second DD-WRT tutorial<\/a>. But a WDS can be a needy thing. At a minimum, each router in the network must support WDS. For the most reliable results, each router should be the same model running the same firmware.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn the real world, you might own only one router which can run DD-WRT. Thanks to the new V24 beta firmware, a single DD-WRT router can be set up as a wireless repeater. Unlike a WDS, your DD-WRT router can now receive and redistribute a wireless signal from a generic AP.Typically, you would use wireless repeater mode to rebroadcast a signal too weak for your wireless clients to pick up reliably \u2013 assuming that your DD-WRT router can pick up the host AP, of course. In a test case, I successfully repeated a host AP with a signal strength of only 9% as seen by the DD-WRT router \u2013 so low that the host AP wasn\u2019t detected at all by a laptop’s integrated wireless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wireless repeater mode also groups your local clients into their own subnet \u2013 a potential feature (for privacy) or a potential hassle (for LAN routing), depending on your needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Caveat Router<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nBecause wireless repeater mode is a new feature, and technically still in beta, using it puts you on the leading edge of DD-WRT technology. This also means you may run into problems with the limitations of wireless repeater mode, and there are some.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time of this writing, wireless repeater mode does not yet function in bridged mode. This means that, as noted earlier, clients connected to your DD-WRT repeater must be inside their own subnet, preventing them from seeing clients connected to the host AP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, if your host AP assigns clients to the 192.168.0.x subnet, your wireless repeater will have to assign its clients to another non-overlapping private subnet, such as 10.0.0.x. While clients on both subnets will be able to access the Internet (assuming the host AP has Internet access), clients on the two subnets cannot see each other. For some LAN configurations this is an undesirable problem, and you\u2019ll have to consider WDS or a wireless bridge scenario as alternate solutions, each with their own limitations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To set up a wireless repeater yourself, you\u2019ll first need to upgrade your DD-WRT compatible router to the latest V24 beta. If you are currently running a DD-WRT setup, take a moment to back up its settings before flashing to V24 (Administration\/Backup<\/em>), in case you later decide to revert to your original configuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\nRouter Setup<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nTake note of any wireless security currently enabled on your host router. If you are using WEP, note your passphrase and key length (64-bit, 128-bit, etc.). If using WPA or WPA2, note your passphrase. Later, you\u2019ll need to use these to set up your repeater. Note that because DD-WRT V24 is still a beta, your mileage may vary when it comes to repeating a secured host router. Users of earlier betas reported a number of problems, but these seem to be smoothed out with the latest releases (the V24 1\/15\/07 release, as I write this).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also make note of the SSID of the host AP you want to repeat. Alternatively, you can scan for available APs from within the router\u2019s administration interface as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You will need to access the administration interface of the DD-WRT router you\u2019re setting up as the repeater. Connect a wired PC to the DD-WRT router. Be sure to disable any wireless adapter on your PC for now, and plug the Ethernet cable into one of the LAN (not WAN) ports on your DD-WRT router.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Step By Step<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nAssuming your DD-WRT is set to factory defaults, its IP address is 192.168.1.1. If your client PC is configured to receive an IP automatically, it should be assigned an address by the router.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Step 1.<\/strong> Open a browser on your PC and connect to the DD-WRT router \u2013 its default address is http:\/\/192.168.1.1. The default login is root<\/em> and password is admin<\/em>. Of course, you should change these. If you don\u2019t, you\u2019ll have bad dreams involving Sally Struthers and bathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\nStep 2.<\/strong> Click Setup\/Basic Setup. You can leave Connection Type<\/em> at its default, \u201cAutomatic Configuration \u2013 DHCP.\u201d You can leave the router and host name fields at default if you like, or customize them as we did.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe most important setting here is the Local IP Address<\/em>. This must be a different subnet than that which the host AP is on. Our host AP is on 192.168.1.1, which was also the default for this DD-WRT router. Thus, we\u2019ve changed the DD-WRT router to 10.0.0.1.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can leave the remaining settings alone \u2013 the DHCP enabled, etc. \u2013 and click Save Settings<\/em> at the bottom of the page. Your router will reboot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n