Linking Two Routers: Maximizing Your Network for Better Wi-Fi and Resource Access
Ready to take your network to the next level? Learn how to connect two routers within one network for amplified Wi-Fi coverage and seamless resource sharing. Our expert guide walks you through the process step-by-step, ensuring that you can boost your network performance and collaboration capabilities. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to enhance your network experience!
- Why Would You Combine Several Routers Into One Network?
- How to Connect Routers by Wi-Fi?
- How to Build a Network of Several Routers with a Cable Connection?
- Questions and answers
- Comments
Why Would You Combine Several Routers Into One Network?
In some situations, one router may be insufficient to build a network or provide high-quality Wi-Fi coverage. It means that it may be unable to provide the desired Wi-Fi coverage area or may not have the number of ports required for the devices that are connected to such network. Some rooms or premises may appear to be beyond the range of your router’s Wi-Fi signal. This situation is well-known to people who dealt with the task of building a Wi-Fi network in a large house, apartment or an office consisting of many rooms. If it happens, additional equipment has to be installed to extend the network to the desired coverage. And it’s not that difficult as it may seem.
There are several ways of doing it which we are going to discuss in this article:
- The first variant is connecting two or more routers with a cable. You will have to lay the cable from one router to the other(s). Doing it is not always convenient, but it is the most stable and reliable way to get them connected. If you want a steadily operating network with high speed for a number of devices, the routers should use cable connection.
- The second variant is connecting the routers by Wi-Fi. In this case, the bridge connection (WDS) is used, or the repeater mode. In fact, they are the same, but these settings are implemented differently in routers by different manufacturers.
So, here is the starting point. We have the main router connected to the Internet, and it broadcasts a Wi-Fi network. We need to install one more router, for example, in another room or on another floor. This second router will kind of boost the Wi-Fi network provided by the main router and help to extend the same network so that it covers more distant premises.
The second router can be connected to the main router by cable or Wi-Fi.
Let’s have a closer look at both connection methods.
How to Connect Routers by Wi-Fi?
Most often, routers are connected by Wi-Fi, and it seems natural as it spares you the efforts for laying cables and drilling holes through the walls.
In my case, the main router is TP-link TL-WR841N. It broadcasts a Wi-Fi network with the name hetmansoftware.
Please bear in mind that the router we are going to connect to in the bridge mode should be configured already. That is, the Internet connection should be up and running, with the Wi-Fi network being broadcast.
There is a special article on how to configure a router and a detailed video guide to help you find your way through the process. You are welcome to view these materials for better understanding.
Before you move on to configure the second router, it is necessary to change the settings of the main router’s wireless network so that the channel for this network will be static instead of automatic.
For example, if your main router is another TP-Link, you can change the channel in the settings, by visiting the Wireless tab. In the field Channel specify a static channel. For example: 1, or 9, anything. Save the settings.
Now that the static channel has been set, you can exit the main router’s settings.
Let’s configure the router that will operate in the WDS mode. In my case, the specific model being used is TР-Link Archer C20. Go to the router settings.
For starters, you need to change the IP address of the second router. You have to avoid the situation of having two devices with the same IP addresses within one network. For example, if the main router has the IP address 192.168.0.1, and the other router also has the address 192.168.0.1, the two addresses will be in conflict. Go to the tab Network / LAN. In the field IP address change the last digit – say, put 2 instead of 1. Or, as in my case, change it from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.0.2. Save the modified settings.
Why should you do it this way? You need to know the IP address of the main router which you are going to connect to. If it has the address 192.168.1.1, then the address for the router which you want to connect by WDS should be changed to 192.168.1.2. If the main router has the address 192.168.0.1, you should assign the other router the following address: 192.168.0.2. It is important to have both routers in one subnetwork.
Go to the settings again, but this time the IP address will be different – 192.168.0.2. The one you have specified before.
Go to the tab Wireless / Basic Settings. In the field Wireless Network Name you can specify the name of the second wireless network. In the field Channel, make sure you give the same channel that you have specified in the settings of the main router. In my case, the channel is 9.
Now check the box next to Enable WDS, and click on Scan.
From the list, select the network that your router will get its Internet connection from. Click on the Connect link next to the network you have chosen.
Now the only thing left to do is give the password to the main network in the Password field. Type it and click on the Save button.
