Having a consistent Wi-Fi signal at home is one of the best and most convenient parts of having a resilient home network. One of the easiest ways to achieve this is with a mesh network, whether from purpose-built nodes or a group of access points.

But what if you've already got a decent network that needs a little helping hand in one section of your home, or an extra router (or two) to put into access point (AP) mode to get more Wi-Fi signal around the place? Well, after setting some up like this, I'm not sure you'd want to run this long-term — because it does come with some annoying caveats — but it's possible to set up multiple APs and have them act like they're the same network while you move around your home.

Sometimes your Wi-Fi just needs a little bit more range

Extenders are rubbish but turning some routers into access points is cool

Mesh networking gear is great—when you can use it in optimal conditions. That's to be expected with any wireless communications, although mesh can be set up with either wired or wireless for the backhaul between nodes, and that makes all the difference. You can't quite get the same network by using a bunch of older routers in AP mode, but you can set things up so you have better Wi-Fi coverage in areas that needed it.

Now, there are two ways you could play this, and the answer to which is best depends. One uses the same SSID and password for every additional router in AP mode, so in theory your client devices should switch to the stronger signal as you move around. Reducing the Tx (transmit) power of the wireless signal on each AP to 50% will help and reduce any interference between the radios, and I like to set a static IP for each AP for ease of management.

The other option is to set each AP up with its own SSID, but still give each a static IP, lower Tx power, and turn off DHCP. You'll need to connect to each AP and store the credentials on your wireless clients, but they might have a better chance of switching to the better signal if your device thinks it's a new network.

If your old routers support OpenWrt, you can turn those into true mesh nodes, with a bit of time and effort. That will be even better as you can use them as truly wireless nodes, or mix wired backhaul as well. It is a fairly involved process, and some routers are easier to brick than others when flashing custom firmware, so be aware there are risks.

Some routers make this easier than others

While most Wi-Fi routers can be used as an access point by turning DHCP off and wiring its WAN port to a LAN port on your primary router so that one handles IP address allocations, some routers are even easier to extend your Wi-Fi with. Any Asus router from the last five years or so should support AiMesh, which turns it into a wireless mesh node, and plenty of TP-Link routers have similar functionality.

Some routers make this even easier, like GL.iNet's travel routers, which run OpenWrt and can turn into a Wi-Fi repeater either by plugging in a cable to the WAN port, or wirelessly by connecting it to your primary Wi-Fi. It's not going to be as fast as a dedicated mesh node setup, but it's no slouch if your network is already fast. It's always going to be around half the maximum when in Wi-Fi repeater mode as that's how half-duplex communications work, but it can be the difference between barely any Wi-Fi signal and usable wireless in those far-flung sections of your home or yard.

This went pretty well, all things considered

Wi-Fi speeds and coverage turned out decent

Plugging the GL.iNet router into one of the LAN ports upstairs gave me another AP that's served directly from the network switch on my main router on the ground floor. I opted for a separate SSID for testing so I knew which Wi-Fi my iPhone was connecting to, and started running speedtests. Testing by wandering around the top floor, I was pulling 400 Mbps down to an iPhone 15 Pro using this setup (when connecting to the main router while standing next to it was over 700 Mbps).

That's a good result for speeds, but what was even better was the wireless coverage, which didn't dip when in the two front bedrooms or in the hallway near the laundry closet, both areas that the mesh node on the floor below struggles to serve a consistent signal to.

Or I could have turned a PC into a hotspot

Okay, my house is slightly over-provisioned with computers, but you can always use the hotspot feature in Windows 10 or 11 to add another AP to your home. You'll need that computer to be wired to the main router for this to work, but it's an option you may not have known about, which doesn't cost you anything to set up.

However you do it, getting more wireless coverage in your home is worth the effort

I'm not sure if I could go back to not having consistent wireless coverage everywhere in my home. It's convenient and fast because I have a mix of Wi-Fi 6E and 7 APs set up, but even with the makeshift AP made from a Wi-Fi router my speeds were usable in the areas I wanted to improve the signal in. And really, that's the important thing, that this method can and does work, with a couple of caveats over switching between APs and differing setup processes.