Help with a spare router

Z

zoozoo

Recruit
I’m using Airtel xstream fibre network since last one year at home & I’m satisfied by the performance. Now I have a spare router, TP Link Archer C 5400, lying with me, since I was using it as a part of a normal broadband, before switching to xstream fibre. It is almost new and I wish to use it as an extender, if possible. I have read somewhere about using another router as a bridge with the primary one. Not too clear on this.
1. Please let me know if the spare router can be used a bridge network?
2. What are the advantages of using it as a bridge?
3. How should I connect it for it to act as a bridge?
If it cannot connect as a bridge then how can it be used? I do not wish to keep it packed in the box.
 
Search Youtube for "How to turn an old Wi-Fi router into an access point" There are 2 ways you can setup

Wireless - the second router will use your primary router internet and relay further
* Pro - wireless connectivity
* Con - Half speed of your current internet since second router will first grab the signal from primary and then relay further which is a double work at the same time reducing the speed to half

Wired - Use Lan cable for setup
* Pro - Full speed with better wifi connectivity
* Con - Cable management as physical wire might not look good if you are concerned about aesthetics of your house
 
I tried using a spare router as a wireless repeater about 8-10 years ago. One problem you might face is that the client device needs to take advantage of the repeater once it moves. I'll illustrate with an example.

For simplicity, let's say there are 2 rooms A and B. Two access points X the original router and Y the repeater. Let's say room A is closer to X, and B is closer to Y. When your device connected, it was in room A, so got connected to the strongest signal access point which was X. Now the device moved to room B. If room B has zero signal from X, it will naturally reconnect to Y, but it is likely that a weak signal from X persists in room B as well. In this case, depending on the client device, it will stay connected to X and work with a weaker signal.

Teaching windows, Android, Linux devices to reconnect to the access point with a stronger signal was a headache, at times needing custom scripts.
 
kiran6680 said:
For simplicity, let's say there are 2 rooms A and B. Two access points X the original router and Y the repeater. Let's say room A is closer to X, and B is closer to Y. When your device connected, it was in room A, so got connected to the strongest signal access point which was X. Now the device moved to room B. If room B has zero signal from X, it will naturally reconnect to Y, but it is likely that a weak signal from X persists in room B as well. In this case, depending on the client device, it will stay connected to X and work with a weaker signal.
Click to expand...
I think current routers fixed this issue with MMO technology if I am not wrong.
 
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