How to use a second router connected by ethernet to extend WiFi

[hayesrj]

Can anyone help me with a problem please? I recently upgraded to future fibre so now have a spare TalkTalk router (type: FAST 5364-3.T8). I'd like to use it to help my daughter who has a new garden room which is outside the range of her WiFi from the house. The garden room is hardwired by ethernet cable to her broadband router in the house. I now want to connect my spare TalkTalk router to the ethernet point in the garden room and use it to connect to the internet and provide WiFi in the garden room. Two questions - which port on the router should be used to connect to the ethernet point? And then how do I need to set up the router so that it will access the internet from the main router in the house? Thanks so much.

[KeithFrench]

That is a very old WiFi card in your desktop, the best it can work at is what is now called WiFi 4 (802.11n) within the 2.4GHz bandwidth. It supports a maximum link speed (the theoretical speed between the WiFi card and the router) of just 72Mbps, which your Qualcomm QCA9565 is using.

The actual speed to the internet will be a lot lower than this, due to all of the WiFi overheads involved. I would say internet speed tests of 50Mbps are good under the circumstances. If you get less than this, then WiFi interference is probably the cause of this. I think I did send you a PM a while back about using a WiFi analyser. If you follow that through & get me the screenshots I have requested, there might be some for improvement in those speeds.

[hayesrj]

Thanks Keith. Here is the screenshot - hope you can read this? R.

[KeithFrench]

Assuming this PC is running Windows, go to a command prompt & issue this command followed by the Enter key:-

netsh wlan show interface

Then get me a screenshot of this.

[hayesrj]

I'm not sure Keith - is it easy to check on the WiFi card and which band it uses? How do I do that? (Sorry - ignorance again). Although that shouldn't have changed since the upgrade to future fibre, and I had no problems like that before...?

[KeithFrench]

What WiFi card is in the Desktop PC, it could be a lot older than your phone & using the 2.4GHz WiFi band that might have a lot of interference on it?

[hayesrj]

Thanks. While I work on this, could you kindly answer another question? Since I have done this future fibre upgrade, I am getting very inconsistent broadband speed estimates. When I use my mobile phone (connected to the WiFi) to run a speed check I generally get a speed close to the nominal speed of about 150Mbs. Which is fine. But when I do the same thing on my desktop (also connected to the internet by WiFi), the speed is often much slower - often around 50 Mbs. And this afternoon it was less than 10Mbs. Also I seemed to be getting connection problems on my desktop this afternoon. Very slow processing when editing a document on a remote desktop (connected to my university in London). As well as hiccups on playing music from BBC sounds. This has never happened before and I am concerned, as poor connections were the last thing I expected after this upgrade...! Can you please advise? 

[KeithFrench]

It will be a LAN port, not a WAN one. Obviously, I have no experience with the BT router, but I can't see any reason why you would need to change its configuration at all.

[hayesrj]

Thanks for your continuing help Keith. I will carry out the instructions on resetting my TT router and then plug the ethernet cable into the router - but which port on the TT router should I use for this input? A standard LAN port or the port marked "WLAN"? (Or there is even one marked "Broadband". And finally just to be clear - I do not need to make any changes to the configuration of the main BT router right? [Sorry - I meant the WAN port -the red port on the back of the 5364]

[KeithFrench]

For that, you will need to use a free WiFi analyser (don't worry all you have to do is get me the screenshots that I ask you & I will advise which channels to use).

I will PM you a link for a guide of mine on Wi-Fi interference & initially look at the section called "Are you suffering from interference – prove it first". This section includes full details of Wi-Fi analysers that I recommend for Windows, Windows phone, Android and Apple operating systems. However, I have no way of testing the Apple product. Do not worry about interpreting the results, I will do that for you.

Please post the screenshots that I have requested in my guide (no photos please they can be difficult to read as text can get out of focus when zoomed in), from the analyser you are using (also in my attached guide). Please ensure that the analyser window is maximised (if Windows) before taking the screenshots & upload them via the "Insert Photos" button (in a mobile browser it's the picture icon) on the post editor's toolbar with the Size parameter set to Large. If they are too small, I will not be able to read them & although I can enlarge them, this puts the text out of focus. If you prefer PM them to me. If you do PM me, then please add a link in there to this thread, so that I can find it easily.

