Can't use same name as network it's extending?

[jctraceyct]

This is probably a silly question -- but we had another router and it "extended" our primary router's wifi network and used the same name. It appears the WN2500RP we just got creates a new network. That is not a great solution for us as the point is to allow iPads and whatnot that are brought upstairs at night to work there seamlessly. I don't see my wife at 10pm feeding the baby remembering to switch to the "nighttime network". Is there any way to have this device broadcast on the same name, or is that inherently not feasible? If so I'm just wondering why it worked with the other router, and why you can have the same network name throughout hotels, etc. Thanks for your help!

[Retired_Member]

Did you use a PC to setup extender? Page 16 in the manual describes how to change SSID.

or try this

If you sign on to one then relocate and sign into the other I think it would switch when the other was out of range. Not the answer you're looking for but might work.

In windows there is a setting which says connect to a more preferred network if available. I don't know if the ipads have it.

[jctraceyct]

I can change the name in setup, yes, but I assumed that wasn't a good idea since it defaults to same name plus _ext (or whatever it is exactly).

Thanks

[jmizoguchi]

Believe setting may also give you an alert not to use same SSID with extender but you can use same SSID

iOS device will not have capabilities but to roam to as need it.

[WizardJ]

When it comes to making the wireless network range wider you basically have two options:
1. Wireless repeating (through dedicated wireless access points, or routers supporting the wireless repeating mode).
2. Universal Wi-Fi Range Extenders.

Now, option 1 allows you to widen a wireless network range and maintaining the same wireless network name (SSID) throughout the whole network, across all of the units (router + access points), however, this solution allows only for the very old and easily hacked WEP encryption. In other words: an unsecure solution compared to the ones available today. This works in conjuction with the WDS protocol that allows for One network (and yes, one network name) to be distributed across several wireless transmitting units. Some common access points for wireless repeating would be the WN802T or the WN604.

The 2nd option allows for a much greater deal of security, through the WPA and WPA2 encryption, but it will have you put in a separate network name (SSID) as it creates an entirely separate network from the one your router sends out, however using the same internet connection of course. Should you succeed in putting the exact same network name (SSID) on the extender as the router is using, you will be facing issues with your computers and wireless devices getting disconnected and reconnected to the wireless network all of the time and surfing the web will become very unstable, as the wireless devices aren't always able to differ the two networks. This will result in you randomly getting logged out from pages, streaming videos getting interrupted and VoIP calls like Skype getting interrupted. So if you decide to stay with the extender solution, you should make sure to use separate network names (SSIDs).

Hope I didn't get too nerdy. 😄 Cheers.