We’ve re-done some networking in our offices, and one of the sacrifices I’ve had to make is moving to a different network. This means that my HomePod minis won’t connect as easily to the wifi (through a firewall and about 20+ more feet).
I’m thinking about getting one of those small travel routers (like this one) to use as a booster through one of the ethernet ports I’ve got in here, but I’m wondering if that’s a good idea and if one of those routers is designed to be an always-on device.
I need a simple solution, and I’m not wanting to built out a mesh network/other extender because that could get expensive or messy when really all I want is stronger wi-fi for my HomePod mini speakers.
Yes, the GliNet routers can take an ethernet connection and broadcast it as wifi. However, I would recommend setting it up as a different WiFi to the rest of your house, as I’ve used non mesh systems on the same wifi name and it got messy quickly!
I used one as a network bridge (so the opposite of you - wifi to ethernet) and it worked - however, it did get the occasional connection issue about once every 3 weeks, so I reset it and then it worked fine.
In fairness, any router should work. If it’s just for home use, then the Flint is pretty much the same price and is designed for always on.
I may not have been clear. I really just need a booster for the existing wifi network that doesn’t have a signal strong enough (or maybe the antennas aren’t strong enough?) in my HomePod minis. There’s an ethernet line into my office, and I’d just plug that into the extender and use that.
So, it would not be adding to a mesh network; it would simply just send the already existing wifi network to my office instead, if that makes sense.
If you can be absolutely sure the existing Wi-Fi network doesn’t reach at all. If you create a new Wi-Fi network with the same SSID using a travel router (or any other router), you potentially have the same SSID network running through an additional layer of NAT (network address translation). If some devices see both Wi-Fi’s it can cause hard to troubleshoot problems depending upon which SSID they choose to connect.
I’m not sold on that as the only option (I just figured I could use it both when traveling and in the office), but if there’s another way, I’m happy to take any advice.
This is my situation exactly. I have a normal wi-fi router (NOT mesh) from my ISP in my living room where the internet connection comes through the wall. From there I have ethernet run to the other end of the house. I have a cheap, but reliable TP-link wi-fi router plugged into the ethernet.
I configured the TP-link device to act as an access point instead of a router. This is a crucial step that ensures that the TP-link device and everything connected to it via wifi or ethernet get their IP address from the ISP-router and are all on the same LAN. I used the same SSID and password on both the ISP-provided router and the TP-link device.
My phones and laptops now all connect seamlessly to the same wi-fi network everywhere in my house. They automatically connect to the access point with the best signal, so I get good speeds everywhere. This approach will work with most consumer wi-fi routers that do not use mesh networks.
Most travel routers can be configured for one of three modes:
Wi-Fi network (same as a regular router)
Wi-Fi client (basically, an outboard Wi-Fi interface)
Wi-Fi network extender
Wi-Fi network extender mode does the Wi-Fi stuff but doesn’t create another NAT layer or DHCP server and relies one existing network.
Wi-Fi client is used to connect exactly one device to the wireless if that device doesn’t have a built-in Wi-Fi, or the built-in Wi-Fi is too weak (because) and external device with bigger antenna creates stronger connection.
IMHO, the key to using a travel router, or multiple regular routers, is to fully understand how the different modes work together are used. The documentation with some travel routers can be very confusing; the naming of the modes is not standardized so the terminology itself doesn’t always help.
If one is hands-on and willing to do some research/study to grok everything, you can accomplish what you want and more.
Expert tip: Once you figure it all out, write a cheat-sheet check list; epecially if you use travel mode for trips and client or extender mode when at home. “Future you” will appreciate quick setup/configuration at 11pm at night when arriving at your hotel or home and not having to rethink “now which mode do I need and what settings do I change to get this to work again??”
(When I was travelling a lot, I was not ashamed to put Brother labels on all the ports with simple words that clearly told me what to plug in where for each connection, and small laminated summary card velcro’d to the bottom of the travel router.)