Whether you’ve purchased a new router and want to put your old one to some sort of use, or you’ve spotted a good deal and are considering a new router, there are a few ways you can put your older router to good use. Before you start using an older router, there are some things to consider. First of all, when it comes to security, there’s a good chance your old router isn’t receiving firmware updates, so there may be security concerns in addition to the router using an older Wi-Fi security protocol. If you’ve got something from the last year or two, it should be fine for home use, just make sure to check for firmware updates if you haven’t done so in a while.

4 Extend your network

Use your router as an access point or mesh node

If you’ve ever been disappointed by a wireless extender’s speed and coverage, you may be interested to know that most routers can act as an access point for your network, and some can even work as a wireless extender for your network. If you, for example, run an Ethernet cable to the other side of the house, you can plug that into your second router instead of straight into a device. This will also work with things like power line and MoCa extenders if you don’t want to run Ethernet.

When you set up a router, you’ll often be presented with the choice between router mode and access point mode. In router mode, the router will act normally and manage all of the devices connected to it with IP address and all software features intact. If you’re connecting it to another router or into a wired switch, however, you can run it in access point mode. This passes through the device management tasks, such as assigning IPs and controlling traffic upstream to the primary router.

Unlike a mesh, devices won’t roam as smoothly between the primary router’s Wi-Fi and your access point's connection, so it’s a better solution for fixed devices like smart TVs, desktop PCs, or smart home tech, rather than a phone or a tablet.

That being said, some newer routers support mesh capabilities, such as Asus routers like the Asus RT-AX57 with AiMesh, and newer TP-Link routers with EasyMesh like the Archer BE800, which can allow routers to act as a mesh together with proper roaming. Software support for features like this can vary quite a bit, even between hardware revisions of the same model, so if you’re looking for an extra router that can mesh, make sure to check for support before you make the purchase.

3 Add more Ethernet

Wire more of your tech

While the four or so ports on the back of your router may seem like plenty when you first set up your network, you may find yourself wanting more Ethernet ports to wire in important devices as time goes on. If you’re using an extra router to extend your network, you also get more Ethernet ports at that location. That can make it perfect for behind an entertainment center with multiple consoles, or in a home office with a desktop, laptop, and networked printer.

If you just need wired support though, an Ethernet switch will be a much cheaper option, plus more compact. Ethernet switches are like routers, except they only handle wired connections. That being said, most routers have a good Ethernet switch built-in, so if you need Ethernet ports and more, it can still be a good pick.

2 Make an IoT network

Improve compatibility and security

IoT and smart home tech can be a lot of fun to experiment with, but it’s hard to know just how secure the software is, whether or not a device can be used as an entry point into your network. If you’ve got a fairly new router with a strong firewall and maybe additional security like Netgear Armor, you don’t need to worry about this too much. But if you want to create a separate environment for your smart home tech for an extra layer of privacy, you can create a new Wi-Fi network on your extra router.

Besides that, you can force that router to separate 2.4GHz and 5GHz, perhaps even disabling 5GHz since most smart home tech doesn’t even support it. Some smart home tech can have trouble connecting to Wi-Fi if it's using smart connect with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz. If you need to use weaker security, like WPA, you can do that as well without putting your newer tech or your main network at risk.

1 Make a VPN network

Easy VPN connection for multiple devices

Do you subscribe to one of the best VPN services? If your extra router supports VPN Client (not server), you can add your VPN service to the router to connect multiple devices to the VPN at once. There are several reasons you may want to install a VPN on your router. For example, if you want to access a service only available in another country, or want to watch a show only available on a streaming service in another country, creating a VPN router makes it quick and easy to connect to additional options via the VPN.

A VPN router can also be useful if you want to connect using a VPN, but the device you’re using doesn’t support VPN configurations. Once you set up a VPN on your router, it can also simply be a lot quicker to get connected to a VPN this way if you do so frequently. If you’re using something like a desktop or laptop, using a VPN client on the PC itself could have faster results with better protocol support. But for basic streaming and browsing, even a router with just OpenVPN support should be more than fast enough.

A second router might not make sense

If you’re thinking about buying an extra router, there are a lot of reasons it may not be your best option. If you're mostly looking for extra wired capacity, a switch will give you all the extra ports you need for a lot less than a whole router. If you’re hoping to extend your coverage with a new access point, you might prefer one of the best mesh systems instead. A mesh will allow your devices to automatically connect to the closest Wi-Fi connection, though some mesh systems don’t play nice with all smart home tech.

If you do decide to repurpose a router you already own, before redeploying it, it’s a good idea to give it a factory reset to make sure any old settings are cleared before adding it to your network. You should also double-check the manufacturer's support site for the latest firmware update. Some older routers don’t support auto-update, so you might be several firmware versions out of date without realizing it.