2 routers for better wireless connection?

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HermanTheGerman

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Hello!
Here's a stupid question for all you tech fundis: I'm sitting at the main computer in the study, using a TP-Link TD-W8960. My Big Rig is plugged in, of course. My wife has her desk in the kitchen (perfect place for wimmin, no?) and uses a laptop, connecting wirelessly to the TP-Link. Lately she's complaining about bad speed and often losing all connectivity. Now I had an idea: we still have a duoPlus 300WR and a Mega 105WR collecting dust in the spare parts shelf and I thought why not make use of one of them as a repeater/amplifier, or whatever these things are called, in order to get a stronger signal? From the second router my wife could then plugin. Cool? I suspect the wireless thing in her lappy isn't very good so this could be a perfect solution.

So is this a stupid idea? If not, how do I proceed from here?

Thanks for your help, guys.
 
HermanTheGerman said:
Hello!
Here's a stupid question for all you tech fundis: I'm sitting at the main computer in the study, using a TP-Link TD-W8960. My Big Rig is plugged in, of course. My wife has her desk in the kitchen (perfect place for wimmin, no?) and uses a laptop, connecting wirelessly to the TP-Link. Lately she's complaining about bad speed and often losing all connectivity. Now I had an idea: we still have a duoPlus 300WR and a Mega 105WR collecting dust in the spare parts shelf and I thought why not make use of one of them as a repeater/amplifier, or whatever these things are called, in order to get a stronger signal? From the second router my wife could then plugin. Cool? I suspect the wireless thing in her lappy isn't very good so this could be a perfect solution.

So is this a stupid idea? If not, how do I proceed from here?

Thanks for your help, guys.
Click to expand...

Not a stupid idea whatsoever. If you are prepared to - the best thing would be to run a ethernet cable from the main router to the secondary one. If this is not possible, you can configure the router to act as a wireless repeater.

I believe under the Telkom DuoPlus 300WR admin screen (under WDS), you can select repeater mode and then fill in all the info from your main access point.
 
Thx for quick reply, Zertop.
No, although it's not far from router 1 to router 2, an ethernet cable would look fugly and wifey would kick me out, so not really an option. But the amount of labour to do on the 300WR looks not too overwhelming and overly geeky, so I shall try that. :D
 
HermanTheGerman said:
Thx for quick reply, Zertop.
No, although it's not far from router 1 to router 2, an ethernet cable would look fugly and wifey would kick me out, so not really an option. But the amount of labour to do on the 300WR looks not too overwhelming and overly geeky, so I shall try that. :D
Click to expand...

Thats the case for most of these situations :D Wireless will be better for you. Good luck setting it up, it can sometimes be finicky.
 
Yes, and finicky it is indeed. I gotta mantion maybe that we're both on Linux but that shouldn't change much in the situation. Only that wifey can't install the Wind driver for the 300WR on her machine. Far as I foundout it's not necessary to install the driver. But she can't get to the router's configuration.
Further question: do I need to change anything on my TP-Link? Right now it's on wireless, do I have to switch to bridge mode or some other expert settings?
 
To be honest, I'm not an expert with that router. Bridge mode usually involves lan bridging, however what you need is repeater mode. Should be there somewhere - try the quick start menu
 
Sorry - forgot to add...

Try plugging in the router with a lan cable directly to a laptop, and accessing the web interface that way. As soon as it's setup, you can remove the cable. Also, try resetting the router with the reset button at the back (put a pin through the little hole)
 
HermanTheGerman said:
Hello!
Here's a stupid question for all you tech fundis: I'm sitting at the main computer in the study, using a TP-Link TD-W8960. My Big Rig is plugged in, of course. My wife has her desk in the kitchen (perfect place for wimmin, no?) and uses a laptop, connecting wirelessly to the TP-Link. Lately she's complaining about bad speed and often losing all connectivity. Now I had an idea: we still have a duoPlus 300WR and a Mega 105WR collecting dust in the spare parts shelf and I thought why not make use of one of them as a repeater/amplifier, or whatever these things are called, in order to get a stronger signal? From the second router my wife could then plugin. Cool? I suspect the wireless thing in her lappy isn't very good so this could be a perfect solution.

So is this a stupid idea? If not, how do I proceed from here?

Thanks for your help, guys.
Click to expand...

Hi Herman,
Did you have any luck with setting the duoplus up as a repeater/bridge?
I'm going crazy trying...
 
If you have two Telkom points (1 at each end of the house but using the same line), can you connect a router to each point for better coverage? Obviously your ISP would have to allow concurrent connections.
 
abdullah065 said:
If you have two Telkom points (1 at each end of the house but using the same line), can you connect a router to each point for better coverage? Obviously your ISP would have to allow concurrent connections.
Click to expand...

No you can't. You can only run one modem on a line, not more than one. IF you have two Telkom points using the same line, you will only be able to use one modem.

AndreGVP said:
Hi Herman,
Did you have any luck with setting the duoplus up as a repeater/bridge?
I'm going crazy trying...
Click to expand...

Run a cable, and use the duoplus as an AP. That is the best solution.
 
You never want two routers on your network.

You want one Router and then an Access Point only.

So you want to be sure only one device acts as a Gateway with DHCP, NAT and Firewalling running on it while the other device does none of those.

Some Routers don't give you those options at all, while others will be happy enough if you plug the Ethernet into one of the ports on the second device and give it a static iP in the same range as the first while switching off it's DHCP server so all that info comes from the main device.

Then give it a Wireless SSID with the same name, but on another channel (or set both to Auto) and you are good to go.
 
SauRoNZA said:
You never want two routers on your network.

You want one Router and then an Access Point only.

So you want to be sure only one device acts as a Gateway with DHCP, NAT and Firewalling running on it while the other device does none of those.

Some Routers don't give you those options at all, while others will be happy enough if you plug the Ethernet into one of the ports on the second device and give it a static iP in the same range as the first while switching off it's DHCP server so all that info comes from the main device.

Then give it a Wireless SSID with the same name, but on another channel (or set both to Auto) and you are good to go.
Click to expand...

Thanks
 
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