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I live in a two story house, my main router is upstairs and whenever I am downstairs I can't seem to get a proper signal. So I've decided to hardwire a second router downstairs and now the problem is solve. However it's a real pain to switch between access points each time I am upstairs or either downstairs. I've read various articles on how to merge the access points but I always run into trouble plus the articles are a bit confusing to understand can I know step by step simply on what to do?

Daniel B
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Michael Brakutt
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    So what exactly did you try so far? What trouble are you facing? Are wireless clients perhaps not switching to appropriate access point as they’re carried around? – Daniel B Dec 11 '16 at 18:55
  • When I am downstairs I can't can not to the internet that is when I have the same SSID and Password for both routers – Michael Brakutt Dec 11 '16 at 18:56
  • What exactly happens? Are DNS lookups failing? Are they getting a proper IP address? Can you ping the upstairs router? How did you set up the downstairs router? – Daniel B Dec 11 '16 at 18:59
  • I am able to ping the upstairs router but I am not sure what u are asking for in regards to how did u set up the downstairs router. I am not sure about DNS lookup failure etc – Michael Brakutt Dec 11 '16 at 19:03
  • Set up as in what’s the WAN configuration set to, where is the cable leading upstairs plugged into (LAN/WAN port?), did you change the IP address so it does not conflict with the other router? What’s the (exact) error message your browser shows when you try to access a website? – Daniel B Dec 11 '16 at 19:05
  • From the main router to second is LAN to WAN, I've tried disabling the DHCP server on the second router but afterwards I am not able to access the router's configuration page. Webpages just keep timing out – Michael Brakutt Dec 11 '16 at 19:08

1 Answers1

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To set up a router as a secondary access point for seamless roaming, you’ll need the following:

  1. Don’t connect the router to anything except the setup PC
  2. Disable DHCP on the router – you’ll need a static IP on the setup PC to continue
  3. Disable WAN on the router (if possible)
  4. Change the second router’s IP address so it won’t conflict with anything – it should be in the same subnet as the primary router though, so you can access the web interface without juggling IP addresses
  5. Connect the router to your existing network – use a LAN port on both router to do so!
  6. (Set up WiFi using the same network name/password)

You then have:

  • A single subnet
  • A single broadcast domain
  • Seamless roaming
  • Not used the WAN port
Daniel B
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  • Can u tell me how to get a static ip for the setup pc and if I disable DHCP how can I access the router and change wifi name etc. ? – Michael Brakutt Dec 11 '16 at 20:15
  • [You just need to set it](http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/19249/how-to-assign-a-static-ip-address-in-xp-vista-or-windows-7/). It has to be in the same subnet but different from the router. So if the router is at 192.168.1.1, you could choose 192.168.1.2. – Daniel B Dec 11 '16 at 21:19
  • The router's default gateway is 192.168.0.1 when I set the static ip to 192.168.1.2 I can't access the router page – Michael Brakutt Dec 19 '16 at 12:49
  • By “default gateway”, do you mean the router’s IP address? In that case, you’d need 192.168. **0** .2 as your PC’s IP address. – Daniel B Dec 19 '16 at 12:51
  • I did everything except for step 3 because my second router is a TP-Link router. When I connect the lan cable from my main router to the second router the default gateway for the second router becomes the main router's IP address and I can't change the WiFi name etc which is step 6 – Michael Brakutt Dec 19 '16 at 14:32
  • Ah, yes. The second router’s IP address should of course be in the same subnet as the main router (and subsequently, your PC) if you want to access its configuration. – Daniel B Dec 19 '16 at 15:20
  • what should I do? – Michael Brakutt Dec 19 '16 at 15:35
  • Get some rep so you can enter chat. xD // Your primary router is at 192.168.0.1. When setting up the second router, set it to 192.168.0.2. Then you’ll be able to access the web interface later. – Daniel B Dec 19 '16 at 15:37
  • Everything's working great now, seamless roaming indeed. However I am able to access the primary router config page from downstairs as well as the second router but when I am upstairs I can only access the primary router config page. How is that possible? – Michael Brakutt Dec 20 '16 at 22:34
  • Glad to hear it’s working! However, are you sure you haven’t accidentally connected the cable to the WAN port on the second router? That would mean you have double NAT and separate networks. – Daniel B Dec 20 '16 at 22:50
  • I did that many times but I resetted the router afterwards and made the final changes – Michael Brakutt Dec 20 '16 at 23:01
  • Can I disable NAT on one router? – Michael Brakutt Dec 21 '16 at 00:14
  • Probably not. But even if you could, the networks would still be separate. You really need to follow my guide to the point. It is the *only* way to get the same network on both routers and thus wireless networks. – Daniel B Dec 21 '16 at 07:35
  • Very odd when you hear this, I am able to access both access points through my android device upstairs but as for my laptop which I made the configuration with can't as mentioned earlier access the second router. – Michael Brakutt Dec 22 '16 at 22:07
  • Now out of full curiousity if I was to put a repeater downstairs I would I go about setting it up – Michael Brakutt Dec 28 '16 at 15:10
  • That’s a topic for a new question. ;) – Daniel B Dec 28 '16 at 16:35
  • Since DHCP is disabled in the second router does bandwidth control still work? – Michael Brakutt Jan 18 '17 at 22:41
  • DHCP is not related to bandwidth control or whatever. However, it’s usually only between WAN and LAN. The WAN side on the second router is not connected, so it won’t work. – Daniel B Jan 19 '17 at 06:33
  • anyway to overcome this or alternative? – Michael Brakutt Jan 25 '17 at 22:45
  • To overcome what? You should really ask a new question. I won't answer further comments here. – Daniel B Jan 26 '17 at 05:41