Is it possible to have 2 wireless routers in the same house, extending my network from Top Floor to basement?

[TeejayV]

Hi there,

I have my cable modem in a room upstairs; next to it is my Linksys W5RTG Wireless Router. This router is plugged directly into the cable modem. I've got a couple computers connected to it (using wireless connections, and such). My question is, is it possible to introduce another router (same wireless router model), into the basement environment, and somehow get the two routers to join together using the one cable modem. Obviously the second router wouldn't be directly plugged into the cable modem, so i'm not sure if it will work.

The reason i want to do this is because i recently moved into the place bringing along my 3 computers which used to be hardwired into the router. I do not have PCI wireless NIC's and as much as possible, i would i like to save some cash, by utilizing what i already have.

So what i'm basically asking is if this is possible:

CABLE MODEM (Upstairs bedroom)
-
Wireless Router 1 (Upstairs bedroom, plugged directly to the cable modem)
-
Wireless Router 2 (Basement, wanting to utilize the internet connection that Router one has).

Thank you in advance for the answers.

 

[JackMDS]

The best way is to lay few CAT6 cables to central locations in the house, install Access Points, or Cable/DSL Routers configured as an Access Points ( Using a Wireless Cable/DSL Router as a Switch with an Access Point ), and connect them to the Main Router.

You do not want to lay Cables!

Buy a Pair of Wireless Routers that can do WDS (Zyxell, SMC, Belkin has models that do WDS as is out of the Box. Linksys WRT54GL can do WDS when flashed with DD-WRT firmware).

Do a Wireless survey in the house with Laptop using Netstumbler, http://www.netstumbler.com/downloads/

According to the Netstumbler's signal strength reading, identify spots that have strong signal. and spot with weak, or No signal.

Additional Wireless Routers in WDS Mode (Wireless Network - Configuration Modes. ) has to be placed in spots were the signal is good about Half way to the dead spots.

How many WDS units are needed? It depends on your specific environment (that is the reason to buying WDS units one at the time, try it, and decide on the Next step).

Otherwise.

Extending Distance - http://www.ezlan.net/Distance.html

Wireless Router as an AP - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

Wireless Modes - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Modes.html

Wireless Bridging - http://www.ezlan.net/bridging.html

Hi Gain Antenna - http://www.ezlan.net/antennae.html

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: TeejayV
I have my cable modem in a room upstairs; next to it is my Linksys W5RTG Wireless Router. This router is plugged directly into the cable modem. I've got a couple computers connected to it (using wireless connections, and such). My question is, is it possible to introduce another router (same wireless router model), into the basement environment, and somehow get the two routers to join together using the one cable modem. Obviously the second router wouldn't be directly plugged into the cable modem, so i'm not sure if it will work.

The reason i want to do this is because i recently moved into the place bringing along my 3 computers which used to be hardwired into the router. I do not have PCI wireless NIC's and as much as possible, i would i like to save some cash, by utilizing what i already have.

So what i'm basically asking is if this is possible:

CABLE MODEM (Upstairs bedroom)
-
Wireless Router 1 (Upstairs bedroom, plugged directly to the cable modem)
-
Wireless Router 2 (Basement, wanting to utilize the internet connection that Router one has).

It sounds like you want to do some sort of wireless bridging. Most wireless routers will not do this out of the box, and when they do, their features are generally specified to only be compatible with specific devices from the same vendor. Cross-vendor WDS might work, or might not. Often WDS is limited to only WEP encryption, which is not really acceptable these days.

Of course, if you can run cables and avoid wireless that'd be cheapest and best.

For wireless, the next question is whether or not you need wireless repeating. Again, it's better to avoid wireless if you can, and to avoid wireless repeating if you can (because wireless is limited bandwidth and sometimes problematic). If you don't need any repeating, you can use a simple client mode wireless bridge. E.g. the Netgear WGPS606 off eBay / refurb clearance. A Buffalo WLI-TX4-G54HP would be better, but it's currently hard to find. There are others. There could be issues with distance, obstructions and interference, so it'd be a good idea to evaluate reception and coverage before spending money.

For the most flexibility, with the greatest start-up complexity, you could get a router which is fully compatible with third-party firmware such as DD-WRT. This pretty much means the WRT54GL at this time, or an (unavailable) similar Buffalo unit, or an old Linksys WRT54G (version 4 or earlier). Check DD-WRT's hardware compatibility docs for more info. Check the WRT54G Wiki to see how Linksys reduced the RAM and flash RAM, etc., in recent versions. DD-WRT can do client mode wireless bridging, and also repeating and WDS, as well as standard routing and access point functionalities. You just need to be very careful with the hardware choices, correct firmware selection and installation.

 

[tenax]

i have a dlink dir 655 in my basement connected to my main computer. wireless on 3 other levels (my wife's computer one floor up, my daughters laptop 2 floors up and my son's computer is 32 feet up..he gets 100% signal with his computer..my wife and daughters are closer vertically, but offset more in the house from the router horizontally, but still get 90 to 95% connection. i'm able to stream movies to all 3 of their computers at the same time from mine with no glitches with each computer getting between 60 mb- 70 mb/second connection (while the system says my connections are rated at 300 mb/sec transfer speed on the internal network, that's theoretical. wireless N is a wonderful thing. when i was on wireless G, i could get 2 floors up max with a 60% signal