How to configure your old Wi-Fi Router to Access Point

Instead of throwing away, you can reuse your old router for the purpose of extending your Wi-Fi coverage. To achieve this, you can either turn the router into Repeater or configure it to be an Access Point.

Today, we will guide you how to switch old routers to Access Point referenced from Cnet 's article  .

Usually, to operate a network, you only need to go to a router. This means that when you replace your old router with a newer and faster device, you can take the time to persuade someone to buy your five-year-old router, or you can turn it into An Access Point (AP). Placing this homemade AP at the far end of your home and connecting it to a new router via a network cable is the best way to cover Wi-Fi throughout the home. This tutorial will show you the detailed steps for doing so.

In addition to the functionality of a regular router, your Wi-Fi router usually includes an additional AP or even two or three APs if your device supports it. The AP is responsible for broadcasting Wi-Fi to client devices such as smartphones, tablets, and so on.

In today's article we assume that the new router and host of your home network is Router A. The old router you plan to convert to AP is Router B. Our goal is to configure Image so that Router B acts as a secondary AP for Router A.

Note :- Some Wi-Fi routers are available with Access Point mode (you will see it in the Router's feature list if available).If your Router B has this mode, you just enable it and it will automatically act as an Access Point.

This guide only applies to Wi-Fi routers that do not have Access Point mode and are only suitable for routers that allow management through the web interface. Fortunately, most routers on the market now meet the above requirements.

Summary of implementation steps (for advanced users)

If you are familiar with configuring the Router in particular and network configuration in general, the steps below are for you. If you are new to networking, you should first read the Router at Home guide. Then, follow the steps detailed below.

1. Cover the WAN port (Internet) of the router with tape. This will help ensure that you do not use this port because if you do so you will not be able to configure the Router to AP.

2. Determine the IP address range of Router A. For example, if your router's IP address is 192.168.1.1, the remaining IPs from 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254 are blank IPs and we can Use any IP in this range.

Take one of the empty IP addresses in the IP range of Router A and set it to Router B. You just need to make sure that the IP address you have obtained is not used for any other device on the network.

4. Turn off the DHCP Server function of Router B.

So you're done. Now, if you connect Router B (which is no longer a Router device) to Router A using a network cable (from a LAN port to a LAN port), it will act as an Access Point to provide you with coverage. Broader to use for mobile devices.

Detailed instructions on how to turn a Router into an AP (for beginners)

Step 1:- Cover the WAN port of Router B with tape

If your Router B does not have AP mode, then you need to make sure you do not use the WAN port completely.When you connect a network cable to a WAN port, it automatically acts as a normal router because it is designed for that purpose: When it is a router, your device connects to the Internet and shares the connection. That's with the rest of the network as a host. If that happens, we can not achieve the goal of this article, making the router an AP.Therefore, you separate the port by covering it with a tape to avoid accidentally using it.

Note :- For routers with built-in Access Point mode, you can use the WAN port. When in AP mode, the WAN port will act as a LAN port, allowing you to use it to connect other wired devices to the network. This is the only case where you can use a LAN port to connect devices to the network.

Step 2:- Determine the IP address range of Router A

This step will have two parts. First, you need to determine the IP address of Router A. Connect your computer to Router A via Wi-Fi or network cable through one of its LAN ports.

If your computer is running Windows:

01. Open the Command Prompt application . On Windows 7, go to Start> Run > type cmd and press Enter. On Windows 8 / 8.1 and Windows 10, you can press the Start button , type cmd, and press Enter.

02. At the Command Prompt window , type ipconfig and press Enter. You will see a lot of text and numbers are quite tangled, you do not need to care about them, instead look for the Default Gateway line . The sequence behind it is the IP address of the router you are looking for.

On a Mac:-

You go to System Preferences> Network > select the type of network you are connecting to (which network is active, next to it will have a green dot)> click the Advanced > button at the TCP / IP tab, Router . The Router's IP address will be displayed immediately next to this item.

When you have the IP address of Router A, usually always consist of 4 groups of numbers separated by a dot in the middle of each group, use it to determine the IP range of Router A. The range of IP addresses is empty. You can choose to have the first 3 groups of numbers are exactly the same and the last group will run from 1 to 254. Of course, you can not use the current IP address of Router A.

For example, if the current IP address of Router A is 192.168.1.1, the empty IP addresses will run from 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254. If the IP address of the router is 192.168.1.254, the remaining IP range will run from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.253. When a device is connected to Router A and has an IP address in the IP range it will be accepted as part of the network.

In this article we assume 192.168.1.1 is the IP address of Router A. This address is most likely also the default IP address of many individual Router devices coming from manufacturers such as Tenda, D-Link, TP-Link ...

Step 3:- Obtain an unused IP address in the IP range of Router A and set it to Router B

Connect your computer to Router B via Wi-Fi or network cable through one of its LAN ports to find the current IP address of the router by performing the same as the first part of Step 2.

Enter the IP address of the router into the address bar of the browser to log into its web interface. This information may be printed on the device body or in the user's manual. Usually, User name and Password are admin .

At the router management interface, navigate to the section that allows you to change the default IP address of the router. Depending on the type of router, this may be Network or LAN .

Change the current IP address of Router B to one of the empty IP addresses you defined in the second part of Step 2 above. For example, if Router A's IP is 192.168.1.1, you can set Router's IP to 192.168.1.2 (make sure you have not used this IP for any other device, and if so, select Another IP address) then you save the changes. Router B will most likely reboot to apply the changes, which usually takes 1 - 2 minutes.

Step 4:- Turn off the DHCP Server function of Router B

Log back into the web interface of Router B by entering the address you just put in the address bar of your browser.In our article, this address would be 192.168.1.2.

Next, move to the LAN or Network section of the router. Here, you disable the DHCP Server function . This is one of the main functions of the router that is responsible for allocating IP addresses, and right now you do not need it to do that task, so make sure you turn it off. Save your changes and you're done.

(Depending on the management interface, some routers may allow you to perform both Steps 3 and 4 and do not need to reboot.)

Now Router B, when connected to Router A using a wired network, acts as a switch that allows you to use its LAN ports to connect wired devices to the network. Networking) and as an Access Point. At any time, you can also log into the interface of either Router using their IP address to change their Wi-Fi network settings and configurations. In this article, these addresses will be 192.168.1.1 (Router A) or 192.168.1.2 (Router B).

If you do not change any settings, Router B (which now acts as an AP) will still have the same name as when you used it with the Router function. You can give Router B the same name as Router A if you want the device to automatically connect to one of the two routers automatically, or give it a different name if you want to know exactly what you are doing. Connect to Router A or Router B. In any case, all devices connected to one of the two routers are in the same network.

As mentioned above, this is the best way to utilize your old router for full Wi-Fi coverage of your entire home. Good luck!