How to turn your old router into a WiFi extender

If you regularly move or want to change your ISP to get the best deal, you'll quickly run into a bunch of outdated ISP routers or outdated consumer routers that you just don't use anymore. These routers are often fully functional, but the built-in, software-locked nature of the hardware means that every time you want to upgrade to the latest features, be it Wi-Fi 6 or 5GHz, the old router ends up in the trash heap. You may feel a little guilty when this cheap, disposable hardware piles up in your house or goes unceremoniously into the trash can.

Luckily, there is a solution to combat e-waste and potentially improve your Wi-Fi at the same time. With many of these routers it is possible to set them up as secondary access points, effectively expanding your home network's Wi-Fi for free.

How to use your old router as a WiFi extender

Using your old hardware is easier than you think

Many consumer routers support the ability to work natively as a Wi-Fi extender through a mode known as “repeater” or “bridge” mode. These instructions vary depending on the router you are using. We therefore recommend that you first check online whether your router supports this. A quick Google search with the model name or ISP is often enough.

If it's not supported, it's also worth checking whether alternative software such as OpenWRT can be easily flashed onto your router. Some routers allow firmware upgrades via the web interface, allowing you to install a software suite with more features. However, this is not guaranteed and can be dangerous (in the worst case, you could damage a router during this process). So be aware of the risk and proceed with caution in this case.

Below we'll go through the basic steps for setting up your router in repeater or bridge mode. These can vary from router to router. So if you're stuck, we recommend you google your specific model for help.

1. Check compatibility with your router as mentioned above.
2. Set up your router directly. This is important to ensure that you have existing WiFi connectivity before setting up the router in repeater mode.
3. Connect to the router. You can do this by connecting an Ethernet cable to your old router.
4. Open your old router's admin console – this is usually located at your network gateway's IP address (e.g. 192.168.0.1). Follow this guide if you have difficulty.
5. Find your router's Wi-Fi settings. To configure it as a repeater you usually look for an option like repeaters, Range extendersor Bridge mode (although bridge mode can sometimes be a modem bridge).

6. Configure the router for your old WiFi network. This usually requires setting up your router Network name And password connect to the same as your existing Wi-Fi network.
7. Find your router's DHCP settings and disable DHCP. This prevents your router from assigning new IP addresses, which may cause conflicts on your network.
8. Finally, we recommend setting a static IP address for the router, e.g. E.g. 192.168.0.2 if your original router is 192.168.0.1. This means you can still connect via an Ethernet cable or WiFi.
9. Save the router settings and exit.
10. Test your connection.

You should see an identical network to your previous WiFi network, but with a stronger signal. It's unlikely that your device will show your two separate WiFi networks. Instead, it should move reasonably seamlessly between the two depending on which has the strongest signal. This can sometimes cause connection drops when your device switches from one Wi-Fi network to another. However, this should be resolved after a few seconds.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to set up a proper handoff system (like most commercial Wi-Fi networks with lots of APs use) for two routers of different types, but for home use this should be more than sufficient.

Problems with WiFi repeaters

As we mentioned above, not everything is rosy with multiple access points from different brands. Slowdowns can sometimes occur when transitioning from one network to another. Therefore, we don't recommend taking your laptop around the house while you're doing a large, important download of a single file. As long as you are stationary, everything is fine. Still, it generally shouldn't be noticeable when you move your device, and you may need to reconnect to your network periodically.

If you have trouble switching from one network to another, simply change the name of your rebroadcast network. This may slow down your device's ability to leave one network and switch to another, and may require occasional manual switching, but should be more stable.

Your speed will only be limited

The instructions given above are fairly general and can be customized depending on your specific setup. Depending on your router, you may be able to set up your router in a true “repeater” mode, meaning it repeats (or rebroadcasts) your existing WiFi signal. This is often the easiest option, but will give you the least range and slow performance because your network speed will be limited by the second router's WiFi connection to the first.

Consider using Ethernet

Some routers support an Ethernet access point or bridge mode, where you can connect your old router to your main router over Ethernet and then set up a second Wi-Fi network over that Ethernet connection. This is often the most stable method and will give you the best speeds, but assumes you can connect Ethernet to your second router's location.

Use a mesh network if possible

Now the best answer to all these questions would be to use a true mesh network. Mesh networks support seamless handoff between APs, forming a single, unified network instead of a mess of APs retransmitting. This is more modern and easier to set up than the ones above. However, it often relies on you having multiple access points of the same type, which adds additional costs since this is unlikely to be the case if you're using whatever device you already have lying around the house.

Using your old network access point is a great way to reduce e-waste because it can utilize the existing hardware in your home. It's not perfect and there may be some problems, but it's worth giving it a try if you have an old router and are having trouble getting a consistent internet connection throughout the house.