Recently, I purchased a new home and could not get WiFi coverage in the entire house. The problem was the WiFi antenna coverage on my router just wasnt large enough to reach the entire house. Some WiFi routers have a wireless repeating function intended to correct this problem. In my first attempt to get coverage for my entire house, I set up the built-in WiFi repeating function. It worked, but had limitations, including limiting security encryption functions available and other router options. I never measured, but it seemed the network speed on the repeater function was slower.

On to Plan B. My alternate option involves a bit more work; however, as it turns out, works really well, and overcomes the issues with the wireless repeater function. The basic idea is to use a second router as a wireless access point. To do this, you will need to locate the two routers so, when working together, they cover the entire house (see drawing). I put one router at the west end of the house and the other at the east end.

The two routers need to be connected by an Ethernet cable. My house was pre-wired for phones using Cat 5e cable (a wire type commonly used in newer homes that will work for either telephones or Internet, depending on how its wired). Conveniently, all of the house telephone wires terminate on the east end of my house in the same area where my cable modem is located. I found a telephone wire that ran to the west end of the house and replaced it with an RJ45 jack (readily available at most big box hardware stores). On the east end, I disconnected the wire from the telephone lines and wired in another RJ45 Ethernet jack (see pictures).

   

If you have older telephone wires that will not work, there is still hope. You can buy Cat5e cable and run an extension through the attic or basement to the other end of the house. If that's not an option, several manufacturers make powerline adapters that extend Internet access over your electric lines. Simply plug a powerline adapter into an outlet near each router and run an Ethernet cable from each powerline adapter to the adjacent router. Depending on the wiring of your house, the particular outlet you select, and the amount of noise on the electric line, speeds can vary. However, many powerline adapters can support gaming, and HD video applications.

Before connecting the Ethernet cables to the routers and powering up, important configuration steps must be completed on the router that will be used as a wireless access point (in my house, the one on the west end). I will refer to the router on the west end of the house as the wireless access point or WAP, and the router attached to the Internet as the main router. Before starting, you might consider reading this entire article, making any configuration changes to your main router that are needed and completing the worksheet at the end of the article. Start by connecting a computer directly to the WAP through one of its LAN connection ports. Next, power up the devices in this order: first the WAP, wait about 30 seconds then the computer. At this point, you should not have Internet access available to the computer, and you will not need it during the configuration of the WAP. Open a web browser and access the WAP. Typically, you do this by entering the IP address of the WAP in the location field of your browser. Many home routers use the IP address of 192.168.1.1. Most routers require a username and password to gain access. Consult your user manual for the specifics of your router.

Typically, home routers are preconfigured with a service known as dynamic host configuration protocol or DHCP. The DHCP service assigns IP addresses to devices on your network. If your network has two devices providing DHCP services, the same IP address could be assigned to two devices. That would cause a conflict on your network, and one or both of the devices would not work or would not work reliably. For home networks, it is best to run only one DHCP server, so the first step is to disable the DHCP service on your WAP. This setting is typically found under the LAN settings area of the router configuration webpage; however, the exact location will vary from router manufacturer to manufacturer and model to model. The DHCP server should be disabled for the WAP, and enabled on your main router.

Next, the SSID of your WAP must be set to match the SSID of your main router. The SSID is wireless network name that is displayed by wireless devices when searching for available networks. Most routers are configured with a default SSID. I recommend changing your SSID to something other than the default to avoid problems with neighboring wireless networks. For added security, but less convenient access, you can disable broadcasting of the SSID on both the WAP and main router. Your network name will not appear in the list of available networks (which makes it hidden from neighbors and passers by). To access your network from a wireless device, you will need to select Other networks or what ever option your system uses, and type your SSID. Generally, you only need to do this step once for each wireless device on your network. Once completed you should not need to reenter the SSID into a device unless the device is reset.

Setting a security option and password is optional but highly recommended. Without a security option, others can intercept your unencrypted WiFi transmissions and see your data. Without a password, others can connect to your network and potentially access files on your computer. On each router, both the WAP and the main router, set the exact same security option and password. If you do not set the security option and password the same you may need to sign in every time your wireless device switches from one router to the other.

In the United States, WiFi has 11 channels available in the 2.4GHz range. If you operate other devices in your home that use the 2.4GHz radio frequencies, such as baby monitors, cordless phones or certain home alarm systems, your WiFi network might not perform as well as possible. Consider replacing or discontinuing the use of non-WiFi devices operating in this radio frequency range. Bluetooth also operates in the 2.4GHZ range, but has frequency-changing features designed to minimize the impact on other devices. Each WiFi channel is 22Mhz wide and the channels are spaced 5MHz apart. This means channel 1 overlaps channels 2, 3, 4 and 5; channel 2 overlaps 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6; and so on. Some routers have high-speed features that enable faster wireless networks. Most of these are restricted to a single channel and may cause interference with a multi-access point configuration such as the one described here. To avoid problems with channel overlap, configure both the main router and WAP to use 802.11b/g and set the channel selection mode to automatically pick the best channels. Alternatively, set your main router to a channel at least 5 channels away from the WAP. For example, set the main router to channel 1 and the WAP to channel 6. This will leave channel 11 for an additional WAP or for a neighbor to operate a WiFi network without interfering with your network.

The last step is to change the IP address of the WAP since its IP address probably conflicts with or is not compatible with your main router. If your main router uses the IP address 192.168.1.1, then any number from 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254 will work for your WAP. However, your DHCP server on the main router will be assigning IP numbers starting in the lower range (that is 192.168.1.2), so to avoid conflict, I suggest assigning the WAP a high number such as 192.168.1.254. Your router may use another range of IP addresses. Some common other ranges are from 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.254 and from10.1.1.1 to 10.1.1.254. Make sure the first three segments of the IP address (called octets) match on both your main router and your WAP and that the last octet on your main router is different from your WAP.

Save your WAP configuration changes and disconnect the computer. Plug the Ethernet cable that runs to the main router into one of the LAN connections of the WAP. Do not plug anything into the WAN/Internet connection of the WAP. That will remain unused. Plug the other end of the Ethernet cable into an available LAN connection on the main router. It is generally a good idea to power cycle everything after a major reconfiguration to ensure all the settings were saved and are working properly. You can power down in any order; however, the power up sequence should be cable/DSL modem first, main router second, any hubs or switches attached to the main router third, wireless access points fourth, and computers last. You may need to wait a few minutes after power up the cable/DSL modem, other devices need about a 20-30 second gap before powering up the next device.

The last step is to test the configuration. Place a wireless device near the main router and attempt to access the Internet. If that works, place a wireless device near the WAP and attempt to access the Internet from there. If you changed your SSID, security options and/or password, you will need to enter those setting changes into your wireless devices before testing. By the way, any unused LAN ports on the WAP can be used for wired devices.

If you live in a densely populated area, you may experience interference from neighboring devices. Higher power antennas on your routers can be used to overcome this.