How To Set Up Two Modems In One House

Extending the WiFi network is something that well-nigh people seem to want nowadays. It'south quite often that someone asks me how they can extend the range or cost-finer expand their network. It'southward getting more than important than ever to always be connected, wherever you are in your business firm, and everything should be wireless. This is where double routers are coming into play.

People often first by purchasing a new router to extend their WiFi. The error they exercise afterward is to throw the old router away. Why not use it to farther extend your network? Connecting the second router to the first can greatly increase your network coverage. Information technology is besides possible to employ the same SSID on both routers, so you don't have to switch depending on where y'all are in the house.

But there are also other benefits of having two routers except for better WiFi. You tin can expand your network with more ethernet ports in other parts of the house/apartment. Most routers accept USB which you can use on multiple points in the house for mass-storage, network printing or whatever you want. But the all-time of all is that information technology is much easier than y'all might think to add a 2nd router to your network.

Why Would Yous Connect 2 Routers?

Connecting two routers might not be the outset selection that y'all think of when you think virtually extending your network. However, if you have an quondam router laying around at dwelling, then what's the point of purchasing something else like an extender or a power adapter, when you can just employ your erstwhile router?

Having a second router means that you can go more ethernet ports, for example. I have two routers at home and this was the chief reason why I wanted to gear up up the 2d router in the other room. But information technology was besides considering I needed USB ports over there. This meant that I could either buy a power adapter with a USB port (which most of them doesn't) so connect information technology to a switch for the ethernet ports OR that I could just employ the old router that I had laying around.

But nosotros also demand to talk about the WiFi extension, which is the reason you lot are looking for a solution to this, I guess. I don't have such a big apartment that I needed ii routers. Yet, since I decided to become with a 2nd router, I now have an apartment where every single part of it has a wireless network. The balustrade has total WiFi access as well as the sofa in the living room, which is on the other side of the flat.

And so, if you have an old router at home and want to get a meliorate WiFi network in other parts of your firm or flat, I highly recommend that you dig up the one-time router that you take, instead of running to the shop to purchase new hardware. Down below, I take written a detailed guide on how to prepare, and y'all can easily follow forth.

Does Whatever of the Routers Have AP Mode?

Before we go started with how to use two routers and notwithstanding, have just one network, we first need to understand how the second router should exist set upwards. Nowadays, you tin purchase something chosen access points, or WAP, wireless access bespeak. This is a product that is doing nix other than to extend your WiFi connection.

A big difference between a router and an access point is that a router is doing and so much more than an access signal. A router will, for instance, employ DHCP to give devices an IP address in your network. A router can also do stuff like port forwarding and other types of networking stuff. An access bespeak tin't do these things. If an admission point gets a DHCP-request, information technology will frontwards that request to the router. What we need to do, is to make one of the routers more like an access signal.

At that place are two ways to do this. If you take a router that is just a few years old, there is a high hazard that the router has something called AP Mode. When a router is set to AP Mode, all things that are different between a router and an admission point is turned off automatically. Nonetheless, if you do not accept this setting, y'all will demand to plough off these things manually. To brand a guide that is good for anybody, I have explained both ways downwardly below, so do not worry if you don't accept this easy setting on your router.

Merely how do you know if you lot have AP mode on your router? Well, I wish I could tell you lot how you lot can meet this on your router but unfortunately, there is no big red message on routers with AP manner. Y'all tin either:

Go to your router settings and offset looking for something called AP Mode, most probable in administrator settings
Search your router model and "AP Mode" to come across if you tin can find anything
Read the instructions guide for your router

If yous have purchased a new router and institute out that there is an AP Fashion on that but not on the old router, do not switch. The newest router should always be the main router which is taking care of all the network stuff. This will ensure that yous have new and fast hardware that takes care of network requests. New routers are often much more secure and since they are continued to the internet, that is a huge do good.

For this guide, I am using my old Asus RT-N56 router as the secondary router while I am using my current main router, the Asus RT-AC68U, which yous can find on Amazon, to be the master router.

Stride 1: Configure the ii^nd Router

Time to start configuring your router. I usually start with the 2nd i. Make sure to disconnect the power from both routers so that no ane is connected to your network. We don't want to configure the wrong router.

