router & modem set up

[ricoman]

OK, my DSL modem died (yes, I still have DSL for now) so I though it would be a good time to upgrade my 6 yr. old router as well. So I bought a brand new TP-LINK AC 1900 C9 router and called my cable provider to replace my modem. When the modem came, it turns out that it has a built-in router so now I have a brand new gigabit router with nothing to do. I'm looking for suggestions as to what and how to use the router as an extender for my wireless network for my TV in another room. The TV works pretty good but sometimes needs to buffer, would this help? Is it worth the trouble? if so, what is the best way to go about setting it up. Thanks in advance.

[hello_hello]

It might help if the signal between the TV and the ADSL router isn't great and if the second second router can be placed in a better position than a dongle connected to the TV, and/or if the two routers support a faster type of wireless connection than that TV or the dongle connected to the TV can manage. There's a lot of variables but you'd possibly want to connect the TV to the second router via an ethernet cable if possible and then connect the second router to the first in "bridge" mode. If the TP-Link has such a mode (I don't think it does out of the box) you'd effectively using it as a wireless dongle.

It seems the TP-Link supports WDS Bridging which isn't quite the same thing. I'm not sure if the ethernet ports still function in that mode but other wireless devices can connect to your network via the router while it's acting as a bridge, using some of your wireless bandwidth. The instructions here don't say if both radio bands remain active when one is used in WDS bridge mode. http://www.tp-link.com.au/faq-1083.html

If you want to play around and you don't mind a slight risk of turning the TP-Link into a paperweight (it should be fine as long as you follow the instructions exactly), it's listed as a supported router for DD-WRT firmware. It'll no doubt ad lots of extra functionality. That's what I'm running on an old Netgear router. My ADSL modem/router is in another room, so the PCs in this room are connected to the Netgear router via cable and it's running in "Client" mode rather than the usual access point mode. I'm pretty sure it didn't have any type of client/bridge mode until I replaced the Netgear firmware with DD-WRT.

[ricoman]

Thanks, right now it's a $150 paperweight and I know it has to be better than the router in the modem combo. I wonder if I can turn off the router function on the combo and use the better TP-Link router?

[johns0]

Tp-link is a low end router maker,i would leave it out of the setup and just go with new combo.

[KarMa]

Some modems have bridge mode which will cause the modem not to route anything or block anything, instead relying on the router. If it does not have a bridge mode you can try disabling DHCP on the modem, which is responsible for assigning IP address to devices on your network. Instead only have your seperate router do that, and just set the WAN IP manually.

My modem is an very old combo unit which I have effectively disabled the routing part of. First I disabled the WiFi on it, in the menu. Then looked for a bridge mode which it did not have. Tried disabling DHCP but my modem also requires DHCP to be enabled if I want to disable it's firewall. So I had to limit the DHCP pool to just one possible address (192.168.1.50 for example), which is also the same IP as the WAN on my Buffalo DD-WRT router. It's a bit stupid but I really like the detailed stats my modem gives me on my DSL line so I keep it going. I have a pile of like 5 other modems from different brands. Anyway my Buffalo does all the DHCP and Firewall, as the modem is pretty much in de facto bridgemode.

How my network addresses look.

81.142.xxx.xxx <--WAN Modem LAN---> 192.168.1.254 | 192.168.1.50 <---WAN Router LAN----> 192.168.11.1 | 192.168.11.70 <--Computer Address

Tp-link is a low end router maker,i would leave it out of the setup and just go with new combo.

Has pretty decent ratings on Amazon. Nearly 3k reviews averaging 4.2/5.

[johns0]

I never trust amazon ratings,lots of them are padded by sellers.

[KarMa]

I never trust amazon ratings,lots of them are padded by sellers.

Well it's pretty well rated anywhere that matters, even review sites. At a minimum it's not a dud product, and would be better than the combo unit provided by OP ISP. Interestingly the older TP-LINK Archer C7 (2013 - dual band) has under 5k reviews with 4.1/5 and ranked as the best selling router on Amazon.

[Krispy Kritter]

You could simply contact your ISP and tell them you only want a modem as you have your own router, especially if they happen to charge you for the router.

Aside from that, as noted above, simply configure it for bridge mode. Assuming, 1) you have access to configure it (some ISP's restrict user access to router features), and 2) it will work in bridge mode.

But if they aren't charging you extra for it, and it's working properly, I wouldn't make any changes and simply see about returning the TP-Link (assuming you bought it from a reputable reseller).