Second router as Access Point to extend range

I am trying to extend the range of my WPA-PSK and MAC protected home
wireless lan which almost covers my entire home but not quite. I cannot
move the main router because its location is dictated by its attachment to
the broadband cable router on one edge of the house. I tried an extended
antenna device but it does not do much. I found the following website
http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html
but I cannot quite get it to work and would like more specific advice for my
setup if possible.

My setup is as follows:

I have 2 routers, both Trendnet TEW 432BRP routers (they were on sale).
- One is connected to my cable modem for sharing the internet by my 3 home
PCs and works fine except for the range.
- The other router I would like to use as an "Access point" to extend the
range to the distant rooms.

I know the SSID should obviously be the same but am not sure what the other
settings should be for the second TEW 432BRP that I intend to use as a WPA
protected "access point" to extend my wlan range. Can someone help me?

My working wlan with the main router has the followings settings:
Primary router IP is 192.168.1.1
IP range from 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.150
subnet 255.255.255.0
DHCP enabled

In gathering these numbers I just noticed that in the "WAN Status" settings
of the primary router the subnet is different: 255.255.254.0. Not sure why.
I also have the default gateway and MAC addresses if they are needed.

I assume the second router's IP number should be changed but to what? And
obviously it should get its DHCP from the second PC it will be attached to,
but how do I tell it to do that? Anything else?

Thank you.

Jeff Malka

 

Hi

The first Router that is connected to the Modem should be configured as
regular Router ignoring the second Router.

The WAN port of the Router is the Internet connection and should have the IP
and mask that is assigned by the ISP and should not be the same as your
Local network is.

First makes sure that every thing works well with the first Router while one
wired and one wireless computer are connected to it (at least for the
initial setting and experimenting). Once every thing is working, you can
attend to the second Router configuration.

Using a second Router to extend a wireless network can be done in few ways
depending on the Router’s wireless capacity.

The page that you mentioned is geared toward extending the Wireless with a
second Router that is connected with a wire to the first one (I.e. the two
Routers do not connect wirelessly but need to be connected with a wire). To
extend a Wireless Network without a wire you need a Router that is capable
to be configured as WDS (I do not think that the Router that you bought can
do WDS).

In your case, the second Router has to be connected to the first one with a
Cat5e wire (the ports are MDX so a regular cable would do), Regular port to
Regular port (The WAN port of the second Router should not be used). The
core IP of the second Router has to be changed since by default it is the
same as the first, you can change it to 192.168.1.11 same mask.

The DHCP on the second Router has to be disabled; the first Router’s DHCP
would provide the whole Network.

As for Wireless security, it should be the same on both Routers.

Jack (MVP-Networking).

 

Thanks for the clear explanations.

My first router is connected to one PC by cable and the other 2 wirelessly
and all works fine including internet access.

So now on to the second router. Because of my home setup it would not be
practical to connect the second router to the first by cable. I need to do
it either wirelessly or by the second router being connected by cable to one
of the other PCs in another room (not the one that is cabled to router #1).

If I connect router 2 by cable to a PC in an other room (that is conected
wirelessly to the LAN and internet), do I still need the second router to be
capable of being configured as WDS?

What is WDS?

Any other inexpensive way of extending the range of my home wlan?

Thank you very much for helping.

Jeff

 

Hi
If the signal were strong, enough to connect to a Router that would be
placed in the second room, it would be strong enough to connect to a regular
wireless card, and you would not need a second Router.
If the signal is Not strong, you put a Router configured as WDS in the
middle of the way (sitting there by itself). In WDS mode the second Router
would receive the signal from the first Router and would transmit it further
(AKA a Repeater). See here, Wireless Modes -
http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Modes.html
Be aware, WDS is guaranteed to work with hardware of the same manufacturer.
If you buy WDS that is made by a manufacturer other then the source Wireless
Router, it might, or might not work, you would have to try. WDS cuts the
Bandwidth into half. I.e. if it receives 20Mb.sec., it transmits further
10Mb/sec.
However, if laying a cable to a second Access Point is not an option, then
it has to be WDS.
This is a reasonably prices Router that does WDS (I do not know if it works
with TrendNet.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833162173
Jack (MVP-Networking).

 

Thank you very much. You have been extremely helpful and I truly appreciate
your sharing your expertise with me.

Jeff

 

Unfortunately, this model Trendnet router does not support WDS AP
(=range extending) mode.

Compare the router's features

http://www.trendware.com/PRODUCTS/TEW-432BRP.htm

with say the TEW 510APB

http://www.trendware.com/products/TEW-510APB.htm

: Supports WDS Access Point, AP Client/Repeater Modes

I have a TEW 510APB and although it supports WDS AP mode, I use a D-Link
DWL-G700AP in repeater mode to extend coverage. I already had the D-Link
before I bought the Trendnet AP.

However, the 510APB apparently supports (both) WDS AP and repeater
modes. Can anyone explain what the difference is between a WDS AP
(=range extender) and a repeater?

My present setup works with WPA-PSK.

 

Thank you.

Jeff

 

thank you.

Thank you do much. It helped me a lot.