Use wireless router as access point to boost signal
Hello,
I have a TiVo, PS3, and Wii in the living room that all have wireless built in (with the exception of the TiVo that i added a wifi USB stick).
All the systems have issue with connectivity because the signal in my home is not strong enough. I wanted to know if i can use my current belkin draft N router as an access point in my living room if i were to buy another N router.
Can i have the belkin magnify the N signal? Do you think i can have all my devices hardwired into the living room Belkin router and have the router make their signals wireless?
I have a TiVo, PS3, and Wii in the living room that all have wireless built in (with the exception of the TiVo that i added a wifi USB stick).
All the systems have issue with connectivity because the signal in my home is not strong enough. I wanted to know if i can use my current belkin draft N router as an access point in my living room if i were to buy another N router.
Can i have the belkin magnify the N signal? Do you think i can have all my devices hardwired into the living room Belkin router and have the router make their signals wireless?
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It's not really clear why Linksys is in the tags of this question since none of their products are mentioned. But if you mean you've put draft-n or draft-n1 adapters in/on all those devices, then yes - another draft-n router from Belkin or Linksys should work fine to extend the nework... both of those manufacturers appear to have abandoned 5GHz 11n and are making 2.4GHz-only draft-n wireless routers/APs, so they should be as compatible together as any other brands are with no finalized standard.
As BOTA-X pointed out, you wouldn't really need it in router mode. If you connect the 2nd router to the first one with cat5e via their LAN ports it wouldn't need to do any routing per se, and you could disable the 2nd one's DHCP server too. I would not use WDS/bridge mode for the situation you describe - in that mode the 2 routers usually talk only to each other, not to any clients... you'd need another AP connected to the bridged router's LAN or WAN port just to talk to the clients.
But a Linksys draft-n access point like the WAP4400N should work fine too if you can connect the 2 with cat5 (generally repeater mode cuts maximum bandwidth in half with each repeater stage, so connecting the 2 with some good UTP is preferred if possible).
As BOTA-X pointed out, you wouldn't really need it in router mode. If you connect the 2nd router to the first one with cat5e via their LAN ports it wouldn't need to do any routing per se, and you could disable the 2nd one's DHCP server too. I would not use WDS/bridge mode for the situation you describe - in that mode the 2 routers usually talk only to each other, not to any clients... you'd need another AP connected to the bridged router's LAN or WAN port just to talk to the clients.
But a Linksys draft-n access point like the WAP4400N should work fine too if you can connect the 2 with cat5 (generally repeater mode cuts maximum bandwidth in half with each repeater stage, so connecting the 2 with some good UTP is preferred if possible).
Sorry... guess I'll just stop answering questions more than 3 hours old.
ASKER
haha Dar247 its ok, i just actually approved it less than 1 min ago!
but any way thanks for the useful info
but any way thanks for the useful info
Best solution is to buy a Access point to extend the network.