recycling wifi hubs as repeaters on a BT homehub network

[David Martin]

I ahve a couple of old Belkin WiFi router/hub/accesspoint things and am wanting to repurpose them to extend a BT homehub network. Anyone any experience with this? Bridging requires very specific compatibility and I'm not sure what is possible.

The routers I have are a F5D7231-4 and a F7D3302 v1

[Jaded]

All I know is that I gave up on bridging other than with using the same companies equipment throughout.

[Afasoas]

I think I'm right in saying I have a WiFi Router set-up as a bridge at home.

It's operating as a wireless client and then my computers are connected to it via ethernet. I've connected up another wireless router to use purely as an access point.

Originally I adopted the setup because I was in a shared house and I didn't want my network visible to anyone else using the internet wi-fi router.

It works well and it's cobbled together using all sorts of stuff. The bridging router is Netgear WNDR3700 running DD-WRT.

[ian]

I tried with FD-something-or-other ADSL modem/router. In theory it should have worked, but it it didn't. I only gave it an hour of tinkering and then bought some powerline adaptors. You might have more patience for ornery computer hardware.

[TimC]

I use mains powerline wifi extenders to carry my wifi network through my house. They work very well, and have Ethernet connections if you need them for any of your hardware (TV and associated stuff in my case). My experience of wifi extenders per se has not been good.

[LEE]

I use Netgear "range extenders". (after trying to re-use an old Belkin router to extend a modern Netgear router)

Just plug them in, somewhere in WiFi range of your router, and it creates a 2nd "cell" immediately.

The only drawback is that it's a different WiFi network so you can NOT just roam around the house and pick it up.  You need to connect to the 2nd "cell" as and when it becomes the strongest signal.   What you see on your "Available networks" for example is:

METCALFE WIFI NETWORK - Sig strength 3/10 CONNECTED

METCALFE WIFI NETWORK_EXT - Sig strength 9/10  (it auto creates the 2nd _EXT network based on the name of you existing network)

So, even if you are sat in the middle of a 9/10 extender signal, you may still be connected to your 3/10 router network.

I assume that a 2nd plug/adapter would create a 3rd "cell" with a different network name.

The nice thing about them is that, when I work in the garage, I can simply unplug the extender (normally on the upstairs landing, for bedroom coverage) and plug it into a kitchen socket.  30 seconds later I'll have a great signal (_EXT network) right up the garden and into the garage.

[PaulF]

ther vote for the Netgear extender - only downside is that they're limited to 5 devices

[Snakehips]

Thanks for the Netgear entender recommendations. I was eyeing them in PC World earlier today and wondering if they were and good.

[LEE]

Tip.

If you have Android devices then install (free) Best WiFi app (from Google Play).

It quickly and automatically switches between best networks at a user-defined signal strength (assuming your device doesn't incorporate something similar already).  Seems to work well, there's about 5 seconds of network loss but I never notice that in actual use.

That means you will always be connected to your optimum router or extender plug as you wander around the house.  I'm going to buy another extended plug based on the convenience of this app.

I also installed WiFi-matic which turns off my phone's Wifi when I stray away from known WiFi access points (Location determined by cell-mast triangulation rather than GPS..saving battery).  It saves my battery when I go cycling.  It also allows me to schedule Wifi off/on so it's not consuming WiFi power during the wee small hours.  Already I can see a difference in battery life.

Wifi Manager has a really nice graphical view of available networks and signal strength.