Wireless connectivity is so ubiquitous today that I sometimes forget it wasn't always like that. Then I remember that I've lived in houses where I needed a Wi-Fi extender to get a consistent signal in the room above the one with the router in, and that many people are likely in similar situations. If that sounds familiar, and you've got an old router lying around, you can turn it into a Wi-Fi repeater as a temporary fix if your router is compatible.

That said, theory doesn't matter if it doesn't work in practice, and I thought I'd set up a Wi-Fi repeater for a few days and see how much has changed in the decade since living in that building. And you know what, it's a lot better than it used to be, and having better wireless coverage is never a bad thing.

Some routers make this easier than others

And if your router is old enough you might need custom firmware or not be able to do this at all

When I last used Wi-Fi extenders, you couldn't enable this functionality in consumer routers and Wi-Fi speeds were slow. Wireless connectivity has improved substantially since then, as have the features bundled in by manufacturers, and it's often trivial to set up an old router in Wi-Fi extender or repeater mode. Sometimes it's bridge mode, and you'll have to check on your specific router to find out which it is.

I couldn't find my old dual-band routers; likely, they're in a box in the garage that was never unpacked after we moved. But I did have a couple of GL.iNet travel routers handy, designed to be used as Wi-Fi repeaters to give you secure wireless connectivity even if you're using a public wireless AP, like in a café or hotel. I set one up upstairs, about half the distance between my main router and the furthest point of the house, and got to testing.

Performance won't be amazing

But it's better than having no wireless coverage at all

I've been testing this configuration for a few days now, and I don't hate it as much as I thought I would. Part of that is the modern Gl.iNet router that I've been using in Wi-Fi repeater mode is, well, modern. The last time I used a Wi-Fi repeater before this was over a decade ago, when mesh networking was still firmly in the enterprise realm and the only way to get it working on home networks was custom router firmware or Asus' AiMesh.

Before you set up Wi-Fi repeating mode, I suggest you do a few speed tests while connected to that router's Wi-Fi in access point mode. That's to get a baseline of what to expect, or more precisely, a baseline of twice what you can expect, because once it's in Wi-Fi repeater mode, your speeds will be halved (at best). If your router gives 400 Mbps when in AP mode, expect 180 to 200 Mbps when in repeater mode, or potentially less depending on the amount of interference in your home.

That's the problem I see with trying to offer piecemeal solutions for Wi-Fi coverage like this. The theory is sound, but everyone's home is different, making setting realistic expectations tricky. But also, those speeds are more than enough for basic browsing or working online, making it less of an issue than a decade ago when Wi-Fi speeds were lower.

And there are other issues

The thing about Wi-Fi repeaters that annoys me isn't the slowdown, because I can handle that if I know what's happening. It's the other issues, like the ones that come from trying to run two access points with different SSIDs. When the Wi-Fi repeater is between your device and the main router, you know what to expect. But when you're between the two Wi-Fi access points, your mobile device doesn't know which one to pick, and that could mean you're losing out on potential performance.

A mesh network with proper handoff built into the firmware would solve this, but if you keep using a Wi-Fi extender, it's better if the devices connected to it are stationary. your phone is fine if it gets too far from the router, as it'll start using mobile data to provide consistent coverage. With laptops, you'll manually switch between the two SSIDs, but there will be parts of your home where one Wi-Fi signal is low enough to auto-switch to the other SSID.

It's annoying more than anything else. I still don't suggest setting the same SSID settings on the Wi-Fi repeater and Wi-Fi router, because without proper hand-off systems in the firmware, it'll blip when switching between the two, and that gets annoying if you're sitting between the two signals.

Using a router as a Wi-Fi repeater is a temporary fix

I wouldn't want to run this networking setup long term, because it has plenty of drawbacks, but it's fine for a quick fix while you develop a more permanent solution. Modern Wi-Fi is often fast enough that halving the speed with the Wi-Fi repeater doesn't meaningfully affect basic browsing tasks, but heavier use will bog down the airwaves.