Can I connect a router to a router?

In case you live in a large home that does not enjoy comprehensive coverage, you may be wondering how to extend your internet reach without having to buy an extender. Connecting another router to your main router could be one easy solution.

Comprehensive Wi-Fi coverage all around a large house or office can be a difficult phenomenon to achieve. A lot of the time, it calls for either one of two solutions; finding a high speed and long range internet transmitter or extending the range of your already existing router through a Wi-Fi extender or repeater. However, people have wondered whether it is actually possible for them to use an extra router to increase the range of internet transmission within the home. The answer is yes. It is possible to make a connection from one router to another.

So, when would it be ideal to connect two routers over the same network?

Reasons why you should connect two routers over the same network

1. Extending Wi-Fi signal

As earlier mentioned, large houses and office settings often times suffer the inconvenience of having an incomplete or incomprehensive internet connection. A lot of the time, people prefer to use gadgets such as repeaters and Wi-Fi extenders to facilitate ideal coverage. However, a router would make a better signal booster than a Wi-Fi extender or repeater since it has better technology and a wider reach than a Wi-Fi extender. Additionally, most routers come with a significantly larger number of ports than Wi-Fi extenders do. Installing an extra one would mean having more ports where you can connect multiple devices via wired connectivity.

2. Isolating network segments

Having an extra router in your home simply means that you can create varying website and routing restrictions or even use and entirely separate DNS service.

So, how should you go about setting up the second router?

How to connect a router to a router

Follow the below steps to connect your router to another.

Step One – Determining the Master router’s details

Go to the Windows search bar on your laptop or desktop computer and key in ipconfig/all and find the value of the Default Gateway, which is your router’s IP address. In case you are on iOS, have the terminal window open and key in route-n get default to get the default gateway value.

Step Two – Username + Password

Hop onto your web browser and key in the IP addressof your router. Once this is done, proceed to enter the username + password provided for your router. In case it is not available to you, then you can make a call to the manufacturer’s tech support for assistance.

When you have keyed these details in, you shall gain access to your router’s settings.

Step Three – Shift to Wireless Mode

Once you gain access to the settings, change to Wireless Settings. Take note of the SSID, the Wireless Mode and also the Channel.

In case you use a password to protect your network, take note of the security mode you use and its password, then proceed to close the web browser.

Step Four – Configuring your second router

The first step in this segment is restoring the router’s factory settings. To do this, you will have to press the Reset button, usually on the back panel of the router, with a slender object such as a pin for approximately 10 seconds.

Using an Ethernet cable, connect the second router to an internet enabled device such as a laptop or desktop computer. One end of the Ethernet cable ought to find its way to one of the router’s LAN ports while the other end goes into the laptop or desktop’s Ethernet port. Before making this connection, make certain that the router is powered on.

Step Five – Activate wireless settings

Open the web browser and activate and key in the default IP address of the reset router you intend to use. Once you gain access to its settings, change its Wireless Mode values, its channels and security mode values. Additionally, you can alter the passphrase so that it matches that of the main default router. Here, you might want to change the slave router’s name to distinguish which router each device is connected to.

Step Six – Change router’s mode

Proceed to Setup and click on Advanced Routing and activate Router Mode. Proceed to inactivate the DHCP server. This is because the Master router will take it upon itself to assign an IP address to every device getting connected to its wireless network.  From here, you can change the slave router’s IP address to a free address available on your LAN network. Proceed to save all changes made for the slave router and close your internet browser.

Step Seven – Connect Master and Slave

Having altered all necessary settings, you can go ahead and connect both routers. To do this, you are going to need an Ethernet cable. On the Master router, ensure that the WAN port is connected to the modem provided by your Internet Service Provider. When this is done, connect both routers using an Ethernet cable, preferably a Cat5e or Cat6, ensuring that the cable runs from one LAN port on the Master to a LAN port on the Slave router. This step creates an open network that will give you access to all your information, right from your images, music and other shared files. You will be able to access these from any device connected over this network.

Brief Summary on how to connect a router to a router

Final thoughts

Replacing your router to get one with a wider transmission range can be an incredibly expensive affair. The advantage of using a second router is that it could easily be an old one, and it would work just as well. From the guide above, it is quite clear that the process is easy to follow, and you shall have two connected routers within no time.

FAQs

1. Does having an extra router increase the internet speeds I have been experiencing?

Unfortunately, it will not. The speeds you experience are largely determined by your ISP and the data plan you have paid for. You may want to review that so that you experience better speeds.

2. Do both routers need to be on the same Wi-Fi standard?

No, they don’t. Most routers are backward compatible and will connect with other Wi-Fi standards with ease.

3. Does the slave router have to be an old one?

Not necessarily, but it would beat the purpose of connecting two routers if you have to buy a new router to act as an extender.You can replace the existing router with a better one altogether instead.