After rebooting, go to the second router’s settings again. While you are in the main page (the Status tab) look at the Wireless section. It should say Enabled in the line WDS Status. It means that the second router has already connected to the main router, and now it is supposed to broadcast Wi-Fi.
However, the Internet connection will be available by Wi-Fi only, and if you connect devices to the router (operating in the WDS mode) with a cable, they will not be able to go online.
To set up this function properly, you should disable DHCP server for the router which has the WDS bridge configured – that is, for the router which is the secondary one in my case. It is also necessary to have its local IP address in the same subnetwork where the primary (main) router belongs to.
That is why you should enter the DHCP menu of the secondary router and disable this function.
This is the last step in getting two routers connected by Wi-Fi.
Find the right location to place the second router there so that it falls within the effective range of the main router. Set the desired name for the wireless network and a password. We have already described this step in detail in our article about configuring Wi-Fi mode for a router.
How to Build a Network of Several Routers with a Cable Connection?
There are two ways to connect several routers into one network with a cable. They are as follows:
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The so-called LAN/LAN connection. That is, building a network consisting of several routers by connecting their LAN ports with a network cable.
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And LAN/WAN connection. That is, building a network consisting of several routers by connecting the LAN port of the main router with the WAN/Internet port of the secondary router with a network cable.
Let’s consider each one in detail.
LAN/LAN Connection
In case of a LAN/LAN connection, take two routers and decide which one you want to use as the main device. Usually it is the router which receives the Internet connection cable from your Internet service provider.
Use a network cable to connect LAN ports of the main router with the additional (secondary) router.
Let’s suppose that we have already configured the Internet connection for the first router, so I will skip this step. If the main router does not have any Internet connection yet, fix this problem – just read our article on basic settings of a Wi-Fi router.
Connect to the first device
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and check if it has DHCP server enabled. By default, it is usually enabled. To do it, go to the menu DHCP / DHCP Settings.
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If DHCP Server is disabled, enable it.
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Don’t forget to save changes.
Then connect to the other device,
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And disable DHCP Server, because it will receive all addresses from the main router. To do it, go to the menu DHCP / DHCP Settings.
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If DHCP Server is enabled, disable it.
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In the section Network/ LAN change the IP address so that it doesn’t coincide with that of the main router. For example, change it to 192.168.0.2. Because the main router has 192.168.0.1
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Save.
After rebooting the secondary router, it should be working in one network with the first (primary / main) one, Receive the Internet connection from it, and operate as an access point.
LAN/WAN Connection
The second method of combining two routers into one network is with a network cable.
In case of a LAN/WAN connection, use a network cable to connect the LAN port of the main router with the WAN/Internet port of the other (secondary) router.
Connect to the first device:
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and check if it has DHCP server enabled. By default, it is usually enabled. To do it, go to the menu DHCP / DHCP Settings.
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If DHCP Server is disabled, enable it.
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Don’t forget to save changes.
Then connect to the other device,
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For the other device, go to the section Network / WAN and set the Connection Type as Dynamic IP. Save the changes.
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In the DHCP section, leave DHCP Server enabled.
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If you are planning to use LAN ports of the secondary router, make sure that their IP addresses do not come into conflict with the corresponding addresses of the primary router.
That is, if your primary router operates within the range of 192.168.0.100 to 192.168.0.199, it is better to have the secondary router range from 192.168.0.200 to 192.168.0.299, but always within the main subnetwork.
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Save.
After that, a separate access point can be launched for each of the routers. If you did everything right, both routers will have an Internet connection, operate within one network and be able to access network devices.
Those were all methods of connecting several routers to one network, wireless or wired.
If you have any questions while you are combining several routers into one network, you are welcome to ask by posting a comment.
Users setup TP Link extender because they aren’t satisfied with the internet range and performance of their existing router. By performing TP Link extender setup, your existing WiFi network will be extended and reach every nook and cranny of your house without signal drop.
Thank you for your comment
Hi, I would just to give my thanks for this article that you put out. I was under the assumption that the secondary router would automatically detect the channels for all of my bands. I spent a bit of time trying looking as to how to put the new router onto the main routers subnet and lo and behold, you not only helped me figure out how to do that, you also pointed out that I needed to specify the channels as well. After all was said and done, the new router is working exactly as expected. Thanks for the help with all of this, it really is appreciated.
