NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Multiple Routers
I have two Nighthawk routers. One in the house, the second in the barn. The one in the house is connected to my modem. The router in the barn is connected to the router in the house via CAT6 (wired).
I have disabled DHCP on the 2nd router and have chosen different WiFi channels for each router. The second router has an address of 192.168.1.2 and this address is reserved in the house router.
This system works very well...
Except that there is never a "hand-off" from one to the other. I always must manually change wifi connections (on my android mobile phone) when moving from house to Barn. (but never from barn back to house), yes auto reconnect is enabled for both wifi.
I read somewhere that I can simply use the exact same network name and password for both routers and this will automatically switch the router with the strongest signal....
Is this correct, is there a better way to set up the routers for my configuration?
Thanx in advance for any support, directions, links, advice.
Rick
2 Replies
It's up to devices to pick and choose where they connect to. Routers don't handle that.
You could use same SSID name and PW between both routers. Ensure the channels are far apart from each other on 2.4 and 5Ghz is all.
Typically when you set up multiple routers, but keep the same SSID and password, you will get some benefits from 802.11k which can help a little with roaming, but the process is still largely client directed.
Client directed roaming varies by device. For smartphones typically unless it is rooted, there is often no control over roaming behavior than what the device maker defaults to.
On PCs, you will often have some control over how aggressively it will seek out a better AP. PS, the roaming behavior also takes into account your activity. If you are continuously sending data or receiving data, then some devices will stick to an AP for a longer time even if a better AP is closer.
The mesh products, even with a wired backhaul, will use additional roaming assists such as 802.11v and 802.11r, but ultimately the client device is still in control, if it is a sticky client, then it will resist attempts of the APs to move the device.
