I was having a conversation with one of our readers about a home network they were trying to wrap their minds around. They wanted devices on the opposite side of their house to connect via WiFi to the same network but their router’s range didn’t reach. Their walls are hard-wired to the router, and there are ports available in those rooms, but the devices are WiFi only. They were looking for a solution with the devices they had on hand so that they wouldn’t have to buy more gear (ie, Access Points). What they had, was their current router, and the old one it recently replaced.
The best solution is to set up the second router to act as if it was an Access Point so that you don’t have to buy one. I am going to share how it is done with you.
We, of course, take no responsibility for what happens to your devices, so only do this if you are at least somewhat experienced with playing with the settings. If something goes wrong, you may have to reset your second router to factory settings (good to keep this in mind).
What you will need is two routers, an ethernet cable running between the two routers (in-wall or along the floors, etc) and a laptop or PC for setup (that’s it). We used two Netgear WNDR3700 routers for a local test since we had them laying around. One takes the job of the “main router” (the main router your house/building relies on), and the second will become your “access point”.
First, log into the admin screen of your main router using a PC or laptop connected to one of it’s LAN ports by typing the router’s IP in your browser.
If you don’t know the IP and are using a Windows operating system: click on the start menu and type “cmd” and hit enter. In the window that pops up, type “ipconfig” and look for “default gateway”, and that is the IP you want to type into your web browser to access your router’s admin screen.
In the settings, you are going to look for the router’s DHCP settings (different routers/brands have different control panels so we won’t be able to get too specific in direction). Once you have found them, adjust the IP pool range to something smaller. For example, the default range on the WNDR3700 was “192.168.1.2 to 192.167.1.254”. We changed that to “192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.200”. Once you have accomplished this, apply your settings (in most cases, the router will restart itself).
(adjust the IP range on the main router)
Second, disconnect your PC or laptop from the main router and plug it into one of the LAN (not WAN) ports of the second router. Log into the admin screen of the second router and access the LAN IP settings screen where you can change the IP address of the router. Change the last field to a number outside of the range you assigned to the main router (ie, “.201″+). In our test, we gave the second router the IP address “192.168.1.201”.
If the DHCP settings are on the same page, continue to the next paragraph, else apply the settings you have so far (your router may or may not restart to apply the changes).
Now find the DHCP settings screen (secondary router) and disable DHCP! This is important! Apply the changes (again, it may or may not restart the router when you do this).
(set the second router’s IP and disable DHCP Server)
If you still have access to the admin screen, it is also best that you find the settings page where you can adjust the channel in which your second router broadcasts on. Change it to a non-overlapping channel of either 1, 6 or 11. You will also want to name the SSID name to something different than your main router so you know which is which if your device sees both.
(change the channel to 1,6 or 11 on the second router)
Finally, disconnect the second router from your PC or laptop and connect the second router to the main router using lan ports on both routers (do not connect the main router to the second router’s WAN port).
Now you should have something similar to the graphic at the top of the article. Your source of internet (ISP) will run into the WAN port of the main router, and from one of the LAN ports, an ethernet cable will run into one of the LAN ports of the second router (which is now an access point).
You have two different network SSID’s broadcasting, but connecting to either one should allow you to see the main network as if you were simply connected to the main router. This way, you can still share devices and see the other computers on the network.
Both routers can be accessed on the same network. If you type the IP of the main router, it should pull up just fine. If you change the IP in your browser to point to (we will use the IP we assigned) 192.168.1.201, then you will access the admin screen of the second router (the now “access point”).
Done! Save your money and skip buying a new device if you have an old router laying around. The only risk you take is the speed differential of the two routers (if they are different routers). If the main is a Wireless-AC router and the old/second one is a Wireless-G router, connecting to the “access point” will, of course, limit your connection speed to G on those devices.
Last Update: 04/2020
19 Comments
I’ve been struggling to setup a 2nd router (Smart/RG SR360N) to extend the range in my home network. My primary router is an ActionTec C3000A, and the 2 routers need to be connected wirelessly.
I’ve read so many articles now on “how simple this is”, (and they all describe a different simple method), that my head is swimming in all the various options.
