Hooking up multiple wireless access points

Some wireless bridges support only a single point-to-point connection to another AP. Others support point-to-multipoint connections to several other APs.

How to Extend Your Wireless Network We help you extend your wireless network when it is no longer robust enough to cover your physical area. December 29, Your business is humming and everyone is feeling productive thanks to your office's wireless network.

But maybe you are feeling some growing pains. Perhaps some parts of the office have a weak wireless signal. Or there are so many users on the wireless network that people are complaining of sluggish speeds or not being able to connect at all. It's time to grow that network.

It's easy to expand a wired network. Your network setup probably resembles something like this: Once you run out of ports on the router, you can just connect a network switch to one of those ports, and then start connecting your devices through the new switch.

Now you cover more devices, and if the Ethernet cable is long enough, more distance, as well. Enlarging a wireless network is not as simple, because wireless ranges vary on a number of factors, such as walls, electronic interference from other devices, and the strength of the wireless antenna on your router.

In this Working Without Wires, we show you that if you know how to set up a wireless network, you can easily extend it, too. We go over mesh networks and wireless extenders so that you can decide which option works for you.

Expand with APs If you bought a business-class wireless router and not a consumer-grade oneodds are the manufacturer has access points APs that can work with your model. These access points connect seamlessly with the original wireless router and just repeat the signal.

It's your easiest step, and another reason why small businesses should make the initial investment to a business-class router instead of consumer models.

Wireless Extenders If APs are not in your future, you can look at a wireless extender. These devices are designed to grab an existing wireless signal and repeat it. Many models just plug into the electric outlet on the wall, making them easy to deploy throughout your space.

Because it is repeating the signal, it needs to be well within range of the original wireless router, but because it amplifies the connection further, it extends your coverage area. They are generally not as robust as APs, but work pretty well if you are just trying to extend the network to the back area of the office or another room.

They won't help you if you trying to increase the number of users, though. When setting up the extender, just check the options. Just a note that when you are shopping for an extender, try to match the specs: Before setting up an extender, configure your original router to a fixed channel instead of the default auto you will see this option on the router's configuration interface, in the section for wireless.

You will also need to know the security type of your wireless network. Using a Spare as an Extender If you happen to have a spare wireless router perhaps an older model lying around, you can repurpose it as an extender. You need to first assign a channel on your main router instead of auto, remember?

Check also, for its DHCP range. You can find this under DHCP, where it displays a range like Set up the new router, which is now the slave router to the original, which is the master routerby connecting it directly to a PC and accessing the router's configuration interface.

AT&T U-verse TV Wireless Receiver

Just set it up as you would a regular wireless network, except assign a fixed IP address that is legitimate, but far enough that your master router will never assign the address to another device. So if your DHCP range is It's still a valid address, but not one the DHCP server will use.

If you are using MAC filtering on your network, you can just assign the slave router's MAC address to a specific IP address, and specify that during setup. Make sure to turn off DHCP on the slave router's interface You should be able to assign the same SSID to the router to seamlessly broadcast your wireless signal.

If your router is one of those models locked down so that this method doesn't work, consider installing the open source firmware dd-wrt or Tomato.

Installing a firmware on the router isn't as scary as it sounds, and the administrator interface afterwards doesn't look too different from the router interface you are already used to.

Mesh Networking Mesh networks are powerful and you may have heard them in relation to municipal networks and other large-scale networks. They create multiple connections between devices and routers, so that if one network segment fails, other devices continue to work.If the main is an 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.

Related Access Point FAQ Netgear Routers Sharing Connection tutorial Wireless.

How Many Wireless Routers Can You Connect to a Cable Modem? | It Still Works	In fact, we sat a friend, not a Meraki employee, down with nothing more than this guide, a laptop, and a Cisco Meraki access point to see how long it would take someone with little to no networking experience to fully set up their own wireless network. A simple wireless network, setup in 30 minutes.
Home Networking Resources	Then I bought an aftermarket external antenna for the router it just screws on and replaces the standard antenna and while that helped a little, I was still getting 1 or 2 out of 5 bars in the two rooms we used wireless devices the most.
Your Answer	I have a standard Actiontec router in my basement
Introducing Google Wifi - Google Wifi Help	By adding additional routers, it seems, you would be able to extend the network without getting another modem.
How to Configure TP-Link N router as a wireless Access Point? | TP-Link	Viewers are no longer limited to watching their favorite shows on just a single TV or device.

Second, set Wireless Mode to “Access Point”. You can leave the Wireless Network Mode on Auto or enforce a specific mode (like G Only). The SSID should be the same as your other Wi-Fi access points (like the Primary Router). After a bit of Googling I found out that it’s really easy to create one WiFi network with multiple access points.

What makes Google Wifi different?

All you need to do is configure two routers to use the same SSID and password. I picked up an old Dlink DIR router and began configuring it.

How to Connect Two Wireless Routers Together Written by Amit Agarwal on Feb 21, If you wish to extend the range of your Wifi network, you can purchase an additional wireless router and connect it to your existing router with an Ethernet cable.

Jan 24,  · In reply to: Connecting a Wireless Router to a Switch Connecting the router into the switch is the way to go. The remaining user can be plugged into one of the router ports. Connecting two wireless routers without wires has many uses in a home network.

• Setting up WiFi with FortiAP - Fortinet Cookbook
• DIY: Setting up wireless access points as repeaters to extend wireless range - TechRepublic

If the home is not wired for Ethernet and there are several devices which need to be connected to home network then connecting them trough router to router wireless bridge is a good idea.