Creating a new wifi network

[audi321]

Hi all. In my sons bedroom (due to poor wifi signal) I have a powerline adapter (and obviously one connected to the router downstairs) which he uses with his pc just fine.

But he now wants wifi in his room for his iPad so I wondered if it’s possible to create a new wifi connection (just for him) using an old Zyxel router?

Am I best off using the old router to ‘extend’ the wifi from the main box, or plugging in the cat5 cable from his powerline adapter into the old router? If so, could I then run another cat5 cable to his pc (which doesn’t have wifi).

Thanks for any advice.

[guyvert1]

Could you not just get a poweline with wifi built in ?

[mmm-five]

You could replace the non-wifi powerline adapter with the wifi version (which should also have a couple of ethernet ports).

[audi321]

Ah yes that’s an option I’d not considered! Being a tight northerner I was only looking at using old crap I have lying around.

[LunarOne]

guyvert1 said:

Could you not just get a poweline with wifi built in ?

This is the best solution, but if you already have an old wifi router, you may be able to turn it into an access point. I'm doing that with an old Netgear WNDR3300 on which I have installed DD-WRT which allows me to configure it infinitely.

It doesn't really matter whether you connect the old router to the existing router directly or via the powerline adapter, but if you can do the former, then why do you need the powerline adapter in the first place?

I don't see DD-WRT available for zyxel routers, but there may be some other project that works, or perhaps Zyxel routers can do this out of the box.

https://dd-wrt.com/support/router-database/

[audi321]

I was going to put the old router in a ‘middle’ room between his and the downstairs router.

I’ll get a wifi powerline adapter as they’re the easiest option for me.

Thanks all.

[119]

We had a similar issue years ago but we jad a cat6 going from the router to the bedroom to a switch. This then provided a connection for a cheapy ap and hard wiring options for anything that could be plugged in.

Bear in mind that you may also need to disable a few settings in the additional AP to save any conflicts.

[ARHarh]

Just plug the old router into the powerline thing, turn of the DHCP server and set a new wifi ssid and password on the router. Sorted and free. then plug the PC in the router.

[megaphone]

You might want to consider mirroring the same Wifi SSID (name) and password as the existing WiFi, that way you'll extend the network so it can be used all over the house.