Almost every article has the same instruction in two regards, that the DHCP function needs to be disabled on the 2nd router, and that the IP address of both routers need to be the same. However, when making these changes I always lose connection to the router and end up having to do a factory reset before I can access the configuration settings again.
Any advice would be great.
Your main router and extended router should have two separate IP addresses. Main router should be your main gateway address (ie, 192.168.10.1 or whatever pattern /range you use for your network). Your second router should have a unique IP address of its own. On the second router, it’s the gateway setting you adjust to point to the main router as being the main gateway to the main router’s IP. So the second router could be 192.168.10.2 (just staying within the same example range for the purposes of this email), but its gateway setting should point to the main router (192.168.10.1). If that makes any sense.
I did it. I did it I did it I did it. Two old WNDR3700 models together. Too cheap to buy a new router and these routers have been good to me. It works well. Of course I know that I need to eventually buy a new router as these are old and therefore lack security updates and stuff. But it at least gets me going with something that works. Thank you.
Hey,
I still got two different networks and I still need to switch between them while changing floors. I thought it will give me a single network powered by two routers.
So unfortunately, the two routers are different brands. One is VisionNet or something and what I’m trying to use as an access point is a Belkin router. Now, the two have worked together fine last year, but setting them up again has become a bigger hassle than what I remember. It seems like I’ve tried everything.
And I just followed all but one of the steps in this guide, and that one being going into the main router’s site and adjusting the range. I was hoping I could bypass that, but if there are no other ways around it, I’ll have to try that next.
Update: I cannot log into the main router site. It was set up by the internet provider and the site isn’t one of those where you just hit enter without typing anything in.
Thank you, this is awesome. I almost donated my old router and now it is providing everything to the toughshed out back with internet.
Hi Chris, great article. I’ll try to set this up later this month.
Is it required to use different SSID names? It would be nice to have one wifi network with the same name, and with my laptop automatically connecting to the access point with the strongest signal.
Thanks for your help
And, James, sorry for getting your name wrong. 🙁
No trouble on the name. It happens. Yes, you will want to have two seperate SSIDs so there won’t be any conflicts/dropouts for your devices. In order to maintain a consistent SSID throughout your home, you will want to go with a “mesh” solution that is designed around providing this feature.
I don’t have different SSID names, and identify the router and access point by their Mac addresses.
I’ve found TP-Link routers to be the way to go for this. They have a dedicated Access Point mode which turns the device into a DHCP client, requiring no changes to the main router. Once both devices are on the same network, you are able to manage them together from the Tether app.
Hi, i tried as well. I tried to put my R7000 behind my Orbi and it did not work either. any suggestions?
Orbi is a true-mesh design. Although you may be able to to pull this off with some tweaking, it defeats the purpose of having a true-mesh network unless you were looking to have some devices connected under different settings/conditions (ie, under a secondary router with VPN enabled). To extend to the Orbi routers, we would suggest buying into proper satellite units. Look for Orbi “add-on” or “satellite” units (https://amzn.to/3iqpRhy)
I have cable internet what do u do in that situation
Our main box has no ports
It would depend on what the box is in question. This tutorial wouldn’t change based on having cable, dsl, satelite, etc, since it isn’t affecting your modem. This involves connecting routers together and routers come after your modem in terms of connectivity (signal flow). In your case, internet comes into house -> cable modem –> main router–> secondary router. Those two routers are what have the ports. As mentioned though, if you aren’t familiar with playing with the settings within a router, it’s best to let someone with a bit more knowledge do it for you (so that the wrong settings/features aren’t toyed with causing any issues).
Hi James, great explanations but … it doesn’t work for me. I tried to put my Netgear R7000 behind my Netgear RAX120 that is connected to my broadband ISP. Followed everything to the letter but still no go. Any ideas please? TIA Chris
As long as the DHCP address ranges are properly separated to prevent conflict and they are wired together in the end, it should work with most models (however, this doesn’t mean that certain models can’t be found that don’t want to play ball). Without having them on-site to recreate the experience, we can’t say much. Sometimes the secondary router/model might feature a native “extension” or “extender” mode within the admin settings, which could work as another method worth trying.