Home wireless network help: what router configuration is best?

November 25, 2017 6:55 PM

I need to setup two wifi routers on the same network and don't know what I'm doing.

- My initial plan was to have a wireless router on each floor of my house. I have ethernet running to the first and second floor from the cable modem area in the basement.
- I soon learned that having multiple access points on the same IP was harder than my meager skills. I currently have only a single dual band wireless modem (from Comcast) on the first floor. This reaches most of the house well.
- I now need to setup a router by the cable modem to provide better signal to my media closet.
- I thought I could do this by turning an older router into a wired switch, but learned you can't put the switch before the router.
- I don't necessarily need to put anything on the top floor: maybe just a wireless router in the basement and a second on the ground floor? Do they need to be identical models?

I've been googling this but can't make sense of all the options and what is required. I'm hoping someone here can set me on the right path. Thanks for your help!

posted by cgs to Technology (8 answers total)

from a simplicity standpoint you probably want one of the home mesh wifi systems. not sure which of these will take advantage of the pre-run ethernet- most are designed to handle everything themselves and so they rely on wifi to connect to one another.
posted by noloveforned at 9:27 PM on November 25, 2017

Yeah, just what nolove said, just buy a node system that comes with a few routers of the same brand, like Google wifi, it should be really easy.
posted by faustian slip at 1:53 AM on November 26, 2017

Mesh systems are awesome but really expensive.

If you can cope with a brief disconnect and reconnect when you move between access points then you should look at a Powerline with wi-fi. It's about 1/5 of the cost.

Here's one sold by Amazon in the UK but you should be able to find one similar where you live.
posted by mr_silver at 3:02 AM on November 26, 2017

The only thing I did to achieve what you want other than the obvious, is to turn off DHCP in the 2nd router (which is, coincidentally, of a different brand).
posted by Obscure Reference at 6:05 AM on November 26, 2017

Response by poster: Obscure Reference - aside from being different brands, are your two routers identical in specs?
posted by cgs at 9:52 AM on November 26, 2017

Response by poster: Thanks, mr_silver... I'm also looking at that.
posted by cgs at 9:53 AM on November 26, 2017

Here's what works for me:

Turn off DHCP on the second (upstairs) router. Connect an ethernet cable from the second router's WAN port to a LAN port on the first router. Set the wireless network id and password to be the same on both routers.

The two routers don't need to be the same brand or model number.
posted by monotreme at 10:32 AM on November 26, 2017

Best answer: The simple, set-and-forget solution is using a fancy new mesh WiFi system like Eero or Google’s mesh system. But, this means dropping $300+ on new hardware, and you already have hardware.

I think your difficulty is in understanding what a “network” is; using two routers as routers will, by definition, make two networks. Above, the recommendation is to turn off DHCP. This could work, but more likely you will want to put the upstairs router in “bridge” mode.

Bridge mode will cause the router to act as if it is within the same subnet as the primary router, like a switch. Wireless access would depend on how good the router software is; most consumer routers, especially between brands/firmwares, will force you to have two distinct wireless SSIDs. You can use the same password, but there will be disconnects as you move out of range of one antenna and into range of another. For most uses, this should not be a problem, most applications are resilient to temporary loss of connection.
posted by jraenar at 11:04 AM on November 26, 2017