Imagine finding your perfect ‘me spot’ in your brand new apartment, where you can just lay in bed or on the couch and binge-watch all your favorite television series. However, just as you get all comfortable and ready to enjoy your solitude, your dreams of fun are ruined by incomplete downloads or streaming ruined by interruptions due to poor network reception from your WiFi. Heartbreakingly annoying, right? If you have login issues, you can solve them with this article.
But your old WiFi router can act as a lifesaver here. Here is a detailed guide on using your old WiFi router to extend your WiFi network.
How does it work?
The basic principle at work here is using an old WiFi router to create a new access point in your apartment to provide better network connectivity. There are two ways to do it; you can either use the wireless repeater mode in your router or a physical wire if wireless repeater mode isn’t available. Below is a comprehensive description of using both of these methods to extend your WiFi network, starting with using the wireless repeater mode.
Using wireless repeater:
It is the easiest and cheapest way to extend your WiFi network as it is free from the hassle of running Ethernet cables through your house. All you have to do is position your old router, which is now acting as an extender in such a way that it receives a proper signal from your WiFi and can transmit it. The necessary detail to be taken care of here is the position of the old router(extender). If you place it too far away from the primary router, it will not receive a good signal, and placing it too close will defeat the purpose of putting it in the first place as you will continue having network issues in the farther corners of your apartment.
How to set up the old router in wireless repeater mode
Not all routers have wireless repeater mode. To check if your router has wireless repeater mode, you can Google its model number and check it online. Many modern routers have wireless repeater mode in them. If you have the wireless repeater mode in your router and it isn’t enabled already, then go through the following steps to allow it to:
- Go to the connectivity menu, under settings
- Choose internet settings in the connectivity menu
- Choose a wireless repeater in the connection type.
- Enter WiFi name for your extender
- Enter password
- Change the local IP address of your old router
Pros:
- Simple
- Cost friendly
Cons:
- Inefficiency: one major drawback of using a wireless repeater is that there is signal loss from the main router to the extender and further loss of signal from the extender to the devices to be used, hence providing slower and inefficient network connectivity.
- Placement: as mentioned above, you have to be very careful about the position of your old router with respect to the main router and the devices that require connectivity.
It is not necessary for all routers to have wireless repeater mode.
Using a physical wire:
Using a physical wire is far more efficient as there is no signal loss. If you have Ethernet cables in your house, you can place your old router anywhere in the apartment and have excellent network connectivity.
Most routers have bridge mode in them. You can select it in the internet connection type menu. It will eliminate all the features that are rendered unnecessary as the old router is now acting only as an extender.
However, if your old router does not have bridge mode, you can disable the DHCP server and the firewall and change the IP address of the old router. Also, if you do not have Ethernet cables in your house, you can use coaxial cables called MoCA to do the same.
Pros:
· Better network connectivity
Cons:
· Ethernet cables are expensive and not necessarily present in all homes.
Using MoCA (Multimedia over coax):
Most people might not have Ethernet cables in their homes, but coaxial wires are present in almost every home. MoCA allows Ethernet data to run over coaxial cables; both Ethernet and coaxial ports are present in the adapters where we put coaxial wires on either side.
To use these cables to extend WiFi, you can connect the Ethernet cable from the WiFi router to the adapter and put the coaxial cable (MoCA) on the other side, and connect it to another adapter, followed by an Ethernet wire connected on the other side of the adapter leading to your old router. If your house’s coaxial cables are related, you can use multiple adapters and provide better connectivity to a broader region.
Pros:
- Good network connectivity
- Ethernet cables are not available everywhere, but coaxial cables are
Cons:
- A huge mess of wires can be formed.
Conclusion
So, this was a brief guide on how instead of throwing away an old router, you can use it in multiple ways to extend your WiFi network connectivity and enjoy streaming and downloading from every corner of your apartment.
