Forum Discussion
Connecting a Router to Another Router as a Layer 2/3 Switch (?)
Hi. Excuse my likely misuse of terminology, it's been a good while since I've gotten any sort of education on Networking and the OSI Model. I've recently acquired a laptop that does not have any WLA...
I think a better way to rephrase the question, if I'm not mistaken, is "How to Bridge two routers together over WiFI". I believe that's the correct terminology for what I'd like to do.
- Nighthawk
Community Power User
It's going to depend solely on the second older router. Some are capable of that functionality but not many. It's also going to depend on exactly how old the second router is. There were changes to the WPA encryption in 2017-18 back and many older devices don't get updates. What make and model is the second router? Is it running the stock software from the manufacturer?
It's a Telus Wi-Fi Modem T3200M. Now that I see it's referred to as a "modem", I'm worried this may be in vain. But regardless, it's also running nothing but the stock software. Not even the passwords have been changed.
- Nighthawk
If the T3200 is the first router, that shouldn't be bad. If it's the second router, it won't work for what you are trying to do.
It's exceedingly rare to see a laptop not have wifi capabilities built in. Are you sure it doesn't have wifi but is just missing the drivers for it? If not, as xray mentioned, you can get a USB wifi adapter fairly inexpensively. If you had a weak signal where the laptop is located, you can get high gain wifi adapters also. (Example)
