Current routers basically all support WDS. Actually repeater and bridge are different — connecting two networks is called bridging; what we use is actually a repeater, i.e., signal forwarding. Think of the router as a base station, the phone roams between base stations, and our computer does the same, roaming between multiple routers.
A few days ago I set up a homegroup and LAN at home, and a problem came up: the signal. Friends with bigger homes always have some spots with weak signal and dropped connections. How to solve this? Use multiple wireless routers as repeaters to expand coverage, which is equivalent to increasing signal strength (though not really).
I’m demonstrating with just two routers, one main and one repeater. If you have more, it’s the same idea.
Materials: Main router: Leckey NW704; Secondary router: FAST FW150R
Set up the main router
Router installation omitted, see: http://www.neilren.com/?p=222 Access 192.168.1.1 to enter the router settings page. First, change the router’s working mode to support WDS. Different routers put this in different places, but the idea is the same — find it yourself. Then note down the main router’s SSID, MAC address, and channel used. [caption id=“attachment_346” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”]
Main router WDS settings[/caption] Then check the encryption method and key used by the main router. [caption id=“attachment_342” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”]
Main router WDS settings[/caption] Then enable the main router’s DHCP service, and assign IPs starting from 192.168.1.101, because the first 100 IPs are reserved for our routers and other devices, so they’re not part of the pool. Now you can set up the secondary router.
Set up the secondary router
Disconnect from the main router, connect to the secondary router, access 192.168.1.1 to enter the router settings. First, change the secondary router’s IP address. The main and secondary routers can’t use the same IP, but must be on the same subnet. So if it starts with 192.168.1, both start with 192.168.1; if it starts with 192.168.0, both start with 192.168.0. Mine starts with 192.168.1, so the main router is 192.168.1.1 and the secondary is 192.168.1.2. Set the secondary router’s IP to 192.168.1.2. [caption id=“attachment_347” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”]
Secondary router WDS settings[/caption] Then disable the secondary router’s DHCP service, because all devices should listen to the main router’s IP assignment. [caption id=“attachment_348” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”]
Secondary router WDS settings[/caption] Next, set the secondary router’s SSID, channel, enable WDS, and fill in the WDS parameters. It’s recommended to use the same SSID as the main router; the channel must match the main router. I use channel 6. Check “enable WDS”, and fill in the main router’s SSID, MAC address, encryption method used, and wireless password. [caption id=“attachment_351” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”]
Secondary router WDS settings[/caption] After restarting the router, in the secondary router’s status you’ll see WDS status: success, which proves it’s correctly linked to the main router. [caption id=“attachment_352” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”]
Router WDS status[/caption] Finally, the secondary router is still open without a password. Set a wireless password for it; it’s recommended to use the same encryption method and password as the main router. [caption id=“attachment_353” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”]
Set router wireless password[/caption] That’s everything. This is an original post by Renfei; when reposting, please cite this site’s link and the author, and do not directly use this site’s image links. Hotlink protection is enabled.