Do you have two routers and have been wondering if you can connect them? Do you want to add more devices, gadgets, or computers to the network, but there are no ports available? If the answer is yes, you can connect one router to another but within reason.
Making the connection is only necessary if you want to expand the amount of Ethernet options within the network or the range of the wireless signal in the space. You can also do it if the internet provider gave you a new router or modem and you wish to connect. Having a second router can also be a good addition as you can place it in areas where your wireless signal is poor or dormant.
How Do I Connect a Second Router to My First Router?
If you want to connect your second router to the initial one, you are going to need to have a computer or another device with a web browser. You cannot make any router configuration changes without access to the new device’s back-end settings.
Each model comes with default administrative credentials to facilitate this process. Whether you have Linksys, Nexxt, Arris, or another router, there should be a manual included that makes this information very easy to find. If all that should fail for some reason, feel free to look at various online repositories or the vendor’s website to get the password information you need.
Once you have the login information, you then need to locate the default internal IP address of the router. This usually takes the form of 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. Accessing the configuration page requires plugging this IP address into the browser of your choice while ensuring that the router has a direct connection to the PC or other internet-enabled device you are using to make the configuration changes.
After you’ve logged in, you need to configure the second router by telling it what to connect to for internet-enabled broadcasting purposes. You can also modify its SSID (Service Set Identifier), security protocol, and password requirements.
The connection between the two routers is possible in a couple of ways. The first is to set them up in such a way that grants you access to two separate logical networks. In other words, the initial router maintains an SSID and configuration while the subsequent router maintains a separate one. So, if you were to stand in an area that is reachable by both networks, you could connect to either one.
Bear in mind that though the two appear differently, the main broadcast stems from the initial router. This is similar to the kind of connection you would set up between a modem and a router. Therefore, if the first router goes offline for any reason, you can expect the second to follow suit.
Of course, the reverse is not true for obvious reasons. Having this information can help with troubleshooting efforts when anything begins to go awry.
The text below explains the second configuration style.
How Do I Setup Two Routers on the Same Network?
After opening the configuration page and logging in, you may proceed to switch the network mode based on what you are trying to achieve. The repeat or extender network modes are useful for this as they capture the signal from the initial router and broadcast it to a separate space. Of course, this means that the said broadcast from the new router adapts the SSID of the initial one.
To test this process, simply go to an area of the property that is only reachable by the second router and try to connect to the network as you normally would with the initial one. If all this works, then you have successfully completed the router-to-router connection on a single network.
What Happens When You Connect a Router to Another Router?
The idea behind connecting a router to another router is to extend the effective area of the wireless network capability. Based on the two connection modes explained above, you can have a situation where you have a single physical network but two logical ones, or you can consolidate both routers on a single network.
This is effective to mitigate and effectively eliminate dead zones that may be present around the property. Routers typically broadcast internet connectivity wirelessly from a modem. However, many of them have modem-like capabilities in their own right, which allows you to create a network chain.
Can I Connect a Router to Another Router Wirelessly?
If this is what you have been wondering about then the answer is yes. You can connect a router to another router wirelessly. You simply need to follow some simple steps to get the connection working.
If you are going to be doing it wirelessly, then you may need to connect an Ethernet cable from your second router to your computer system. Some routers facilitate doing it wirelessly, since once they are on, they proceed to broadcast their SSIDs even without internet connectivity.
Note that the use of the Ethernet cable here (if you choose to go that route) is exclusively for the configuration process. Once you have completed it, your router should be able to operate without a wired connection.
In this case, as you are configuring this second router as a wireless repeater or extender, the configuration page should allow you to identify the wireless SSID of the initial router. Of course, choosing to consolidate the network or not is still a possibility even when the two routers are not connected via a physical cable.
