Extending WIFI range by connecting two router wirelessly
I wanted to extend the WIFI coverage at my home and was looking out for options to how to extend it. One solution was to have two wireless routers and connect it via an ethernet cable. Other solution was to buy an N plus router, but that didn’t help as I had only a slight improvement in my existing coverage, plus the additional N plus USB connector. I than decided to look out for some information on how to connect two routers wirelessly. I had a DLink DI-52 wireless model and wanted to extend it using a wireless device. I had heard about third party router firmware’s which provide support for a wireless Bridge mode that connects two routers wirelessly.
I decided to evaluate DD-WRT, the widely used third party firmware which supports many router devices, unfortunately it didn’t support my device. Before trying this, please make sure your devices is supported from the DD-WRT website. I decided to get a compatible device (WRH54G) and installed the DD-WRT firmware on it. The firmware installation went without any flaws. After installation, I went to the DD-WRT router admin page and connected the device as a router bridge to my existing wireless connection. That’s it , I now have WIFI coverage in my entire home and as and when ever required I can move my second wireless device (WRH54G) an get more coverage , since the two routers now connect wirelessly. The DD-WRT firmware also offered me a host of functionality, like QOS and tracking which was not provided my default router firmware.
Hope this would give you some insights on how to connect two routers wirelessly and one more viable option to extend WI-FI coverage.
Great article. Just one comment: doesn’t this solution cut your network’s bandwidth in half? Of course, that’s ok if you are only concerned on the internet connection that is generally of shorter speed than half of your WIFI’s speed.
@Christian – thanks for the comments . Yes this would cut the n/w bandwidth to some extend , but as you pointed out since the internet connection is shorter than Wifi , it does not gets affected .
great trick , let me try this and see how it works
I think it doesn’t work with WPA/WPA2. Works with open networks and (the insecure) WEP.
It’s a limited option. But useful sometimes. And you will suffer some lag with some applications (like games).
The DD-WRT works well with all security options – WPA/WPA2. With respect to applications, I haven’t see any noticeable difference using this option. It would also probably depend on the range , where you have relayed the second router.
Wow amazing ! i never though that this could be possible. Here i must acknowledege your research and development skills. While reading your article i wondering, if DD-WRT is necessary to get the tracking facility of wireless connection. Though it came as an added feature to what you wanted but certainly sometimes one wants to track his wireless connctions. Any ideas !
Thanks ShahJee, I would say DWRT provides more tracking options and QOS service (for instance which application gets a n/w preference) which might not be offered by your router firmware. Most of the router firmware offers some tracking options. So you don’t need to install DWRT for tracking purposes only. New high end routers provides these features , but with DWRT you get this free if DWRT is supported on your existing router.