Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
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?
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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.
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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:
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:
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 « »
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
November 29, 2011 1:36 AM
@Kuishik
I use a wireless repeater for that which for me works well. Here's an article from Ask Leo giving a few options.
How do I best extend my wireless network for laptop access?
November 29, 2011 12:16 PM
I said: DSL connected to wireless router which is configured with SSID, default gateway, security, etc.. Desktop computer connected via ethernet cable to router. Two laptops connect wirelessly.
Now, run another ethernet cable from router to the opposite side of house and attach an Access Point there with a static IP address (outside the DHCP range of the router). When I configure that AP, do I use the same wireless settings (i.e. SSID and security) as in my router? What do I *NOT* configure?
Thanks!
Leo replied: If you can let the access point use DHCP to get an IP address from the router, it'll be less problematic in the long run.
There's conflicting advice on SSIDs with multiple access points. I run my with different SSIDs (so I can see what I'm connecting to), different channels to reduce interference if possible, but with the same security settings.
My wrap-up question:
So, Leo, in your environment with different SSIDs, if you 'walk around' with your laptop moving from one network zone to another, will your laptop automatically connect to the stronger signal of the different network? seamlessly? w/o loss of connection/data?
Thanks again!
29-Nov-2011
December 7, 2011 1:36 PM
Hello Leo.
I have read through most of the questions and answers that everyone has said here but I seem to be a little confused and even people from TP-Link and Cisco give the same answer as you have in regards to the wireless accesspoint to wireless accesspoint not working. But what is the difference between my wireless pci card in my workshop accessing the accesspoint in my office while also while at the same, the pci card is connected to a switch in the workshop in which I can have up to 16 computers connected at the same time. And it works.
Because of that setup, the pci card is acting as an accesspoint for my network in the workshop which is connecting to the accesspoint in my office which then connects to the internet. I know I have to have the workshop computer turned on for this to happen but it suits me because I may need to use my computer anyway. So in a sense, the pci card is an accesspoint. Why can't this be done the same way with an actual accesspoint to accesspoint setup.
Cheers.
January 4, 2012 1:07 PM
@Ceej - your connection will drop if you have same SSID different AP and you move around with a laptop the only to prevent this that i have come across is a box dedicated to Internet connection. what this box does is kind of like a router but for internet only (you can probably put on firewall and other services on it like mail server without impacting the speed of downloads too much). So what happens now is that this box sits right at your internet source and watches all traffic and caches internet requests and responses. so you want to download a file and click on a link. the box intercepts the executable (or other types of files) and downloads it to itself and then when it is finished prompts you like a normal download would this methodology will a) keep the connection active if the file is being downloaded b) download from the box to you will be fast and future attempts to get this file would be from cache and without wasting internet bandwidth c) even if you disconnect the resume enabled nature of local fine transfer will keep your download going as you walk around the house with your device in your hand. Of course what i did required a lot of hardware and lots of time maintaining it but for a hobbyist or a professional that is just the cost of getting a feature.
@Dennis access point to accesspoint wireless connection can be done with some AP's, wireless bridge as mentioned by Leo in other articles and using customized software on old routers. however this kind of connection is prone to several problems which may make it a nightmare to implement. a) wireless connections between the two AP's will be very sensitive to average density of mass between them. meaning that even if you pass by between the wireless AP their communications can be disturbed, as in temporarily lowered bandwidth or at worst a momentary disconnection. b) even if the connection does not drop the wireless spectrum will be interfered with by other devices specially in the 2.4 ghz range e.g microwaves. However in your case if you have not seen any troubles you might be able to setup the wireless AP. my suggestion would be to use two old cheap routers from ebay or kijiji and load ddwrt, openwrt or tomato etc on them. then use the AP setting to control how you would like your setup to be. it should be a fairly painless and cheap solution. i'd expect around $50 total and 2 hours to setup. see wikis on the site for whichever version of firmware you choose for your routers.
June 18, 2012 4:13 AM
Thanks Leo. Your article was very clear. However, I need a step-by-step configuration of two WAPs in a home network.
Thanks.