Are you satisfied with the WiFi in your home? Generally, once the technician has completed the router installation, we tend to forget about it and rarely make adjustments to the Wifi settings. Furthermore, it is not unusual for the number of devices connected to the network to increase over time. This accumulation of devices can result in a Internet connection which is no longer as fast or efficient as when it was initially installed. This can lead to slower internet, downloads that seem to take forever, and a streaming experience that is far from ideal.
Nevertheless, we must not give up so easily with our wifi network. Before you go to the extent of thinking about switching to another provider or signing up for a more expensive tariff with the promise of better features, you may want to investigate other alternatives to improve the eficiency of your Wi-Fi network. In fact, there is a solution that you can implement without having to spend extra money and that can make a big difference on the quality of your Wi-Fi connection.
The old router may be the answer
Many of us we have accumulated several routers when changing companies or when our operator updates the router model… and we don't know what to do with them once we uninstall them and replace them with a new generation one. Next, we tell you how you can use one of these old routers To improve your home's Wi-Fi connection:
Use it as an access point:
For improve WiFi connection quality at home without incurring costs, you can take advantage of an old router that you have saved. This can be configured as an additional access point, increasing the reach of your network.
First, connect the new and old router using a Ethernet cable. Once connected, the old router will serve as an additional access point to which you can connect all your devices. Make sure the network name and password of the secondary router are the same as those of the primary router. This facilitates the device connection to network.
To avoid IP address conflicts, disable the DHCP server of the secondary router. This server assigns IP addresses to devices on the network, and if it is active on both routers, it can cause conflicts. Access the LAN section in the secondary router's settings and disable its DHCP server.
Additionally, it assigns a specific IP address to the secondary router to avoid IP conflicts. If the primary router uses the address 192.168.1.1, you can assign the address 192.168.1.2 to the secondary router. And finally, we recommend using a different channel than the main router to avoid interference. With these simple steps, you can significantly improve the speed and range of your WiFi connection.
Use it as a WiFi repeater
An alternative To improve the WiFi connection is to use an old router as a repeater. This process involves connecting the unused router to the main device via WiFi. It is essential to understand, however, that not all routers support WiFi repeater mode. To use a router as a repeater, it must support OpenWRT or DD-WRT. If your router it is not compatible with these firmwares, you will not be able to use it for this purpose.
The steps you should follow They will be practically the same as in the previous case: ensure that the name and password of the secondary router are the same as those of the main router to facilitate the connection of the devices. It must also be disable DHCP server of the secondary router, and then a specific IP address must be assigned to the secondary router to avoid conflicts with the main router.