of an issue for Internet and streaming, but certainly a bottleneck when transferring files. At the very least N300 and preferably an AC network/wired gigabit network is the way I would go.

The best option is to have a powerful AC router that would reach the entire house, and a better compromise is to have an AC router with an AC repeater/extender.

The last option, and very much a compromise, is to use old routers. That said, I am using old routers and network switches to segregate multiple devices/local networks. For example I have an old Netgear N150 router and a fast ethernet network switch connecting to a Raspberry Pi that acts as a torrent box. Extremely workable solution, since my Internet is limited to 50 mbps and with Samba/SMB shares I can simply stream, watch and delete from the Raspberry Pi itself without needing to move any files to the Synology NAS or HTPC for viewing.

And it's not such a bad thing that older devices like routers and network switches still get an extended lease of life with devices like the Raspberry Pi, while still being extremely useful.

 

[avesbilal]

Hi, I have changed my ISP from BSNL (TP link one costing around 1500) to Hathway (D-Link Dir-600M Broadband Wireless Router - Buy D-Link Dir-600M Broadband Wireless Router Online at Low Price in India - Amazon.in) and last week jumped to ACT (Netgear R6220 AC-1200 Smart WiFi Router with External Antennas - Buy Netgear R6220 AC-1200 Smart WiFi Router with External Antennas Online at Low Price in India - Amazon.in)

I live in a two storey house with the router being in ground floor. Most parts of my first floor receives pretty feeble signal and since I got these two routers lying around wanted to amplify wifi.

I opened a similar thread a year ago and based on the advice, I dragged a network cable from my router to first floor (Around 40-50 feet). Now in first floor I tested the cable and it works fine. Then I connected the cable to my TPLink router and tried using it as a repeater (??) - basically receiving internet from cable and distributing is as wi-fi on first floor. I downloaded the manual and tried everything - but for some reason it wouldnt work (the internet light on the router wouldnt light).

Now, the Netgear router that ACT gave me -although pretty expensive, the signal is same as the earlier ones on first floor. Hence now I have both the TP Link one and D Link one lying unused.

Need help to use them so that wifi in first floor is also out in full strength.

Just to re-confirm, I have dragged a network cable from my Netgear router on ground floor to first floor and it works. Need a solution to plug that cable into either of these routers and make them a wifi for first floor. Thx

Check if you're router has AP mode, it acts like a slave and will only take connection from internet port and distribute it using WiFi, if they have AP mode then you need to connect the internet of 2nd router to the LAN port of 1st(The one which is connected to internet)


Regards

Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using Tapatalk

 

[arnprasad]

On this topic - I have spent countless hours googling, watching youtube videos, creating multiple threads on this forum....etc and right now at midnight i just plugged the damn ethernet cable to Lan1 (not WAN) port and the thing works!!!

not sure how this miracle happened as I am sure I plugged it into all possible ports and never worked earlier - but it does now.

Will try again tomorrow just to make sure this is not a mirage!

the model is tplink 8968