Access point suggestions for personal use - Can two APs have the same wifi name and password?

[LordX]

Hey all. I hate to admit it, but my wifi networking has been pretty limited to home single router setups, and the occasional mesh wifi setup.

I have a Netgear router that I am now using as an access point only in a location where I ran an ethernet cable to.

Problem is, it doesn't get wifi down to another location where I need it, so I had another ethernet cable run there which will piggy back off of the netgear.

So since I would be looking for an access point for down there, I figured if I could get a pair of access points which could both have the same SSID and password that would be great.

Is this possible?

If so any brand recommendations for ones that would have good (or great) broadcast range?

 

[Markverhyden]

Yes you can have multiple AP's with the same SSID and PW. But that's not the issue. If the AP's have over lapping signal coverage a device might try to stay connected too distant AP instead of moving to the closest one. But there are wifi adapter settings you can change. Some AP's allow changing the signal strength. Some on here, myself included, like Unifi AP's but their stock levels have been problematic the last couple of years. You will also need to install a controller as they don't have the same interface consumer AP's have.

 

[LordX]

I am looking for an easy, relatively plug and play solution.

Should I just get another netgear router and switch it to AP mode?

And in the case you described above, is it easier to just have 2 different SSIDs?

 

[HCHTech]

If you are going to use multiple consumer devices (like a router turned into an access point by shutting off DHCP), you'll save some headaches by giving them different SSIDs and teaching the customer how to switch between them. Plus, if you can see a lot of foreign networks with your site survey, you'll need to steer around those carefully with channel selection. And - the right channel can change over time if a neighbor sets up a new network. This problem still exists with 5G, although there are more channels to choose from, so it's easier to find an unused one or two.

Also, I'd recommend setting both of these router-cum-access points to have static IPs

 

[Blues]

The easy lesson to clients for switching to the stronger signal in overlaps is to teach them to toggle the wifi off and back on as 90% of the time when it turns back on it will connect to the strongest signal available for any SSID it is setup for.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Normally I'd say just get a pair of cheap Unifi WAPs and run the controller off a desktop / laptop when you need to configure them.

But these days this $80 part is at almost 100% over MSRP if you want to actually get your hands on it: U6-Lite-US

 

[LordX]

Just picked up a netgear 6700 nighthawk. Only $60 on Amazon right now. 1500 sq feet coverage (so 800 lol)

 

[Sky-Knight]

And yet, it's complete garbage... have fun with that.

 

[Diggs]

I didn't used to mind Netgear for consumer stuff but they p***ed me off when they started requiring online accounts to manage your own home router. Haven't used them since.....

 

[NETWizz]

You are referring to Roaming, and a proper AP cluster manages it for you if you neable the features.

Look

 

[LordX]

I didn't used to mind Netgear for consumer stuff but they p***ed me off when they started requiring online accounts to manage your own home router. Haven't used them since.....

Crap... no way to just go to routerlogin.net and bypass?

I feel like I had to do that before.

 

[Markverhyden]

If you want ID ten T proof then you need to spend some money and go with the retail oriented kits. Amplifi is Ubiquiti's version. As well as eero and google's. You know the old saying you can't have 3 out of 3, just 2 out of three if you're lucky.

 

[LordX]

not for a customer setup thankfully... just wanted something easy to extend some wifi range in a remote shed.

It will be for my use and family use - so if I have to turn off wifi and back on when I go there so be it.

I have had so many projects on the go that anything involving more than 3 minutes of setup is something I don't want to think about at the moment.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

For networks, you usually just want 1x router. Having another router behind a first router...can either lead to double NAT'ing (which...by all means, you want to avoid), or..if you uplink from the LAN port of the 2nd router, you need to change it's LAN IP to be in the range of the LAN side of the primary router, and ensure you disable DHCP on the second router. Lotta work and cost for a..."not really the way to setup a network".

 

[LordX]

For networks, you usually just want 1x router. Having another router behind a first router...can either lead to double NAT'ing (which...by all means, you want to avoid), or..if you uplink from the LAN port of the 2nd router, you need to change it's LAN IP to be in the range of the LAN side of the primary router, and ensure you disable DHCP on the second router. Lotta work and cost for a..."not really the way to setup a network".

The netgear that I am currently using has an 'access point mode' so it is not attempting to be a router at the same time as my main unit.

I am hoping that the other one I just ordered also has this mode!

 

[frase]

Your issue is using Netgear products, pieces of crap.

 

[Diggs]

Your issue is using Netgear products, pieces of crap.

I don't get the negativity towards Netgear. The price/performance is good. They have proven to be durable. They are versatile, easily configurable (online?) and readily available just about anywhere. Not every application needs Ubiquiti or having to mess with Ubiquiti's confusing controller crap. I guess you're not a leet tech unless you poo-poo Netgear equipment but nobody says why. Like I mentioned the only thing I really don't like is the online configuration and maybe that's not the case for all units as I haven't gone down that road in awhile.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I don't get the negativity towards Netgear. The price/performance is good. They have proven to be durable. They are versatile, easily configurable (online?) and readily available just about anywhere. Not every application needs Ubiquiti or having to mess with Ubiquiti's confusing controller crap. I guess you're not a leet tech unless you poo-poo Netgear equipment but nobody says why. Like I mentioned the only thing I really don't like is the online configuration and maybe that's not the case for all units as I haven't gone down that road in awhile.

Anything in the consumer space is garbage. Netgear, Linksys, TP-Link, ASUS... it's all hot garbage. Doesn't matter how little or as much as you spend either, it's dead after a single monsoon season out here.

So if you're going this route, then get the cheapest thing you can buy. But as long as the stupid thing has integrated WIFI I'm going to stand against it, even in residential settings. Too many problems... Users having to call me back, if I can't dump the thing in and have it work as intended without intervention for 24 months, I'm simply not interested.

 

[Markverhyden]

I don't get the negativity towards Netgear. The price/performance is good. They have proven to be durable. They are versatile, easily configurable (online?) and readily available just about anywhere. Not every application needs Ubiquiti or having to mess with Ubiquiti's confusing controller crap. I guess you're not a leet tech unless you poo-poo Netgear equipment but nobody says why. Like I mentioned the only thing I really don't like is the online configuration and maybe that's not the case for all units as I haven't gone down that road in awhile.

Sorry but I don't agree. Switches have been great. But the rest - routers with AP's as well as cable modem are an issue. The last product I used from Netgear the worked flawlessly was a WRT54G. Since then every single Netgear cable modem and router I've used has gone belly up within 2-3 years. It'll start misbehaving, wifi speed highly erratic, same with wired speed. The only thing that fixes it is a power cycle. Which never lasts.

 

[Diggs]

The last product I used from Netgear the worked flawlessly was a WRT54G.

I guess each to his own. (I disliked the WRT54Gs as they always overheated when flashed with DD-WRT so I wouldn't use them for customers.) Most of my Netgear experience was with older models and they seem to last forever. Their insistence on using online configuration put me off a while ago though. In turn, I've had good luck with TP-Link stuff in the residential sector and still have some TP-Link routers around unopened.