Help with a spare router

[zoozoo]

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.

 

[Futureized]

I am using 2 routers (works excellent), @enthusiast29 Helped setup same.
Check my old topic somewhere.

 

[kartikoli]

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

 

[kiran6680]

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.

 

[kartikoli]

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.

I think current routers fixed this issue with MMO technology if I am not wrong.

 

[TrexTom]

Most consumer routers don't support seamless roaming. For that, you need a proper access point with 801.11r,802.11v, and 802.11k support. Or install openwrt if your router is supported.
You can use your 2nd router as a dumb access point by turning off the DHCP server on it and connecting it to your Airtel router via ethernet cable LAN-to-LAN port.

 

[zoozoo]

Thanks for your quick replies. I'll try out the AP suggestion as advised by you. One thing I'm not fully able to understand is creating an Access Point & creating a bridge are same or different?
Creating an Access Point seems to be an easier affair than using the routers in a bridge network. ( That's what I understood from a couple to articles I came across online. Maybe I' wrong )
If both of these are different than can you please highlight certain pros & cons of both these over one other.

I am using 2 routers (works excellent), @enthusiast29 Helped setup same.
Check my old topic somewhere.

How did you connect them? As an Access Point or as a Bridge network? Although I'm not fully aware if both mean the same or different. I request you to kindly share your old link. It will be quicker for you to search than me. I'll also try.

 

[kiran6680]

One thing I'm not fully able to understand is creating an Access Point & creating a bridge are same or different?

Bridge is a term only you have used in this thread, so you would know best what you mean by it. I, and I think others too, have used the term "access point" to distinguish it from router, although the device you will be using as the access point is capable of being a router as well. To be more precise :


1. Router : the one doing the routing. Typically it will be connected to the Xstream incoming connection.
2. Repeater : the dumb device just repeating whatever the router transmits. Xstream doesn't know about this.
3. Access point : either of these 2, client device can connect to any of them.

 

[zoozoo]

Bridge is a term only you have used in this thread, so you would know best what you mean by it. I, and I think others too, have used the term "access point" to distinguish it from router, although the device you will be using as the access point is capable of being a router as well. To be more precise :


1. Router : the one doing the routing. Typically it will be connected to the Xstream incoming connection.
2. Repeater : the dumb device just repeating whatever the router transmits. Xstream doesn't know about this.
3. Access point : either of these 2, client device can connect to any of them.

I wanted to have some knowledge of the bridge term in routers after going thru the article on this Link.

 

[rockyo27]

Bridge mode makes your router act as a switch while everything i.e. Routing and other heavy work is done by main router and that switch now just relays data.
In AP mode you can make your secondary device do the heavy loading if you want but then u will be plagued with double NAT.
So you can do both depending what u like.
Also if u are trying to use that old router as repeater than do that on wifi5 not on 2.4 that will give you good speed and working.

 

[zoozoo]

Thank you guys for sharing your knowledge on routers. Please suggest Any good ebook or YouTube video which would explain a bit more on routers/networking in very simple language.
Meantime based upon your suggestions I have connected the spare router to the Airtel provided one via Ethernet cable and selected AP on the secondary router. Both routers are around 1.5 feet apart. Now I’m getting 6 wifi names on my devices and I’m able to connect to either of them. I do not see much improvement in speed but there’s a slight increase in reachability on the internet signal to certain locations in my house where earlier the signal strength was negligible. Could this be due to the secondary router which I feel is more powerful than the primary one due to it having 8 antennas. The Airtel one has only 2. Does it mean more antennas = greater signal strength?

 

[rockyo27]

You can switch of wifi of airtel and keep wifi on the spare one and in wifi section change wifi name and pass as required.
Are you getting speed as per your plan or quite below it?

 

[guest_999]

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

Correction, it is half speed of your link speed. Second router will be connecting to the first router at the speed with which wifi connection gets established between two devices so if both routers are say AC1200 devices sitting in same room & connecting over 5GHz band then link speed will be somewhere around 500mbps half of which will be 250mbps. There is also a way to get around it. If routers are separated by a large distance which usually is the case in such situations (else what's even the point of using wireless extender) then signal strength will be less & most probably it will be 2.4GHz signal & link speed will be somewhere around 100-150mbps which when cut in half might be even slower than the internet connection plan then use 2.4GHz band to connect to other router over wifi & use 5GHz band of the same router to connect devices which will have no half speed issue.

I wanted to have some knowledge of the bridge term in routers

Wireless bridge is basically connecting two access points or two routers over wireless connection.

Bridge mode makes your router act as a switch while everything i.e. Routing and other heavy work is done by main router and that switch now just relays data.
In AP mode you can make your secondary device do the heavy loading if you want but then u will be plagued with double NAT.

You can use secondary router as wired AP without double nat by simply connecting ethernet wire from primary router to any of the lan port on secondary router instead of wan port & disabling the dhcp server on secondary router.

