Extend wifi range of router via Cat5 cabling

[bri1968]

Hello,
Apologies in advance if this is a really stupid question!
I live in an old house with thick walls that we recently renovated during which Cat5 cabling was installed. Our wireless router is in a room at one end of the house (beside the telephone point) from which ethernet cables can connect to the Cat5 sockets taking the broadband to the other rooms that have a Cat5 socket. That is fine for connecting devices to the sockets in the other rooms but because the house is old with thick walls our wifi signal fades to nothing in some parts of the house. Moving the wireless router only moves the problem to another area. I thought about a wifi repeater but the room I would like to locate it in to then boost the signal to the rest of the house is borderline on the range for the wireless router. Is it possible to connect another wireless router or device to the main wireless router through the Cat5 cabling so that the second router/device can offer wifi to that area of the house? If so can you let me know what I need to buy and how to install it?
Many thanks

 

[eibgrad]

Yes, you can always take a wireless router and reconfigure it as a wireless AP. Just assign it a static IP in the same range as your primary router (so say the primary router is 192.168.1.1, perhaps make it 192.168.1.2, just as long as it's not in use elsewhere, such as the primary router's DHCP pool), disable its DHCP server, and connect it to the wall over a LAN port. Add as many of these as you need. Of course, it only makes sense to use a different channel for each (1, 6, and 11 are the only non-overlapping channels, so use them first), although if the signal from the primary router is weak or non-existent, it may not matter as much.

 

[bri1968]

Yes, you can always take a wireless router and reconfigure it as a wireless AP. Just assign it a static IP in the same range as your primary router (so say the primary router is 192.168.1.1, perhaps make it 192.168.1.2, just as long as it's not in use elsewhere, such as the primary router's DHCP pool), disable its DHCP server, and connect it to the wall over a LAN port. Add as many of these as you need. Of course, it only makes sense to use a different channel for each (1, 6, and 11 are the only non-overlapping channels, so use them first), although if the signal from the primary router is weak or non-existent, it may not matter as much.

That's really helpful - thanks so much!

 

[bri1968]

Just to let you know I bought an Edimax EW-7228APN Range Extender/Access Point from Amazon for £20 and now have wifi around the house. Thanks for you advice ebigrad!

 

[Cavaliere]

Yes, you can always take a wireless router and reconfigure it as a wireless AP. Just assign it a static IP in the same range as your primary router (so say the primary router is 192.168.1.1, perhaps make it 192.168.1.2, just as long as it's not in use elsewhere, such as the primary router's DHCP pool), disable its DHCP server, and connect it to the wall over a LAN port. Add as many of these as you need. Of course, it only makes sense to use a different channel for each (1, 6, and 11 are the only non-overlapping channels, so use them first), although if the signal from the primary router is weak or non-existent, it may not matter as much.

Does it matter if its a different brand of router than the main, im trying to run Cat5 out to another building away from the main router and want to hook up another router in this separate building. Was just wondering if its a different brand if it makes any difference?

 

[davebo]

This solution helped, thanks! And, as usual, when I used a router as a hub, I had to plug my ethernet into one of the numbered ports as opposed to the WAN/LAN port.

Yes, you can always take a wireless router and reconfigure it as a wireless AP. Just assign it a static IP in the same range as your primary router (so say the primary router is 192.168.1.1, perhaps make it 192.168.1.2, just as long as it's not in use elsewhere, such as the primary router's DHCP pool), disable its DHCP server, and connect it to the wall over a LAN port. Add as many of these as you need. Of course, it only makes sense to use a different channel for each (1, 6, and 11 are the only non-overlapping channels, so use them first), although if the signal from the primary router is weak or non-existent, it may not matter as much.