With a Wireless Distribution System (WDS), You Can Use Your Old Router as a Secondary Wireless Access Point
Don’t throw out your old 802.11 router — old wireless routers can be turned into APs — they can help increase your network’s range, plus are faster than outlet repeaters/WiFi extenders.
The Router to AP Conversion
Transforming a wireless router into an Access Point consists mainly of disabling its DHCP server, and connecting it up to the new router correctly.
First, configure the old router’s general settings. Do this by plugging in the old router (do not connect it to the new router at this point), connecting your laptop or computer to this network, and log into the admin settings page by typing the router’s IP address into your browser. Then the basic configuration goes like so:
IP Address: Change the IP address to somewhere within the subnet range of the new router. For example, if the new router’s IP is 192.168.0.1, the old router could be set to 192.168.0.2.
Channel: Change the channel to one of the three non-overlapping channels (1, 6, or 11), and ensure that the co-existing or overlapping routers or APs are NOT set to the same channel.
SSID: The standard home network setup has all the APs of a network using the same SSID, so clients don’t need to enter a different network name as they move around the house and connect to different Access Points. However, if roaming isn’t crucial, consider setting the old 802.11g router SSID to a different network name. This will help you distinguish between the g and n access, which is important if connection performance is vital.
Security: This is a reminder to set up WPA or WPA2 encryption on all the WiFi routers and APs.
Now you’ll want to disable the DHCP server.
Find the DHCP settings (usually on the main or network tab). Toggle or check it to disable it, then save the changes.
When the configuration is done, put the old router into place.
Then connect an Ethernet cable between them, plugging into the regular Ethernet ports of each.
Do not connect it to the old router’s Internet/WAN port.
Conversion of Router to AP Mode is a Success
Great, by converting your old router to an AP, you will have greater coverage area and/or performance. You’ve successfully disabled the routing features of the old wireless router, leaving it a basic AP. Now,
plug the old wireless router into the new one, to serve as another AP;
place the old router (by running an Ethernet cable) away from your main router. The old router can nearly double the coverage area provided by the new router.
Notes:
802.11n clients that connect to the 802.11g router won’t run at 11n rates of speed and performance, but you’ll have more WiFi coverage.
And try to make sure that slower 802.11g devices/clients only connect to the old 802.11g router; an easy way to do this is to set the new/main router to allow 802.11n connections only, so the older devices won’t connect and degrade the network performance.
