The only exception is if the broadband router handles network assignment with DHCP and NAT. Use the same network password for all Wi-Fi networks, too. (Name the base stations themselves uniquely in whatever way the device lets you to identify them for configuration.) This name, the SSID (Service Set Identifier), is what you see in a list of Wi-Fi networks in a menu. Name each additional router’s network the same. Instead, they pass through the NAT/DHCP combo from the main router. You want these routers to neither create a private network nor pass out addresses. The terminology varies by Wi-Fi device maker. You can also insert ethernet switches for convenience or to span greater distances between the main router and additional ones.Ĭonfigure each additional router as a bridge or access point. (This the combination known as NAT and DHCP: NAT manages the private network range DHCP hands out addresses.)Ĭonnect each additional router via ethernet to the LAN ports on the main router. The main network takes the Internet Protocol (IP) address handed off by the broadband modem and creates a private network range and passes out addresses to Wi-Fi- and ethernet-connected devices. It connects via its WAN (Wide Area Networking) port to your broadband modem. One of your Wi-Fi gateways needs to act as the “main” unit. Apple made it easy to set up a series of base stations that could have unique individual names (to identify them for configuration), but could be set to share the same network name to allow devices to roam. Any device that has a Wi-Fi adapter that lets it connect to a network-whether an iPad, laptop, Nintendo Switch, Android phone, or smart fridge-automatically roams among base stations that share the same network name and encryption setup, including password. Readers ask for what was a breeze with AirPort configurations: a single network that allows devices to roam seamlessly without awkward handoffs between base stations. Mesh may sound great, but why not use the wiring we have? Such readers are in the same situation I am in: we have some ethernet wiring or have strung some ethernet cables in the house to connect base stations and just want to swap out what we have for the latest. I increasingly get email from readers who have failing or kaput AirPort base station equipment and want to set up a network with the same simplicity, but at a lower cost than mesh options.
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