Glad you liked it)
Hi, we've already connected the two routers via LAN/WAN but upon checking the second router only has 40mbps while the main router has 150mbps. What should I do for the two routers to have 150mbps speed?
Does your second router support 150 mbps ?
Hi i read your article about connecting two wifi routhers in same network. kindly guide me in this regards. i have two TP-link routers. I configured them in "Router Mode" as Router -1 LAN IP 192.168.18.1 whose WAN port is connected with Internet service provider and LAN port is connected with Router-2 WAN port having dynamic IP 192.168.18.2. mean while Router-2 LAN IP is 192.168.50.1. PC-2 connected with Router-2 ( 192.168.50.2) can ping PC-1 ( 192.168.18.3). internet is working fine on both PC. the problem is PC-1 is unable to ping PC-2. what i figured out is LAN IP can ping WAN IP but WAN IP is unable to ping LAN IPs . actually the above article is guided if i have to configure devices on same network. while due to large number of devices ( more than 254) on each side i have to configure two network addresses on routers ( 192.168.18.1 and 192.168.50.1). that is the problem start. WAN IP is unable to ping LAN IP
Thank you for the addition, If you have any questions, we are happy to answer them.
When a 2nd router is connected to the 1st, what happens to the Mac Filtering criteria specified in the 1st router ? Will I have to specify the same Mac Filtering criteria in both the routers to have it working ?
Hi there. Thank you so much for these instructions. I've set up a second router via the LAN to LAN method you recommended. It works for most devices but not all. I've noticed that the ones that work all connect via 5GHz. Any devices that connect via 2.4GHz connect but cannot access the internet. Are you able to suggest a course of action? Thank you so much!
Try doing a full router reset
this guy clearly has a limited knowledge about what he’s dealing with here, IP addresses don’t go above .255 in any octet and if you subtract the broadcast address which.can’t be used for an endpoint network device then it’s .254, he talks about ranges going up to .299 (doesn’t exist anywhere in any shape or form) and in the LAN/LAN scenario he does not even mention modifying the client DHCP IP range so as to omit the the statically allocated IPs to the two linked routers, he explained the rough idea behind these setups, but to configure it correctly so that it works as it should, you’ll need to do more research and educate yourself on the IPv4 (subnetting) addressing scheme
Hello. My phone is wonky and shits oompas so I meant to reply to the dude that had the good info in his comment about the whole 200-299 being wrong and it only goes to 254. Anyways. You seem like you have years of knowledge and have done a lot of reading on this subject. I try to but between my gf and my husky I dont get much learning time. Do you have an email I could contact you at for possible advice on what and where good information can be found? I tinker and set my network up ok like. Took me some trial and errors. What I have and its thy question is this. Two same kind routers nighthawk. I have one modem. A nas. A sonic router/security thing I havnt messed w yet. I have a ubiquity wireless bridge loccoM5 that I need to connect to a garage thats 500 feet maybe lees away. I have a work cisco vpn router thing that’s administered by my work and then an internet of things to connect to this wet dream of a network. My focus was security and also lessen rf exposure. I connected router one to modem. From There I connected to cisco router hard line into the internet port. I did the same to router two. I hard lined the nas to router ome. The nas secondary ethernet port I leave hanging for computer direct connect. Router one doesnt broadcast wifi cus I dont want it to. I want it to strictly deal w the hard lines and their traffic. Router two broadcasts and am able to ethernet connect to it. I have a 8 port switch that I did have hard lines to router one. But changed it to switch hard line connected to router 2. Router 2 connected hard line to router 1. Just clarifying. I have many questions. Just thought id lay down the beast first. My question is mostly security. My second router is on 10.0.0.1. Number one router is 192.168.1.1. Having them on two separate ip networks is more secure or the same in relation to people using their internet of things and surfing. I read about something remote cloud access for surfing the web keeping traffic away from most importantly my bill paying and buying shit and keeping my nas safe and unhacked. W the router being on a diff ip thing I cant access the nas easily. When the switch was hardlined tho I could. But w the switch connected to router 2 now it dont. Anyways. An email contact be cool or something. I have questions most people dont even think ever existed or possibly could exist. Therefore search engines can only help me as much as my ability to use the right wording for my queries. I can teach myself most things but when it comes to being a network admin and designer, having a teacher or similar to nudge me over that hump I’m stuck on would help. Thanks
HI, Mine is a small office consiting of sevral rooms spread across 8000 Sq Ft. I want my entire office to have wifi acrss every where with one ISP connection. We had plannned to wire them from Main ISP router to 7 different routers (All configured as repeters). Some of them will also be connected through wire to desktop computers to rpovide internet. We had planned to have a switch from main ISP router every switch will have a wifi router connected to it. My questions are: 1. Is it the right way of doing? 2. Which connection should we use? LAN-LAN or LAN-WAN? 3. Will there be a internet bandwidth drop from main router to the next and so on? If the banwidth drops hwo much percent drop we need to expect?
