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| Thread ID: 139282 | 2015-04-06 05:20:00 | Can I use an old router as a wireless range extender? | Tony (4941) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1398122 | 2015-04-06 21:04:00 | Hey Gary, What's your extender? Maybe interested. Cheers, KK Netgear WN604 |
gary67 (56) | ||
| 1398123 | 2015-04-06 21:10:00 | A true wireless extender actually picks up the original signal and pushes it along. While these do work, they are always slower than the original, at times by 50% If you are using old equipment with new, sometimes the older stuff wont work as you may expect, it quite simply cant handle the newer equipment. By making everything the same on two devices, effectively you are actually creating a separate connection with the same name, which can be confusing and actually cause more troubles. Read en.wikipedia.org fully, it explains it better. |
wainuitech (129) | ||
| 1398124 | 2015-04-08 02:28:00 | After a lot of experimenting and more reading, I think I've done it, and more simply than in the method in Wainui's original link. See here (www.techrepublic.com). What you do is set up your current router and the old one to have static IP addresses, the same SSID and shared key, disable DHCP on the second router, put them on different channels and off you go. It seems to be working, though atm there is not a great improvement in signal strength even when I am near the second router. A bit more checking is needed, but it does seem to work. You only see one network name on my phone and laptop, but funnily enough I see two identical network names on the new smart tv, each showing quite different signal strengths |
Tony (4941) | ||
| 1398125 | 2015-04-10 03:22:00 | I'm still working on this - what I said in the previous post doesn't seem to be working after all. I have a weird thing happening. The "old" router (Netcomm) has become very iffy about accepting a password. If I have no security, then I can connect to the network from my phone no problem. If I enable security and create a passkey for the router (I'm using something dead simple and insecure atm for ease of use), the router accepts the password I create, but when I try to connect, the phone says I have an incorrect password. I've tried it with several different password setups on the router and it seems to be the same every time. I've turned the router on and off, and also totally reset it, but it is always the same. Ideas?? |
Tony (4941) | ||
| 1398126 | 2015-04-10 03:25:00 | OK, interesting. I can connect through the netcomm router with my laptop - the password is OK, but not from the phone. I'm confused... |
Tony (4941) | ||
| 1398127 | 2015-04-10 07:43:00 | Maybe you phone does not support the encryption you are using. Cheers, KK |
Kame (312) | ||
| 1398128 | 2015-04-10 07:48:00 | Maybe you phone does not support the encryption you are using. Cheers, KK I did wonder about that, but things have changed (again). I went out for a couple of hours and when I came home with nothing changed, everything worked fine. Weird. |
Tony (4941) | ||
| 1398129 | 2015-04-10 08:33:00 | funnily enough I see two identical network names on the new smart tv, each showing quite different signal strengths Funny that :), two devices, with the same SSID what else would you expect ? After a lot of experimenting and more reading, I think I've done it, and more simply than in the method in Wainui's original link Errrrrrr -- Two completely different connection types. One is a Access point the other is an extender, The extender option will be more unstable and give more problems ( as you have already described) - both are set up different so its a bit hard to compare instructions. |
wainuitech (129) | ||
| 1398130 | 2015-04-10 10:35:00 | Funny that :), two devices, with the same SSID what else would you expect ?Yes, but why only one on the phone and laptop? Errrrrrr -- Two completely different connection types. One is a Access point the other is an extender, The extender option will be more unstable and give more problems ( as you have already described) - both are set up different so its a bit hard to compare instructions.Since I did that post and have done more reading I have realised that you are of course quite correct. What I have been hoping to achieve is the extender, but I think the two access points is actually more sensible. This whole exercise, apart from self-education, has been to give my new smart tv a decent signal to work with, For that I just need an access point that it can be permanently associated with. For laptop/phone it is just as easy to connect to whichever one is best at the time. |
Tony (4941) | ||
| 1398131 | 2015-04-10 11:41:00 | Funny that :), two devices, with the same SSID what else would you expect ?Further to that, what I was expecting was something that looked to the world like a single access point, where a device would connect and use whatever signal was the strongest. I now realize that was (a) not necessary for my purposes and (b) probably not feasible anyway, although I was only seeing one access point on the phone and laptop. I could never tell which connection was actually being made and the signal strength didn't stay as strong as I was expecting/hoping, which plays to your second point in that post. | Tony (4941) | ||
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