Take the second router and make a mill reset on it to make sure at that place are no old settings on it. This is usually done by pressing a reset button on the back of the router and property it in for a few seconds. Another mode is to accept a needle or similar and put information technology in a reset-hole on the back of the router. Delight look in the transmission or search Google to find out how to reset your router.

When your router has been reset, connect an ethernet cable to LAN 1 on the back of the router and the other end to the computer and turn the router on (if it isn't already on from the reset). Open a web browser on the figurer and go to the default IP accost of the router. This is usually 192.168.0.i or 192.168.one.one.

Since you have done a reset of the router, you lot volition most probable accept to go through a starting guide where you lot have to enter some data. When it'due south fourth dimension to choose the SSID and countersign, choose the proper noun and the countersign that yous want as your WiFi.

Since an IP accost is unique, we too need to change the IP address of this 2d router as the start i will likely accept the same IP as the second has correct now. This would mean that you would have an IP disharmonize in your network and it would not piece of work as y'all expect. In the router's settings, modify the IP to something else. My recommendation is to change the final number to a 2 instead of a 1, so it looks similar any of these:

192.168.0.ii
192.168.i.ii

On my Asus N56U, I can find the IP settings under the LAN-category in the settings carte. Fix the IP address and confirm so allow the router restart. You volition also lose connexion to the router since you have changed IP, so yous will demand to go to 192.168.0.2 or 192.168.1.2 in your browser to get back to the router settings.

The only thing left now is to turn off router-specific settings. Down beneath, I take explained how to do it with and without AP Manner, and so choose the one that is suited for your router.

When Your Router Have AP Fashion

If yous have a router with AP Mode, you need to go to the settings for your router. Well-nigh probable, the IP address is now 192.168.0.2 or 192.168.1.2. On my Asus router, I tin can discover the setting nether Administration in the settings menu. Choose Access Bespeak (AP) Mode and click Save. This volition restart the router again, but this time information technology volition plow off all the router-specific settings, which is what we want.

When the router has restarted, you tin disconnect it from the power outlet as well as the computer as it'southward time to configure the main router now, which is virtually the same steps.

When Your Router Doesn't Accept AP Way

If your router doesn't support AP Way, y'all will have to manually plough off router-specific settings. This is most as piece of cake as AP Mode. This is because settings on a router are based off 1 specific setting and so if you plow it off, the router will terminate with other settings every bit well.

This setting is DHCP. On my Asus router, I can find DHCP settings under LAN and and so DHCP Server. Here, I can choose to plough off the DHCP server, which is exactly what nosotros desire. This will terminate the router from giving out IP addresses to devices in your network and will also finish giving out the default gateway and DNS servers and such. So, turn off the DHCP server and apply the settings. Let the router restart.

When the router has restarted, you can disconnect it from the power outlet besides every bit the calculator as information technology'southward time to configure the principal router at present, which is almost the same steps.

Footstep 2: Configure the one^st Router

We have now done the hard part of configuring ane router and it'south time to exercise the same on the starting time router that will deed as the principal router. There isn't much that needs to be configured here at all, the starting guide will take yous through most of the settings and we don't demand to modify anything either.

If yous have been using the router earlier and yous already have it up and running, there is no need to factory reset it. Just brand sure that the SSID and the countersign are the same on this router as it is on the ii^nd router that nosotros just configured. If it is, go on to footstep 2b.

If the router is not yet configured, plug-in ability and connect information technology to your figurer using an ethernet cable. Now, go to the default IP accost of the router, which you have learned past now is either 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. When you first go there, you will take to get through a starting guide for the router, choosing admin passwords and set up your wireless network. Hither y'all must choose the same SSID and password that you lot chose for the 2^nd router that nosotros merely configured.

Step 2b: Configure DHCP Settings

When y'all are done with the starting guide and y'all at the router settings, in that location is i thing that nosotros need to do on the first router. That is to alter the DHCP server settings to non interfere with the 2^nd router. Many routers have DHCP configured to start already at the .2 IP accost. This is something that we want to change.

Under your DHCP Server settings, which can be constitute under LAN > DHCP Server on my Asus RT-AC68U router, you demand to change the IP Puddle Starting Address. I have mine set at 192.168.1.100. This means that any device that connects to my network will accept an IP address that is higher than .100. The max for networks is .254, and so technically, I can have 154 devices in my network that is using DHCP. However, I also take a lot of other devices in my network with static IP addresses that are below .100.