I do not see much improvement in speed

You buy routers like AC5400 for getting gigabit or close to gigabit local network speeds (aka ~700-900MB/s) on wifi Frankly speaking you are wasting its capabilities but then it doesn't seem like you have any need for such wifi speeds so I guess it was overspending.

 

[zoozoo]

Correction, it is half speed of your link speed. Second router will be connecting to the first router at the speed with which wifi connection gets established between two devices so if both routers are say AC1200 devices sitting in same room & connecting over 5GHz band then link speed will be somewhere around 500mbps half of which will be 250mbps. There is also a way to get around it. If routers are separated by a large distance which usually is the case in such situations (else what's even the point of using wireless extender) then signal strength will be less & most probably it will be 2.4GHz signal & link speed will be somewhere around 100-150mbps which when cut in half might be even slower than the internet connection plan then use 2.4GHz band to connect to other router over wifi & use 5GHz band of the same router to connect devices which will have no half speed issue.


Wireless bridge is basically connecting two access points or two routers over wireless connection.


You can use secondary router as wired AP without double nat by simply connecting ethernet wire from primary router to any of the lan port on secondary router instead of wan port & disabling the dhcp server on secondary router.


You buy routers like AC5400 for getting gigabit or close to gigabit local network speeds (aka ~700-900MB/s) on wifi Frankly speaking you are wasting its capabilities but then it doesn't seem like you have any need for such wifi speeds so I guess it was overspending.

No. It wasn’t overspending. Basically since 2016 I’m using Internet broadband service provided by my local cable operator using a netgear router. During Covid times the router developed a snag and I bought the AC 5400 online. At that time fibre connectivity was fairly expensive so thought of continuing on the old copper thing. Then in 2022 my cable operator offered a very good price on the fibre broadband and I was given a fibre connectivity router free of cost along with the copper to fibre upgrade. The AC 5400 thus became redundant. Now since last year I have shifted to Airtel xstream and they’ve also provided their own router. I was not happy seeing the AC 5400 lying gathering dust after paying so much and using it less than a year.

 

[guest_999]

During Covid times the router developed a snag and I bought the AC 5400 online. I was not happy seeing the AC 5400 lying gathering dust after paying so much and using it less than a year.

Actually you would have been fine buying a Rs.2000 archer C6 or C64 at that time. Routers like AC5400 are meant for getting close to gigabit speeds over wifi which in turn is required for those having 1gbps internet connection or home network devices requiring to transfer hundreds of GBs within the home network often.

 

[MarioBros]

First and fioremost are u able to create Wan profiles on ur Airtel Modem/Router (ONT) ?

If you are able to create new Wan profiles then it means you will be able to setup ur TP Link Archer on Bridge mode which will take care of DHCP & DNS
If the Wan profiles settings are greyed out it means you will need to contact Airtel to enable bridge mode on ur Airtel modem.

I am currently on Airtel xsterme and this is my setup

 

[guest_999]

First and fioremost are u able to create Wan profiles on ur Airtel Modem/Router (ONT) ?

If you are able to create new Wan profiles then it means you will be able to setup ur TP Link Archer on Bridge mode which will take care of DHCP & DNS
If the Wan profiles settings are greyed out it means you will need to contact Airtel to enable bridge mode on ur Airtel modem.

Wouldn't it be simpler to just connect own router to ont via ethernet & put it in dmz zone of ont? No need to contact customer care (which one has to do irrespective of wan profile status because of additional authentication for the non-ISP device at the backend) & it works almost same as bridge mode setup.

 

[rockyo27]

Wouldn't it be simpler to just connect own router to ont via ethernet & put it in dmz zone of ont? No need to contact customer care (which one has to do irrespective of wan profile status because of additional authentication for the non-ISP device at the backend) & it works almost same as bridge mode setup.

If you can and having know how of changes you should as u will have full control but then u will have to get new ONT where u can change mac nd serials and use ur own router afterwards

 

[MarioBros]

Wouldn't it be simpler to just connect own router to ont via ethernet & put it in dmz zone of ont? No need to contact customer care (which one has to do irrespective of wan profile status because of additional authentication for the non-ISP device at the backend) & it works almost same as bridge mode setup.

for Airtel few 3rd party ONTs are compatible like TP Link XZ000 G3 & G7, but I have heard its a hit and miss since you need to configure your current airtel modem serial and Vlan details on the ONT.. good if it works but many have struggled as per few other forums posts.

so its better to reach out to Airtel and raise a service request to enable Bridge mode.. which they will do

 

[guest_999]

for Airtel few 3rd party ONTs are compatible like TP Link XZ000 G3 & G7, but I have heard its a hit and miss since you need to configure your current airtel modem serial and Vlan details on the ONT.. good if it works but many have struggled as per few other forums posts.

But I am talking about simply connecting any existing router like archer c6 via ethernet to airtel modem/router/ont & put it in dmz zone of airtel modem/router/ont.