Suggested device to extend Wi-Fi but keep same SSID?

[Elliot B.]

Our ISP is BT Broadband and we use their BT Smart Hub (sometimes called the Home Hub 6), which was released in 2016.

The router (only just) struggles to reach every part of the home.

 

We had a similar issue at a different house seven years ago. We had signal in a specific room but it was very poor, so we got a device that extended the router's Wi-Fi signal. However, the device created a separate SSID and, since the connection to the router was very poor but not zero, we had to keep manually connecting to the new SSID when we were in this specific room as no phone would automatically switch, then connect back to the router's SSID when we left the room. It was very frustrating.

 

Is there a better solution, these days?

 

We can not replace the router.

 

We are hoping to buy a device that extends the signal (we don't need to extend it by much - so maybe a £50 upper limit?) but that (hopefully) retains the SSID so that phones do not stick to the barely-working signal.

Edited July 29, 2021 by Elliot B.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

I "think" you can set any SSID to a Wi-fi extender.

 

I am quite sure that AP's are the same way.

 

Wait for BudMan..

[Elliot B.]

On 29/07/2021 at 20:03, Mindovermaster said:

I "think" you can set any SSID to a Wi-fi extender.

 

I am quite sure that AP's are the same way.

 

Wait for BudMan..

I wonder if that can be accomplished with the TP-Link AC750 (RE230)?

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

On 05/08/2021 at 11:55, Elliot B. said:

I wonder if that can be accomplished with the TP-Link AC750 (RE230)?

Sry, no idea. Never used that.

 

@BudManYou know anything?

[+BudMan MVC]

On 29/07/2021 at 13:52, Elliot B. said:

Is there a better solution

Better solution would be to run a wire from your network to where you need wifi and just use an AP, or just use any wifi router as just an AP.

 

That being said there should be no reason why you can not use the same ssid on the extender. It prob defaults to something different - adding a _ext on the end or something.  I have no experience with that specific device, or with tplink wifi anything.  I have played with some tplink wifi routers in the past - first thing I did with them was put dd-wrt on them

 

But if the extender did not allow you to edit/set the ssid it uses - that would be a horrible horrible device..  If the ssid was different, then yeah the client would have to fully loose its connection completely pretty much from the original ssid it was connected to before moving to a different ssid you had saved in your device.  Extenders are horrible anyway   They almost always end up with /2 the bandwidth because they use the same radio for clients as uplink, etc.  If you can use 2.4 for the uplink, and only 5ghz for clients on the extender that is a much better setup.  But these cheap extenders don't normally do that..

 

Why can you not get rid of the router your using now?  And put in say a full mesh system?  Lets say you can't get rid of the isp device.  Another option would be to just turn off its wifi, and setup your own mesh.  And then just double nat to your isp device.  This would be lesser of the 2 evils (double nat) vs ###### wifi coverage.

 

Best and cheapest option is just run a wire - since then you could use any old 20$ wifi router as just an AP if there are budget constraints.

 

Anyhoo - I took a look at the tp emulators, and they have one for your re230.  I picked the v2 version and it clearly shows you can edit the ssid for the extended network.  They even have a copy host network ssid button.. So yeah you can use the same ssid as your other router.

 

 

https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/emulator/

 

if it was me and going to use this device (gun to my head sort of deal) hehehe.. I would only use the 2.4 to connect to host.. And then for your clients to this extender only use 5ghz..  That is if your client your going to use in the area of this extender support 5ghz..

[+Kyle Subscriber¹]

@BudMan couldn't he create a routing loop with both devices if he just ran the wire? The networks would have to CIDR separated or am I crazy?  Also moving from AP to AP within the building would cause disconnects.

 

Wifi mesh is a great way to do this (again as Budman said). 

 

EDIT: I like the eero pro6 ($600 for 3 aps), but my guest network is all Google Wifi (300 for 3 aps). 

[+BudMan MVC]

On 11/08/2021 at 10:14, Kyle said:

couldn't he create a routing loop with both devices if he just ran the wire?

No.. Not unless he had some device bridging the wifi to its own wire.. Say he had some laptop setup to bridge its wifi connection to is own wired interface then sure he could cause a loop.  But just wiring AP to the network would not create a loop.  That could cause a problem even if the AP is using a wireless uplink/mesh..

 

A loop is created when you have multiple bridges on the network, ie something that forwards broadcast traffic.  be it 2 switches connected together on the same L2 more than once, without any way to limit connection, say with spanning tree. Or when you have a bridge, say your laptop connected to the network via wireless and wired at the same time.

 

No you do not need to create different networks to use multiple AP..

 

No moving from AP to AP would not create any disconnects.  Running different SSIDs could cause this..   Mesh is a way to do it sure, when you don't have the ability to wire your AP.  But the optimal configuration is to always wire the AP to the network.

[cousinsgrahamai81]

If you want to extend your Wi-Fi network but keep the same SSID, try a repeater. A range extender will help expand and augment wireless coverage throughout an observed space without changing or affecting connectivity with other devices on that particular network. 

[adrynalyne]

On 06/09/2021 at 06:00, cousinsgrahamai81 said:

If you want to extend your Wi-Fi network but keep the same SSID, try a repeater. A range extender will help expand and augment wireless coverage throughout an observed space without changing or affecting connectivity with other devices on that particular network. 

Those can halve your bandwidth. 

[PGHammer]

On 05/08/2021 at 13:07, Mindovermaster said:

Sry, no idea. Never used that.

 

@BudManYou know anything?

Mesh routers are designed to do what you are asking - one ID with multiple access points.