If yous are someone that doesn't need static IP addresses, I advise that you have this attack .10 so that you lot have a few reserved IP addresses if something would come up. Information technology doesn't affect the functioning at all so it doesn't matter. You lot merely don't desire information technology to be .2, that's the master goal.

Pace three: Connecting the 2^nd Router to the 1^st Router

Now that both the routers take been configured, at that place is but ane minor thing left and that is to connect them. To practice this, y'all will need an ethernet cable. Depending on how far abroad these routers will be to each other, the ethernet cablevision might need to be quite long. Yeah, it is possible to practice this by connecting them wirelessly, but I highly propose using a cable as both routers volition talk a lot to each other and information technology's best with a stable connectedness then.

Connect the cablevision to one of the LAN ports on router ane and then route the cable through the firm to the placement of router 2. This next bit is very of import and is the biggest reason why people accept issues with this solution:

Exercise Not CONNECT THE ETHERNET Cablevision TO THE WAN-PORT, CONNECT IT TO A LAN-PORT INSTEAD!

connecting the ethernet cablevision to the WAN-port of the two^nd router volition fail and the setup volition not work as expected. I've had at least three friends calling me nigh their setup not working and and then it'south simply a matter of switching port. So, make sure the ethernet cable is continued to a LAN-port on both routers.

In one case they are both continued with the cable and they are powered on, y'all are done. Congratulations, you now take two routers in your home where one is working as an bodily router while the other i is working equally an access point, extending your WiFi and giving you more ethernet ports in other parts of the firm.

If you desire, you tin become an actress step further to brand certain that they practice non interfere with others. This is something I highly suggest that y'all do if you have washed all the work to set up everything, as information technology's nice to know it works equally adept as possible.

Making Sure They Don't Interfere with Each Other

Since yous now have two routers that are relatively close to each other, y'all need to brand sure that they exercise non interfere with each other. What practice I mean with that? You see, when a router is putting out WiFi, information technology does so in a channel. If both routers are using the same aqueduct to put out WiFi signals, they will interfere and disrupt each other. So, you want to brand certain that they use different channels.

A channel is a certain frequency. As you may know, radio comes in at a special frequency, and if you want to change the radio channel, you modify the frequency. But you may also have heard that two radio stations interfere with each other, if you are in the middle of two cities, or if you are using an FM Transmitter, for example. It'due south the aforementioned for routers.

In your router settings, you can change the aqueduct on your WiFi signal. However, if you live in an apartment, yous about likely have neighbors around you lot that also have their routers and you don't want them to interfere with you either. To solve this, there is a program that you can download for free called SSIDer that can help you choose the best aqueduct for your WiFi.

The problem with SSIDer is that it can be complicated at startup, with a lot of graphs and numbers. MetaGeek, a fantastic company that is creating WiFi solutions for companies and professionals, take made a guide on how to use SSIDer and how y'all can find the best channel for your situation. Check it out downward below.

Easier Alternatives

As always, at that place are other options to extend the WiFi. The latest engineering and the all-time thing that is currently on the marketplace is a Mesh WiFi system. This is when several routers are creating a "net" with WiFi. Y'all can take two or three routers in your home and they all talk to each other to improve your WiFi and making sure that you have a stable network at dwelling house.

But nowadays, information technology doesn't accept to be routers either as many companies have released mesh-packages. An case of this is the Google Mesh Network, which yous can find on Amazon. Information technology is a product with three smaller routers, chosen nodes, that work together to build a mesh system. One of them is the chief router that is continued to the network while the others are extending the WiFi connection further.

The biggest advantage with mesh systems instead of connecting routers together the way we take done is that everything is wireless, and the products are made to be wireless all the time, without ever needing a cablevision. This means that they will communicate on 1 channel (frequency) and send out WiFi signals on some other, which doesn't interfere with each other. They too work better if you would become from one room to another, as everything is seamlessly connected.

If you would like to know more about mesh systems and why information technology'southward the large buzzword in WiFi today, yous should bank check out How-To-Geek'south guide on mesh systems, as they take made a bully caption of it.

You lot tin can of grade just get a range extender as well merely every bit they tend to perform bad, losing a lot of speed and often lose signal besides, the mesh arrangement is much more than preferred, as well as connecting ii routers equally we did in this guide.

Now, let me know, how practise you extend your WiFi at home?