Two Routers In Home Network? \ stacker news ~tech

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1022 sats \ 38 comments \ @siggy47 20 Jan tech

I am in the planning process of setting up a home server. The house is not huge, but it's long and narrow, and wifi connectivity isn't great. I'm considering a second router for our network. Where I want to place the server is also an area that does not have good wifi coverage. I could use Ethernet for the server while also improving wifi. Has anyone done this? Any tips and suggestions? Caveat- I'm not a tech wiz.

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162 sats \ 0 replies \ @OgFOMK 20 Jan

A repeater is what I use. Inexpensive and you just repeat to a switch at your server and if you have other items.

You can also use another older router as a repeater with https://dd-wrt.com/

610 sats \ 3 replies \ @aljaz 20 Jan

You need one router + additional access point using wired backplane. Repeaters in mesh mode will suck with bad connectivity - you need to add more of them so they have overlapping good coverage.

If you extend with wired connection you will have much better performance.

The question is if you want smart client offloading so when you walk around the house the APs are trying to be smart about passing over the clients to the stronger signal, then you need something that is a bit smarter (look into unifi for example). If you dont care about it that much then it doesnt matter, you can repurpose what you call a "router" and just run it in wifi ap mode. Also make sure you only configure dhcp forwarding on the second one otherwise you will have local connectivity issues

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @siggy47 OP 20 Jan

I think for me extending with wired connection is the answer. I would like what you describe as the smart unifi option. Thanks for the great information.

447 sats \ 1 reply \ @anon 20 Jan

@aljaz is right, look into setup a bunch of Unifi AP. Works great and easy to manage. I installed dozens of them in hotels. https://www.ui.com/wifi

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 20 Jan

Thanks

447 sats \ 1 reply \ @stargut 20 Jan

yes I did this, and it is perfect for my situation and didn't cost a dime since I had another router. your router should connect to the other one with ethernet cord, and you can connect to the closer one on a separate wifi network. there is some configurations you need to change on the original router, which you can probably find help online on.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 20 Jan

Yes. There is online help available re settings. Thanks

473 sats \ 1 reply \ @kepford 20 Jan

I would buy a small switch and run Ethernet. I would not use WiFi unless that was the only option.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 20 Jan

Off the router or the mesh nodes? I have an Ethernet switch which I use for stuff, but the house is long and on two floors.

372 sats \ 1 reply \ @OriginalSize 20 Jan

One router should be enough. Ideally you want all of your devices like printers and file shares on one internal network and that's what a router creates.

WiFi connectivity is about radio range and penetration. Stone, concrete and plaster are harder for the signal to travel through than drywall. With that in mind you want WiFi repeaters and/or access points that can serve shadows and dead spots. Repeaters should have good line of sight between them. Access points need Ethernet.

I don't like the idea of proprietary mesh products so have a main router and an access point. This works well enough but requires reconnect if you roam.

I'd be interested to hear of recommendations for an open source mesh because the roaming/reconnect is a nice-to-solve.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 20 Jan

Thanks for the information. Line of site will be an issue for me.

282 sats \ 1 reply \ @DiedOnTitan 21 Jan

I'd recommend a direct ethernet wired connection to any server. And especially one that verifies transactions like a full node if that is your intention. It's not just speed that benefits, but security. If you go the wifi route, follow the important points that @aljaz mentioned.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 21 Jan

Yes, I run a node now through Ethernet. I intend to keep my server completely separate from my node. I don't like the idea of using my home server for my node. Since the server is going to be at the other end of my house from my node, I want an Ethernet connection there also. Improving wifi is a second, but equally important goal.

282 sats \ 0 replies \ @kristapsk 21 Jan

To extend WiFi you don't need second router, you just need second WiFi access point (AP).

MikroTik cAP devices is a good option.

281 sats \ 1 reply \ @0245bdaef2 20 Jan

Check out the routers from glinet. They allow repeater functionality and run openwrt

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 20 Jan

Thanks for the tip. I'll check them out.

51 sats \ 13 replies \ @k00b 20 Jan

Our rental has a small studio in the backyard and we have another wifi router there. There are a lot of wifi mesh systems available now.

If you have ethernet in the other part of the house, I recommend getting a mesh system with an ethernet backhaul like this one. Although I'd shop around some because there are a lot of options.

0 sats \ 12 replies \ @siggy47 OP 20 Jan

I use this mesh thing from Google, but I've had it for years and it doesn't seem to be as effective as it once was:

https://m.stacker.news/13132

961 sats \ 3 replies \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 20 Jan

I have a similar mesh model. I have 3 nodes for a pretty wide house, and it still works pretty well! Definitely pre-covid, though I can't say how old for sure.

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @siggy47 OP 20 Jan

Same here. I have no idea how old. I will try new ones. I live in a rural place with no cell coverage, so our devices rely on wifi even to make phone calls.

447 sats \ 1 reply \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 20 Jan

I guess I assumed you lived in NYC currently, based on some of your content. I also have next to 0 knowledge of the boroughs, what's in vs out of the city, etc. lol

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 20 Jan

I can see why you think that. My opsec isn't as bad as I thought!

51 sats \ 7 replies \ @k00b 20 Jan

That doesn't look too old. If it's this system, it should perform pretty well if you are using the ethernet backhaul.

0 sats \ 6 replies \ @siggy47 OP 20 Jan

I think it's that one. I have tried extenders, I always upgrade to the latest routers, etc. It may just be that my family simply has too many devices using wifi. That why I was thinking two routers, but it seems that really may not improve things. Maybe two networks? I don't know.

51 sats \ 5 replies \ @k00b 20 Jan

Oh you don’t have a pair of these already? If that’s your model you should be able to add another one

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @siggy47 OP 20 Jan freebie

Actually, I have four of them! Maybe I don't understand the tech. Is there no benefit to a second router? Are one of these mesh nodes essentially equivalent to routers regarding wifi coverage?

51 sats \ 7 replies \ @C_Otto 20 Jan

You're confusing router / server / wireless access point, which confused me for a second. If you want to have two devices that together create better wifi coverage, you might want to look into devices that support meshing.

0 sats \ 6 replies \ @siggy47 OP 20 Jan

I have a mesh set up now. I also have what I imprecisely call a booster. It's a device that supposedly extends wifi. Neither work great. What I was trying to ask about is something like this: https://www.lifewire.com/can-two-routers-be-used-on-the-same-home-network-818064

282 sats \ 3 replies \ @037447d9ca 21 Jan

You both are confusing mesh with roaming. What you need is some AP that can do 802.11r (fast-transition) aka roaming. You can just set up two access points with the same name and the phone will connect to the nearby one just fine but connections will drop upon change, whilst if you enable roaming you could walk around the house during a call and at most suffer a little stutter of a few milliseconds. Any router/AP supported by OpenWRT can do roaming. Don't use these so-called boosters, they'll reduce your bandwidth in half at best.

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @siggy47 OP 21 Jan

I'm not 100% sure this applies to your response, but I have no cell service where I live.

282 sats \ 1 reply \ @037447d9ca 21 Jan

We're talking about WiFi.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 21 Jan

Okay. I.wasn't sure. Thanks.

51 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 20 Jan

I don't know how old your current setup is, but router tech improves crazy fast like everything else. If you shop around for mesh wifi systems now, I'd guess you'd struggle to find anything >5 years old.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 20 Jan

That might be my problem. I probably need a new mesh setup.