Hi. I have a fiber broadband, so I have ethernet cable coming out from the wall to the ISP router. I'd like to split that ethernet connection so I can connect second router for the separate network. How should I do it, if it's possible at all?
Interesting range from .200 to .299 :) Maybe is some kind of extended subnet ;)
Is it possible to connect two routers via psychokinesis and/or a combination of duct tape and piano wire? I have a religious objection to ethernet cables, and the subterranean concrete nuclear house I reside in makes connecting with anything in the next room a nightmare.
Sorry of this has been asked already. I have gone LAN to LAN and followed the setup instructions. It works great for a few days and then I loose internet and have to unplug the second router to get it back. If I plug the second router back in I will loose internet. I then go back in and reset everything and it will work for a few days again and do the same thing. Any ideas what I am missing?
my gatway is 802.11n and I wish to add 802.11ax; can I connect 2nd router to WAN, set to DHCP and run seperate and concurrent wifi signals with the updated or should I turn off gateway wifi and run 1 network?
my brain is stuck. I have a slightly different problem. I have a pc with no wifi capapbility but it does have a LAN port. I do not want to put this pc in the same room as my main router. Can I connect it to a second router through LAN and connect that router by wifi to my main internet-connected router, thereby accessing the internet? My brain says it should be possible but hardware might disagree. My second router is tp-link 841n, main is a very capable fritz
OK Sorted it! Yay. Great page by the way!
Hi Susan. Interesting. Did you use LAN/LAN or LAN/WAN connection?
Creating backups of your company file can protect your data from sudden data loss. Quickbooks also provides the features to create Quickbooks backup files within the application.
Spoiler: this solution is useles, it just doesn't work. Yes, I have one WAN network, second router works as a switch rather then a router. But I still have two separate WIFi networks and I specifically came here to learn how to make one Wifi Netowork.
Hello. What kind of cables shall be used to connect 2 routers ?
Ethernet cables.
i have two isp X and Y, X is always connected manually with the firewall and the switch. if there any network drops in X, then i moved to connect Y with switch and firewall manually.if there any possiblities that my pc's automatically withdraw internet.plz explain because i'm not well in networking
In which connection does the internet speed remain constant
hi sir thanks for tutorial , i have one question ,is it possible to provide internet connection in 2 routers via 1 router/modem ,im using LTE modem/router im planning to place routers in 2 houses 100 meter away from me. Id appreciate much your answer
if u set the second router with a static ip inside the range of the main network ( main router 192.168.1.1 2nd router 192.168.1.2) and disable dhcp in lan/wan the devices can share files normally and all use the dhcp server of the 1st router no matter if they are connected to. the way i see it is like lan/lan without having to use a lan port ( since wan is used )
LAN/WAN does not work if the modem has a different subnet then the router, my modem has IP address 192.168.1.1 and my router Archer C3200 has IP address 192.168.0.1, When i set the IP address from the router to 192.168.1.2 outside the range from the modem, the router reboots and goes back to the standard IP address 192.168.0.1 when i connect the cabel to the WAN port.
I did LAN/WAN but i cant login anymore in my 2nd router is this normal?
LAN/WAN does not work if the modem has a different subnet then the router, my modem has IP address 192.168.1.1 and my router Archer C3200 has IP address 192.168.0.1, When i set the IP address from the router to 192.168.1.2 outside the range from the modem press save, the router reboots and goes back to the standard IP address 192.168.0.1 when i connect the cabel to the WAN port. In LAN/LAN its works but when i connect the lan cable to the WAN port the router reboots and goes back to the standard IP.
