2 Routers acting on same network SSID?

taylorconor95

I know that it is possible for my two routers (ZyXEL & belkin) to be used together to boost the range of my home wifi network, as I have seen it done before. Basically I want to be able to roam my house and have the modems compliment each other (kind of like cell towers) on the same network

However after scouring the internet I found a solution that doesn't work:
Set up both routers with same SSID but different channels. The main one should have DHCP set up, while the other one should not. Connect the output (to computer) ethernet port of one of the routers to the other.

I have tried this, using both the output port and the 'to modem' port on my 2nd router, to no avail

Can anyone shed some light on this subject?

Verres

Yes - I've recently set up the exact same thing in my house. I installed "dd-wrt" on the "repeater" router.

If you go to www.dd-wrt.com they have an extensive list of compatible routers and very detailed tutorials on how to get up and running. I got it all done (installing dd-wrt on the router and config of the network in about 20 mins).

In a nutshell, you set up your second wifi router in a coverage "hotspot" of the signal of your first router. You can determine this by trial and error, or just walk around your house with your smart phone monitoring the strength of the wifi signal (yes, there's a app for that).

Then cutting a boring story short you just set up your second router with your primary router as it's DEFAULT GATEWAY. The SSID's can be the same or different - it doesn't matter (I use different ones so I can tell which router my wireless stuff is connected to in case of troubleshooting).

It's slightly more convoluted than this, but not much.

Verres

One more thing - you only need dd-wrt on your "repeater" router - not the primary one, so you only need one router listed on the dd-wrt site, not two. Hope that helps.

SickBoy

Sorry for hijacking but can this be done in such a way that you have a wireless modem in point A of your home and a wireless router in point B picking up the wireless signal and feeding it to wired devices connected to it?

Verres

SickBoy wrote: »

Sorry for hijacking but can this be done in such a way that you have a wireless modem in point A of your home and a wireless router in point B picking up the wireless signal and feeding it to wired devices connected to it?

Off the top of my head, yeah- you'd just plug the devices in with Cat5 and PNP and DNLA would do the rest.

I guess people don't do it as wireless is "easier". The only reason you'd go wired is for speed & reliability, but if your wired repeater connection is wireless to the primary router, you'll have all the hassle of wired without the speed or reliability gains.

taylorconor95

Damnit they don't support by belkin F5D8233-4 router... Any ideas?

Verres

What make is your other router? Remember, you only need 1 running dd-wrt.

Nothingbetter2d

buy a linksys router (the blue and black one) they make the best routers for putting dd-wrt on... i have one and it works great

dath

I did this using the new Cisco EPC3625 that UPC gave me when I recenetly up graded, this 30m CAT5E cable and a old Netgear WGR614 v7 wireless router I had from back when they were still NTL and gave them to connect to the non-wifi routers they used.

If you follow these steps carefully you'll have no problems.

There is a bit of trial and error as router firmware is pretty dumb to deal with but it really is worth it. I now have flawless wifi throughout my house for only 5 Euro when repeaters can cost well over 100 Euro. And those wireless repeaters will half your wifi speed. Not the case for my cheap setup :-)