[hayesrj]

Thanks Keith. Can you please explain how to ensure that WiFi channels do not conflict? And when I connect the ethernet to the TT router - which port do I use on the 5364? Thanks.

[KeithFrench]

Hi Richard,

You can leave the TT Sagemcom's IP address as it is, that will not conflict with anything on the BT Hub, unless 192.168.1.1 has been used for any other device. This would have to have been setup on the device itself and is unlikely to have been done so in your case.

Disable the DHCP server in the 5364, go to:-

Dashboard > See Wi-Fi Settings > Manage Advanced Settings > TalkTalk Wi-Fi hub > LAN IPv4

In here set the DHCP server to be disabled:-

Disable DHCP server

Set the WiFi network names (SSIDs) and WiFi passwords to the same as the other router. You need to set the WiFi channels to no conflicting ones (I can help more with this). However, it is often a good idea to get TalkTalk to disable their Wi-Fi Optimisation on it first. To do this go to:-

Dashboard > See Wi-Fi Settings > Manage Advanced Settings > Wi-Fi 2.4Ghz gear icon > Basic

Then once done repeat for the 5GHz band.

Now connect the BT & Sagemcom hubs via their Ethernet LAN ports.

[hayesrj]

Thanks Keith. That's wonderful that you make your time available to help people like me with technical problems. I managed to do the screenshots you requested and have sent them in a private message (headed BT Router). I hope you can see the images well enough? The good news is that I did manage to log into the BT router (which is a BT Smart Hub 2), so presumably this is where I will go to make any changes to the settings. (And similarly for my TalkTalk router?). I look forward to hearing from you.

[KeithFrench]

Your assumption about the fact that I am just a TalkTalk customer giving up some of my free time to help you is totally correct.

[hayesrj]

Thanks! This is very clear. I will try to do this (this evening). R.   (And by the way, you are very good to spend time on this, and put up with my lack of detailed technical knowledge - and you are not employed by TalkTalk so just doing this out of the goodness of your heart?).

[KeithFrench]

Sorry PM stands for Private Message, if you include any screenshot within this forum, anyone the world over can read it. If you include them in a PM, only you & I can see them. To access PMs click on your Avatar in the top right of the TalkTalk header:-

Forum header

This panel will now be seen:-

Clicking on the above message icon takes you to a page where you click this icon to create a new message:-

Create new PM message

To send one to me, type my forum username in the Send to box and you should see it appear thus:-

PM - Send To

Hope this helps.

[hayesrj]

Thanks again. I will get the details of the router model when I go round later today. And will also try to log into the router with my laptop, and see how far I get from there... You do like acronyms! What is PM when it is not afternoon...!? R.

[KeithFrench]

I think the best way forward is for you to get me the make & model of this BT router & I will see if I can download a manual on the internet. Otherwise, I have no idea what you will see after logging into it.

Use the Windows 10 laptop & use the "Snipping Tool" app that is built into Windows.

Please ensure that the browser window is maximised before taking the screenshots & upload them via the "Insert Photos" button on the forum editor's toolbar with the Size parameter set to Large. If they are too small, I will not be able to read them & although I can enlarge them, this puts the text out of focus. If you prefer PM them to me. If you do PM me, then please add a link in there to this thread, so that I can find it easily.

[hayesrj]

Hi Keith. I can either use my mobile phone (Android) or a DELL laptop (running Windows 10). So please give instructions for these. And what I understand is that I have to try to log into the BT router using one of these devices and then go to the "basic management GUI" - what does GUI stand for please? And then take a screenshot of this. If you can give me a bit more guidance on this, I can then go to my daughter's house later today and try to do this. Thanks for sticking with this! Richard.

[KeithFrench]

Hi Richard,

What sort of device will you be logging in to the BT router, as that will determine how you take screenshots? I can't help you with locating the information in the BT router, as I do not have one. However, with screenshots of the basic management GUI once logged in I can probably take a guess at where this is.

[hayesrj]

Thanks again for helping with this Keith. Please can we take one step at a time and can you please give me simple instructions on how to carry out these tasks. So how do I get screenshots of the BT router's LAN IP address and DHCP server's configuration? Thanks, R.