Can you use any router as a wireless bridge?

elsmandino

I have a Samsung Smart TV in my spare room that I would like to connect to our internet, but I have no ethernet port in there.

The TV supports ethernet only and Samsung are asking way too much for their ethernet to Wifi adapters.

I have just read that you can use an old router as a wireless bridge (I have loads of them, lying around in my loft).

Can you use any router in this way or is it only particular models?

psychopomp1

Yes, you can provided the router supports 'Wireless Access Point' mode (or called something similar). This is possible on nearly all third party routers, however i'm not sure if it can be done on ISP supplied routers. Otherwise you need to buy something like this and hook up your TV to its ethernet port:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/RE360-Universal-Extender-Broadband-UK/dp/B0734C533K

elsmandino

Thanks, Psycho - I switch between Plusnet and Talk Talk every year, so have amassed quite a few routers over that time.  I shall go through them all and see if any support that.

mickevh

Sounds like what you are trying to achieve is a "AP in reverse" - ie you want some device that functions as a Wi-Fi client in a stand alone device and thence onward links to ethernet devices downstream of it. Sometimes this is called things like "bridge" mode, "WDS" mode and occasionally the latest nonsense-du-jour "mesh" links.

If none of your stash of old routers look like they offer such functionality, then maybe you could look to after market firmwares such as DD-WRT or Tomato. Such firmwares offer all sorts of wild and wonderful things, maybe take a look at their web sites and check out whether you routers can run such firmware.

elsmandino

AP in reverse - great way of explaining it.

I managed to locate three routers to try things out on -  two identical Plusnet Sagemcom 2704N and a Talk Talk D-Link DSL-3782.

I had a look at DD-WRT and Tomato and, unfortunately, neither seem to be supported.

I also read, on the Plusnet forum, that the 2704Ns cannot be used for ethernet bridging.

The DSL-3782 looked at bit more promising - I managed to find a few settings that could be changed to Bridged but, having tried everything, it just would not use it as a wireless adapter.

I followed the device in this thread:

DLINK DSL-3782 bridge/modem mode - TalkTalk Community

but had to give up in the end - it just did not seem to work.

mickevh

"Bridge/Modem Mode" is a different kind of "thing" to what you are trying to achieve (it essentially disables the router, NAT, firewall and a bunch of other stuff and turns the device into an AP/switch combo - suffice to say it's not what you need.)

If you incumbent kit isn't going to fly and you're looking at buying something, as well as a Wi-FI solution using so-called "range extenders" "boosters" and so forth (in the biz. we know such devices as "repeaters" such as the one PsychoPomp linked earlier,) you might like to consider something like HomePlugs. With HomePlugs, instead of using Wi-Fi, they use the domestic mains circuit (with the added benefit that if you buy a HomePlug/AP combo, you get an extra Wi-Fi AP too.) There's an FAQ about HomePlugs pinned in this forum. I believe some of the cheaper HomePlug starter kits are of a comparable price to a stand alone Wi-Fi repeater.

next010

According to the last post on this page under a hidden expert settings menu you can configure the Sagemcom 2704N into an access point mode. Cant see any pictures online of what this UI lists.

techquest

Give this a try, but no promises.

1.    Log into the 2704N using http://192.168.1.254/expert_user.html

2.    Enter  admin name and password

3.     Select >Advanced Setup >LAN

4.     First select the ‘Disable DHCP Server’ radio button, then at the top, change the IP address

5.    Click Apply/Save

6.     The 2704n should now update and the page will start to refresh but won’t complete as you now have to change the address in your browser URL bar

7.    Change it to [url=/proxy.php?link=http://[yourchosenIP]/expert_user.html&hash=70c018d4343e483e6b91d9d281d54cad]http://[yourchosenIP]/expert_user.html[/url]

Failing that you might need to flash it with new firmware.

elsmandino

Thanks everyone.

I should just say that the wireless bridge is only going to be a temporary measure - I am looking to put ethernet in every room in the house but probably will not get round to it for a few months. It is during this period that I was looking for a preferably free option (to keep my son happy until I do things properly).  I would have otherwise gone for something like Powerline Adapters as recommended.

I shall definitely give the 2704n option a go - sneaky, sneaky hiding the expert settings away.

Another option I have been looking at is to use my spare Raspberry Pi with a wireless dongle:

Share WiFi With Ethernet Port on a Raspberry Pi

This looks pretty daunting, given that I have only dabbled a bit with Linux, so the router option would definitely be preferable if I can get it up and working.

I shall report back, once I have had a fiddle.

techquest

Yeah sagemcom are renowned for that little triack, which if I understand correctly is a mandate from the ISP, plusnet & talktalk for example. Why hide something that most users can get to anyway

Powerline's are not to bad albeit a tad on the expensive side if you have numbers of them.

On the ethernet issue, just make sure all the terminations in your network are secure otherwise they will have an effect on your broadband speed. Would go with Cat 6a cable as there's not much in it price wise these days.

Let us know how you get on with the sneaky settings.