WRT1900 extending wireless network

[G997]

I have a WRT1900 and love it
Thinking of adding a second one to extend my wireless.
I can connect the second WRT1900 into the network via Ethernet so I don't lose bandwidth but I'm unsure what settings I'd use on the second WRT1900.

Can anyone advise?

TIA

 

[sm00thpapa]

Just cascade the routers Lan to Lan for the same network to share folders. Or Lan to Wan to create a completely different network. IP Address of the second router will have to change as to not have an IP Address conflict.

Lan to Lan change the X digit 192.168.1.X

Lan to Wan change this X digit 192.168.X.1

http://kb.linksys.com/Linksys/ukp.aspx?pid=80&vw=1&articleid=3733

 

[G997]

Its still a bit confusing.
It looks like I want lan to lan but what mode do I put the second router in?
I think a certain mode would defeat dhcp and I wouldn't need to enter ssid or password info for second router as that would all be handled by the primary router, correct?
Also what about wireless settings on secondary router?
What would be applicable to all the above if I use an old ASUS ac68 router as a secondary?

 

[sm00thpapa]

LAN to LAN DHCP gets turned off. Mode just keep it set as a router. I have this set up for 4 years with no issues. You can set different SSID for 2nd router as well.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[jlake]

Its still a bit confusing.
It looks like I want lan to lan but what mode do I put the second router in?
I think a certain mode would defeat dhcp and I wouldn't need to enter ssid or password info for second router as that would all be handled by the primary router, correct?
Also what about wireless settings on secondary router?
What would be applicable to all the above if I use an old ASUS ac68 router as a secondary?

If you use a WRT1900 as the secondary router (AP), you have three choices for a wired cascade.

1. LAN to LAN
2. LAN to WAN
3. Bridge mode

If you read the link smooth papa gave you, it explains how you can configure the wireless settings. For LAN to LAN and LAN to WAN, you can use the same SSID and synchronize the settings with the primary router if you want. In other words, you can use same ssid, same channel, same everything as the main router. But I always use unique SSIDs and different non-overlapping channels as it will typically provide the best results. With bridge mode, the SSIDs must be different and it's better to use a different non-overlapping channel if possible. I prefer bridge mode on linksys routers for a couple reasons but I won't bore you with an explanation.

If you use an ac68 as the secondary router, your only easy options are LAN to WAN or AP mode. AP mode is typically the best choice when cascading an Asus router to another router. Most people have the best results using AP mode with the ASUS and using different/unique SSIDs than the main router.....and also using different non-overlapping channels.

 

[G997]

Thanks for the reply's and your help here guys.

I've read the link many times and its still not very thorough as there are no settings for the second router there other than its IP address. So I don't put second WRT1900 in any special mode, just duplicate the settings from primary WRT1900, set it to .2 and turn off DHCP? What happens to the fixed IP's on my network? I want the wireless to be seemless and as strong as possible

(Maybe I'm making this more complicated than it is!)

 

[chadster766]

Thanks for the reply's and your help here guys.

I've read the link many times and its still not very thorough as there are no settings for the second router there other than its IP address. So I don't put second WRT1900 in any special mode, just duplicate the settings from primary WRT1900, set it to .2 and turn off DHCP? What happens to the fixed IP's on my network? I want the wireless to be seemless and as strong as possible

(Maybe I'm making this more complicated than it is!)

As long as your Static IP's are unique all should be good. I haven't read the whole post but It looks like you are cascading in a second WRT1900AC. In that setup make sure nothing gets plugged into the secondary routers Internet Port.

 

[G997]

OK so here's what I have
2nd WRT1900:
SSID's same as primary
2.4 and 5 channels same
passwords same
lan to lan

Now primary WRT keeps disconnecting, can't even bring up SNB website

Right now, I have 2nd WRT turned off

What am I missing?

 

[chadster766]

OK so here's what I have
2nd WRT1900:
SSID's same as primary
2.4 and 5 channels same
passwords same
lan to lan

Now primary WRT keeps disconnecting, can't even bring up SNB website

Right now, I have 2nd WRT turned off

What am I missing?

Channels and SSID'S need to be different.

 

[sm00thpapa]

Channels and SSID'S need to be different.

+1 what chad stated.

 

[G997]

I guess I'm going at this all wrong then

I want to increase the wireless range of my primary wireless, not have another
wireless network that I would have to connect to as I walk to the far end of my property. And I don't not want to lose bandwidth thus the ethernet connection between routers.
Is there a way to accomplish what I want?

Thanks again for your help

 

[chadster766]

I guess I'm going at this all wrong then

I want to increase the wireless range of my primary wireless, not have another
wireless network that I would have to connect to as I walk to the far end of my property. And I don't not want to lose bandwidth thus the ethernet connection between routers.
Is there a way to accomplish what I want?

Thanks again for your help

Not to my knowledge. A wireless device will stay connected to a signal until it completely loses connection. Only then will it latch onto another signal.

 

[sm00thpapa]

You need to buy a range extender than.

 

[sfx2000]

Not to my knowledge. A wireless device will stay connected to a signal until it completely loses connection. Only then will it latch onto another signal.

Not 100 percent true - client mobility and handover is a feature in many enterprise wireless setups - Cisco is especially good at this. Aruba, if enabled at the wireless controller, is also fairly good at it.

In the ProSumer space - Apple does a nice job with this - at least within their ecosystem on a roaming Airport network.

For others - as long as you have common SSID, common WPA2 PSK's, and all AP's are on the same subnet, layer2 handovers should work fairly transparently - it is a break, then make connection, but again, depends on the client stack to some degree..

sfx

 

[chadster766]

Not 100 percent true - client mobility and handover is a feature in many enterprise wireless setups - Cisco is especially good at this. Aruba, if enabled at the wireless controller, is also fairly good at it.

In the ProSumer space - Apple does a nice job with this - at least within their ecosystem on a roaming Airport network.

For others - as long as you have common SSID, common WPA2 PSK's, and all AP's are on the same subnet, layer2 handovers should work fairly transparently - it is a break, then make connection, but again, depends on the client stack to some degree..

sfx

Thanks for the info sfx,

On some wireless devices I have see an error occur "Duplicate Network" for two wireless signals with the same SSID within range of each other but that was rare.

 

[sfx2000]

Thanks for the info sfx,

On some wireless devices I have see an error occur "Duplicate Network" for two wireless signals with the same SSID within range of each other but that was rare.

Which devices?

If that's the case, it's a bug in the device...

 

[chadster766]

Which devices?

If that's the case, it's a bug in the device...

Funny enough it was one of my kid's a xBox 360's external wireless adapter.