Ask Leo! by Leo A. Notenboom

Can I use a second wireless access point to extend my wireless network?

Search First! Then browse: Categories | Full Archive | By Date | Newsletter

Home » Networking » Wireless Networking

Summary: Depending on what you're planning, you can use a second wireless point to extend your wireless network.

Can I use a second wireless access point to extend my wireless network?

It depends on what you're planning.

If your access points will be wired together, you're probably okay. But if you're looking to use the wireless access point to avoid more wires ... well, as odd as that sounds, maybe not.

If you plan to have both access points wired together, and perhaps placed a fair distance apart then this should work. This diagram illustrates that scenario:

Working Wirless Setup

The important thing is that the access points are actually wired to each other and, say, your internet connection.

On the other hand, if you want to connect some computers and the internet to one wireless access point, and then connect some wired computers to the other access point as in this diagram:

Non-Working Wirless Setup

And you're expecting the access point to access point wireless connection to act as a virtual extension cable then this will probably not work. Access Points typically do not communicate with each other.

A better approach for small installations might be to set up a computer with both a wireless card and an ethernet card, and then use connection sharing to share the wireless connection to other computers on the ethernet connection. The only drawback here is that you stand a good chance that these other computers will essentially be "double NAT-ed" - which means that they are effectively behind two NAT routers. The bottom line to that is that some software will not work, and there's a slight performance penalty.

Article C2103 - July 7, 2004

Was this article helpful? «Yes» «No»

Recent Comments
87 Comments

Try Meraki...their equipment will work with anything...Indoor and Outdoor applications...Mesh routers, repeaters, wall plugs, etc...

Posted by: Alan at November 27, 2009 11:57 AM

I have a slightly different but related question. The best place for me to connect my internet ASDL moden router is in a room surrounded by thick walls. I therefore struggle to pick up a connection from elsewhere in the house. The alternative of putting it on the end of a very lond telephone extension somewhat weakens the signal. I need to be able to connect one PC, 3 laptops an Xbox and a PS3 (kids just love technology)

I seemed to have collected 3 routers over the last year and have at my disposal: a Belkin N Wireless Modem Router Part Number F5D8633uk4A, a Netgear DG834 v2 wireless ADSL modem router and a
D-Link DSL-2640R Router.

Now the question is - can I connect one of my routers at the telephone point and then use one of the others to extend the range of my wireless (possibly using homeplugs 200mbs).

Not particularly technically minded, but there must be a simple way of giving coverage to most if not all of house. Have tried all three routers individually, but none can get to all areas of the house and if using homeplugs don't really want to be bound by wired connections. Could I use homeplugs to get the signal upstairs and then use one of the other routers to extend to the rest of the house??

Any help much appreciated.

Allan

Posted by: Allan at December 8, 2009 10:50 AM

hi
how did i to boost wireless aceess point signal.

Posted by: Benny at December 27, 2009 9:06 PM

I have a wireless access point which connected a home netword there is 10 pc and i want to connect a second access point how can i do this please help me

Posted by: Shahzad Anwer at January 2, 2010 8:33 AM

I use a mini yagi antenna to receive a wireless signal on my laptop but the cord keeps me limited. Is there a router or device that accepts the yagi's usb male end that I can use to broadcast the signal around my home? And then recieve with my built in wireless card?

Posted by: craig at March 13, 2010 3:16 PM

Post a comment on "Can I use a second wireless access point to extend my wireless network?":



(Name will be included when your comment is published.)



(Email Address will not be published.)

Remember Me?

By popular demand...
my tip jar
Cuppa Joe
Buy Leo a Latte!

(you may use HTML tags for style)

RSS feed Subscribe to the RSS Feed specifically for comments on this article.

Before commenting, please...

  • Read the article at the top of this page. If your comment shows you didn't, it'll be deleted and ignored.

  • Comment only on this article. Use the Google search box at the top of the page if you have a question about something else.

  • Don't include personal information in the comment. No email addresses. No phone numbers. No physical addresses.

  • Don't spam. Excessive links to unrelated sites within a comment or across multiple comments will cause all such comments to be removed.

  • Don't ask me to recover lost passwords or hacked accounts. I can't, and those comments will be deleted.

  • I can't respond to every comment. And I can't vouch for the accuracy of others who do.

Please wait. Your comment is being processed ...




Question? Ask Leo!