In LAN-LAN connection. should I change mode on secondary router?
I am trying to decide between lan/lan & lan/wan I understand that lan/wan will not enable sharing of data files but I need to be able to connect a device to the secondary router via ethernet cable to utilise the internet for that device will that be possible with lan/lan connection
In LAN - WAN connection, what is LAN address of secondary router (assuming that main router is 192.168.0.1)?
In LAN _WAN connection, if the wifi credenntials and SSID remain same, will the devices automtically switch netweork as per signal strength. Also, if used as LAN_WAN and secondary as access point, turning off DHCP will cause any issue or not??
I'm concerned about my wife's computer being hacked by an employeer. Can I use a second router with a different address for my computer using the same modem?
Good afternoon, please clarify your question
I got issue where the internet connection on some devices and other not, on my second network on the other router. I think it can't get an IP address can you help me plz with that ?
Check the settings, re read the article
There should only be one DHCP server on your network. This DHCP server may be built in to your cable modem, DSL modem or router. If more than one device has DHCP enabled, you are likely to see address conflicts and have issues accessing the Internet or other resources on your network.
In LAN-LAN - one DHCP In LAN-WAN - two DHCP
1) Hi I have a ZTE router as my primary router. I used Lan/Lan method to connect the two routers. The issue is on my primary router the second port is connected to my camera's dvr which stops working after this and doesn't provided the connection to it and hence I am unable to watch it on my mobile app. 2) What if we don't turn off the DHCP on the second router ?
1) Try to use LAN-WAN connection 2) En Error
Is it possible to cut off the internet accessibility of the secondary router from the primary router settings?
No, only from the settings of the 2nd router
If I want to use the LAN ports on the 2nd router as well as Wifi connectivity for other devices which I want to be connected via CAT5 cables; will either LAN/LAN or LAN/WAN work.
LAN/LAN фтв LAN/WAN - will work, read the article and follow the instractions
my Lan-Lan connection was working great, then I changed ISP, they provided ZTE router, now when i switch on my secondary router, my devices are not getting IP address, seems ZTE is not able to assign IP through my second router. As of now, i created second network in my secondary, but i dont want to change wifi connection every time when i move my device from room 1 to room 2 (router 2 to router 1)
Change back
Can I connect two secondary routers to the main router which has three lan ports. Also can you please elaborate the difference between a lan/lan and lan/wan connection.
Why You need 3 routers? lan/lan - one network lan/wan - two networks
if my second router is stronger than the first, will it lose its superior capabilities when connected to the first, i.e. if the original router 1 does 700 mbps and router 2 does 2000 mbps, will router 2 be limited to 700 mbps
No
This is the best part of the whole article. Wonder how many people will follow these instructions and not be able to get it to work because of this..... That is, if your primary router operates within the range of 192.168.0.100 to 192.168.0.199, it is better to have the secondary router range from 192.168.0.200 to 192.168.0.299, but always within the main subnetwork.
Differently for different types of connections
i have ZTE router as my main router (192.168.1.1) and TP-link WR840N as AP (192.168.1.2). The DHCP range of main router is 192.168.1.4-254 I have connected both the routers using LAN-LAN cable. Also i have disabled the DHCP of my access point router Now, the AP router has access to the internet but the problem which i am facing is that my secondary router's config page is not accessible through main router's connected device and i am not able to inter-access network devices of both the routers.
Go to this IP 192.168.1.2, Look for information on the site of the manufacturer of routers specifically for such models
i have 20mbps speed..does it share the internet speed or it will give me separately 20mbps in both router?
No, splits the speed
Hi, thank for the tutorial. I have 2 questions. 1) in case that both routers are mobile, how do the routers authenticate (connect) when they move from an out-of-reach zone to a closer zone in which they can communicate? 2) can 2 secondary routers bridge to a primary router at the same time? In case not, how does the main router decide to which it connects? Id appreciate much your answer
It all depends on the number of LAN ports, if you connect LAN - WAN
In lan-lan connection, I am unable to access secondary router admin page using its ip address that I gave during setup. I was able to access it's admin page using same ip that I gave but as soon as I connect my secondary router to the internet, I can't access its admin page
Use the write IP address
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