Using 2nd router as a Wireless repeater,

Hi guys, hoping someone can help me with this,

basically, because of stupid distances between where the internet enters my house, and the girlfriend wanting to use wireless on her laptop in bed (lazy ) i have ran a LAN cable up the stairs and plugged a 2nd router, which is just operating as a switch in to the network to boost the signal, both routers have the same SSID and WPA key, and are set to broadcast on different channels so they dont interfere with each other, which works fine, the problem is basically this:

as i understand it, the PC should automatically connect to whichever one is strongest signal wise, and switch between them if the other one becomes stronger, or if one drops for whatever reason, to test this, i disconnected the secondary router, so far so good, there was no drop of connection it just defaulted to the one which was still on (the gateway), the problem is that when router number 2 was switched back on again, it doesnt switch back to it (even though its the stronger signal, as my desktop which im testing it on is actually sitting next to the 2nd router) yet the moment i disconnect, it finds the stronger signal and on reconnecting will connect to the router its meant to any idea why this is?

I believe this is because your computer will only search for a connection if the connection you're currently on stops. I.E. You disconnect, or it disconnects.

In other words, I don't believe that a standard setup will switch between signals when one becomes stronger than another. Once connected, it will stay connected unless it loses that signal. There may be a way to enable this but I don't know how.

I recommend that you create two shortcuts. One for each router. That way, you can switch between the two when you move throughout the house with your laptop.

thanks for the quick reply greymatter, that sounds like it could be it... i will have to try that with the girlfriends laptop when she is here, connect then walk about, see if it switches, or whether it locks into the router it connects to first, so maybe my bright idea wasn't such a bright one then,

my understanding of the way it was supposed to work was that the computer sees both routers as the same access point and just assumes the signal is stronger, obviously not, although i do find it strange that if that is the case, why i dont have two instances of my wireless network showing up, rather than just one

just read what you added, thanks for the clarification, anyone know of a way to turn this on?

thank you for all the replies

CommonTater: basically because i dont like the idea of hooking the router up to a telephone extension lead, it is connected straight into the BT test socket so as to get the best connection, and as i have a 2nd router anyway, so i thought id try it out,

What it won't do is change channels while connected...

When you disconnected the one she was connected to, you effectively broke the connection, forcing it to reconnect on the other channel.

so if i change both routers to transmit on the same channel do you think that would do it?

MDR: not quite sure i understand what you mean, i i have put router 2 into bridge mode now, but can't find a way to set the gateway, the only option i can find is to change the actual routers ip address but if i change the 2nd router's IP address to 192.168.1.1 (the gateway's address) won't that cause a conflict on the network? as 2 devices will have the same IP address

acurasad: ideally id like to be able to transfer files too, but even if it's just the internet that would be better than nothing

its not really a big deal, the network works, it would just be nice if i could figure out how to get it to switch automatically without disconnecting and reconnecting if she goes up or downstairs

update: right, i set both routers to transmit on Channel 1, still the same thing happened, connected back to the gateway when router 2 was turned off, but wouldn't switch back again

I have a feeling there is something very simple i'm missing, some kind of wireless setting that im missing, everything in the network infrastructure is working fine, its just the wireless bit