How to Use a Wifi Router As An Access Point in 3 Steps

So you have decided instead to use your old wifi router to extend your wifi signals by using it as an access point and then sell it at a cheap price. We appreciate your wise decision since now you can cover your entire home with two wifi routers.

So, before we get into the guide, make sure you’ve got two WiFi routers. Or Even a WiFi ADSL modem should work. You will also need a long Ethernet cable to connect both routers. A Computer or a laptop with an Ethernet port to configure the routers.

If you’ve got what’s required to move on, let’s get started with this first step.

Step.1 Check the details of your Main router.

In this step, you have to make a note of your primary router’s SSID and password. This can be done by login into the admin panel of your router. But what if you don’t know the IP address?

As it’s typical for many of us, well, first, we have to find out the IP.

Here are some of the methods for discovering IP addresses.

For those who use windows:

1. Open your computer and launch a browser, then search for this default 192.168.1.1 IP address that will take you to the login page.
2. The second way is to use your windows search bar. Type cmd there and enter the command line. Type ipconfig to know what your computer is using.

For those who use macOS:

Use your macOS search bar and type terminal. It will take you to the command-line interface, just like shown in the image. And type this common -n and get the default. Your macOS will show you details, including your IP address.

Again if you get stuck on the router’s login page, since you don’t know the username and password at that moment, look for the credentials details at the back of your router’s box. Anyway. Most of the time, it’s admin and admin for both fields or admin and password correspondingly.

Once you’ve accessed the router’s admin panel, look for the Wireless option depending on what router you have, and brands create differences there. You may either find the information on the front page somewhere on LAN or Wireless settings. The information you should look into is your router’s SSID, mode, password, and encryption type.

As an example, it could be something like this.

• SSID– Your wifi name.
• Password= Your wifi password.
• Encryption type- wpa2
• 11 b/g/n mix

Copy this information somewhere, and we’ll need to put this same setting on router B, which tends to work as an access point. 

STEP 2: Configure the secondary router- add the same details

In this step, you will have to configure your secondary router in such a way that- the SSID, the password, and the encryption type should be the same as your main router.

And also, change the DHCP settings-

Make it toggled off of the secondary router so that both routers do not conflict with each other. You can find the DHCP on the interface setup page if you’re using Tp-link; the settings and layouts are variables for the rest of them.

Deactivate the NAT option:-

Many routers don’t have an operational mode option. In this case, you have to look for the NAT option to disable it; by default, it comes enabled.

This can be done by heading into the advanced settings in general. Most of the routers have put this setting option there.

When you deactivate this NAT, now the router will work as an access point instead of a router.

Why should you use the same SSID?

Keeping the same SSID for both routers has some benefits, such as assuming that you’re walking around your and using the internet at the same time. If you have two different on the same connection, then your device will face reconnecting over and over; there has been a conflict since your device will automatically get connected to the wifi with a strong signal.

Therefore, when naming them similarly. It’ll act like one, and you can save yourself from this problematic situation. In the same way – mode, password, and encryption type make sure these parameters are similar in both routers.

Step.3 Change the IP address:

The most important thing to do is always assigns your second router, which is basically the extender wifi-router. Change the IP address from the same user interface. It can be found on the wireless page. It’s the most significant step, yet many people do not pay attention to it. And they later face difficulties because of that.

For Example:

If your main router has 192.168.1 as this IP address, then the second router’s IP should be 192.168.2.00. Either way, when you don’t apply this change, the routers would not work together, and the similar IP address conflict rather than working as one signal.

So, to avoid conflict between the two routers, we will assign a secondary router with an IP address of 192.168.1.200 2.4. Finally, now we have to make sure this secondary router works as a repeater. Ensure that the operational mode is set to router only. Step.4 Connect both routers with an Ethernet cable.

Take an Ethernet cable and put it into the LAN port of either router. Some people might say that if you have a router that supports an access point built-in, you should put the cable to the WLAN port. I agree with them; however, I tried this method and found it worked as well.

Now everything has been set up, the only thing left is to check the connection. For this, connect your device to wifi and open google. It should work correctly if you’ve followed all the steps thoroughly.

Final Thoughts:- 

In this blog post, we’ve explored a simple way to convert an old wifi router into an access point. Here is the squeeze of this guide.

First note your primary router’s details, SSID, password, and IP address. These three are the most important. Once you’ve copied these, log in to your second router’s admin panel by visiting its IP address. The next thing to do there is to apply the same settings as your main router.

After that, do these changes also.

• Change the IP address manually of your second Router.
• Disable the NAT option.
• Turn off DHC.

That’s all, the settings part is completed, now put the ethernet cable into LAN ports; you can use the LAN ports of both routers. And you’re all ready to go.