Old Router Into Wi-Fi extender or WiFi Booster
Turning your old router into a WiFi extender or WiFi booster tricks explained. Do you know what the most annoying thing is? It has a wrong signal because the connection drops out, and it becomes unusable.
I know many won’t deny the fact that it is one of the most annoying scenarios when you have set up your router in a new apartment or house, and your WiFi is working correctly until you find out the streaming has ceased just outside the range of the WiFI router.
This happens because unless you live in an apartment, it’s relatively infrequent that a single router will support every corner of the house. Rather than letting your old WiFi router sit and collect dust or grumbling about how you can’t watch your favorite series over Netflix or listen to Spotify, you can do something about it.
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The WiFi booster, WiFi extender, and WiFi repeaters are mostly identical things. That is, turning your old router into a WiFi extender or WiFi booster so that it can grasp signals out of the blue and retransmit it.
So the following steps to extend the WiFi signals are as follows:
1. Creating A New Access Point
First, you have to create a separate wireless access point where one can connect separately from the original access point. If you move to any corner of the house or apartment, you witness a weak signal from your old Wi-Fi router. So what you can do is, you can connect to the extended one for better movement.
It’s not like those mesh networks where devices automatically switch between access points because that will take a particular type of mesh router, which you have to buy separately probably. But it is a much better option. This is because if you don’t have any connection on one side of the house, at least you’ll be able to switch to it pretty quickly.
There are two main options on how to approach, either as a Wi-Fi repeater or as a Wi-Fi extender:
a. WiFi Repeater
If you approach as a WiFi repeater that feature is available in your router, which means it is all wireless. So your new access point extender needs to get a wireless signal from the old WiFi router, and then obviously it can transmit to whatever devices connected to it.
If you’re going for a repeater approach, then you have to keep in mind where to place it because, in a repeater, you have to put it in a particular place range to get a decent signal. There are two disadvantages here.
There may be signal loss from the main WiFi router to the extended one. The signal may also be lost from the extender to the router.
b. WiFi Extender
If you approach as a WiFi extender, then, in that case, you run an actual physical hardwire if you’re on a cable, from your primary router to the extended router, and then it will broadcast an access point from there.
It is the ideal way to approach it because, in this, you’re getting a hardwire for four connection speeds to the extender router, and then it will broadcast to the rest of the network.
[NOTE: One has to be careful while working with routers from 802.11b and g eras as they have low bandwidth, which creates gridlocks in your network]
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2. Update and Reset
After installing firmware and connecting the router to the network, open the browser window and log in with the help of the router login. app. And do remember that the IP addresses vary from brand to brand. Usually, routers have default passwords like 1234 or admin.
If these passwords don’t work, then one can get help from the manufacturer’s product support. In case one has forgotten the set’s password, then one has to restart it by holding the restart button down for a maximum of 30 seconds. After this, go to the configuration page and sure the password and the network name match to ensure stable roaming from the old router to the extender.
3. Setting Static Address – WiFi extender
First, type the static address and make sure you keep the list of static addresses taped in to prevent any confusion over IP addresses later. A router uses a subnet mask to decide whether the user and the network are local or remote.
So you always have to ensure that the subnet mask matches the router’s. Do check the box for Disable Wireless Client Association and enter the router’s MAC address before you’re done.
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4. Repeat for the short-range
5GHz is a short-range WiFi. So what you have to do is, go to that section and repeat the previous set of instructions. Click on “Apply” when you’re done. After conducting this process, you will see the router restart within some minutes and behave like an extender.
5. Verifying the work – WiFi Booster
So now you have found that sweet spot where to place your router so that it will give you the best signal. Pick a place with an AC outlet, start the extender, and try to get online with your tablet or phone. It might take some time or error problems or may require an extension cord if the AC outlet is in the wrong place.
Conclusion
Hence, by this procedure, an old router can be converted to an extender. I hope it helps those facing such signal issues, and rather than spending more pennies on it, you can follow up on this set of instructions.