How to Use Wireless Router as Repeater

Let me guess, your wireless router location has changed, or your new home does not have as favorable wireless signals, and now your wireless speeds have dropped. Glad you stopped by first, before going out and purchasing a fancy new router, or spending the time in the dusty environment of your attic, running Ethernet cable.

This guide, along with some patience and little time, will show you how to use an old, capable wireless router as a repeater. If your router is capable, it is simply a matter of upgrading the router’s firmware, allowing it to operate as a wireless bridge. Basically, this acts much like cellular towers carrying your cell phone signal.

Though there are a few firmware options, we will be using DD-WRT in this guide, as it is the most popular and best-performing firmware presently available. Their website says this about what they offer, “DD-WRT is a Linux based alternative OpenSource firmware suitable for a great variety of WLAN routers and embedded systems.”

Below, the topics will include initial tips, router prep, firmware installation, settings, and some final thoughts.

Let’s Get Started

Make sure you have a compatible router to work with; visit DD-WRT and locate your router brand and model in their router database. If you did not find your router listed, it probably does not have the ability to act as a bridge…bummer!

• If your router is compatible, have your router’s instructions available
• You will need a computer, desktop PC, or laptop, with an available Ethernet connection. This is how we will access the router admin and settings sections.
• From DD-WRT, download the respective firmware for your wireless router model (may include more than one file)
• Also from DD-WRT, print out the instructions SPECIFIC to your router, as the install process is different among brands

Router Preparation

Again, we will assume you have found your wireless router listed on DD-WRT and is compatible. This guide will help provide common steps to all firmware installs, as well as our personal experiences and input.

Do a hard reset of your router. As this may be different from router to router, please reference your router manual. Generally, it is a process called 30/30/30, which purges NVRAM and resets your router back to its default values. Note, this procedure should be performed before and after every firmware upgrade/change.

1. With router power on, press and HOLD the reset button on the back (may require a pen to press it)
2. After 30 seconds, while still holding the reset button, unplug the power adapter from the router
3. After 30 seconds, while still holding the reset button, plug the power adapter back in and hold rest button for a final 30 seconds

DD-WRT recommends you set a static IP address for your computer to be recognized by. This can easily be done by accessing your wireless adapter connection properties. These steps are based on Windows 7, but you will find similar settings in previous versions.

1. Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center
2. Click on ‘Change adapter settings’ in the left column
3. Right-click the appropriate connection listed and select Properties
4. Scroll down the list, identify and double-click ’Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)’
5. Under the General settings tab, enter a static IP, gateway, and DNS addresses

Installation of Firmware

Since not all install procedures are the same for every router, I will simply touch on some points for you to consider.

• When connecting the router to your computer for upgrading, make sure to plug the router-side Ethernet cable into one of the numbered ports, not the Internet designated port
• Be sure to execute a hard reset before and after each update, and if you need to start over, or upgrade again
• Your ISP, more than likely, is set to scan your network for a specific MAC address of the router you have connected. The MAC address is used as serial number of sorts, individually set for every router. If your ISP recognizes a different router MAC address than the one they have listed, your service may be interrupted. So, part of the install process will be to provide your repeater router the same MAC address as your primary router, giving the elution the network only has the one MAC address.

Starting the install process will have you accessing the router’s administrative section and uploading one, or two files, pending the brand and model of your repeater. Generally, you’ll be following something similar to these steps…

• Set your router to take an upgrade by uploading a starter, or prep file
• Wait a period of five minutes before continuing
• Simple power off/on process
• Enter the ‘Management Mode’, by accessing 192.168.1.1

Hopefully, you will be presented a success page

Repeater Settings

Once you have uploaded and installed the proper firmware, it’s time to make some router admin adjustments. With the computer still connected to the router, open the DD-WRT setup screen…

• You will need to setup a new username and password. The recommendation would be set it the same as your primary router credentials.
• Under ‘Wireless’, switch the router from ‘Wireless Mode’ to ‘Repeater’
• Enter the same SSID/network name as your primary router
• Leave the bridged/unabridged settings as they are; they will automatically change as needed.
• In the ‘Virtual Interfaces’ section, set a new name for the repeater router
• In the ‘Physical Interface’, set the security settings the same as your primary router
• On the ‘Setup’ tab, enter a new IP address. Choose one that is slightly different from your primary router’s IP, possibly just one digit difference.
• For security, disable the SPI firewall on the repeater router. Your primary router still has the firewall enabled.
• Un-check all references under the ‘Block WAN Requests’

That should be it. You can now unplug the router from your computer, turn on wireless service to a computer or device and see if your new repeater is detected.

Final Thoughts

The only aspect of a bridged wireless repeater that I see as a negative, is the signal/speed may be degraded. This should not be much of an issue for normal Internet browsing.

Though the repeater continues the signal from your primary router, it is not designed to ‘boost’ the signal’s range or power. With that said, it allows you to widen the range of your signal without much expense or hassles that would normally come with alternatives, such as those discussed earlier herein.