If you have reached this post, you have probably ever thought of connecting a router to another router to extend the WiFi network. Currently there are more effective solutions such as the well-known PLC. However, most of these tend to be priced quite high for the benefits they offer. Fortunately, connecting one router to another to improve the WiFi connection is possible , although we must configure a series of parameters to have an Internet connection in both. Last week we showed you all the ways to know the WiFi password if we have lost or forgotten it, and today we will teach you how to do it in a few steps and in any router model.
Items needed to connect one router to another
Before starting to mount the extended WiFi network, we must have a series of elements not only to extend the network in question, but also to have Internet in both routers. The necessary elements in this case are the following:
- Two routers (one of them with an Internet connection)
- An Ethernet cable ( usually the yellow ones that come in the router box)
And that's it, we will only need these two elements. Obviously, and as we mentioned at the beginning of the article, we will need to configure a series of parameters to establish the connection correctly, and which we will explain below.
Steps to connect two routers
The physical connection of both routers is the simplest step in the entire assembly process. To connect both routers in series, simply insert the Ethernet cable into the yellow LAN 1 slot of the router that has an Internet connection (if there is any cable connected, it is recommended to pass this to slot 2 or 3) and insert the other end of the cable in the same slot 1 of the router to which we want to supply the Internet.
The Ethernet cable must be inserted into the LAN 1 slot of both routers.
After having made sure that both routers are connected correctly, we will turn on the second router and observe the lights on the front of the device . If we see that the WiFi LED is flashing yellow or similar, then we can proceed to configure the two routers.
Configure router 1 to have an Internet connection on router 2
We come to the most cumbersome part of the entire assembly process: the configuration of the routers. If you have connected to router 2, you will surely have made sure that we do not have an Internet connection , although we can connect to the WiFi network without any problem (obviously with the WiFi key of router 2). To solve this we will have to configure both router 1 and router 2 through the configuration panel of each router.
Router 1 Configuration
Router 1 will be the first that we must configure because it is the one that provides the Internet connection to both router 2 and the rest of the connected devices. To do this, we will access the router configuration by typing in the browser the address 192.168.1.0 or 192.168.1.1 (in the event that no page is displayed, we will have to look for the address of the control panel of our company's router model on the Internet or on the label printed on it). Then a page similar to the one we can see in the screenshot below should appear.
At this point we will have to enter the username and password of the router, which is usually 'admin' and 'admin' (it may vary depending on the router model). After this, we will see a configuration panel full of options and parameters, however, the one that interests us is the DHCP Server (or just DHCP), which is usually located in Advanced Configuration.
After finding the section in question, we will see if the activation box is checked . If not, we will have to activate it to provide Internet to router 2.
Router 2 Configuration
We have already opened the Internet access door so that router 2 can connect to router 1. The next step to finish setting up the network in question is to assign a static IP to router 2 so that router 1 can manage the Internet correctly .
Again we will have to access the control panel to configure the IP. In this case we will have to connect to router 2 through its WiFi key (or via Ethernet cable) and put the same address as in the previous router, that is, 192.168.1.0 or 192.168.1.1 (it may vary depending on the model). At this point, we must follow the same process as in router 1 until we find the DHCP section, which we will have to deactivate to assign a manual IP address .
When we have made sure that the DHCP Server option is disabled, we will have to find another section with the IP address name to provide the desired IP address. Our recommendation is that you put the address 192.168.1.1 or 192.186.1.2 (it can never be the same as that of router 1, if it is 192.168.1.0). Of course, we must ensure that it falls within the same subnet, that is, the last two numbers separated by points (1.1 and 1.2 or 0.1 and 0.2). If not, the connection will not be established.
Finally, we can connect to the second router without any problem. If not, we will restart both routers so that the changes are applied correctly .