Routers, extenders, and repeaters

Here's what I learned from my brief training session, which involved establishing longer-range wireless signals in the home. Several third-party routers were used.

One: a standard router can NOT typically accept a wireless signal from another router (eg for our purposes a TelMex modem/router). It needs to be hard-wired, but can then be used to extend the range of your wireless signal.

Two: many standard routers have settings for Extender and/or Repeater. Using one of these settings will let you hook up wirelessly to the second router, but only after a hard-wired setup involving the TelMex box.

Three: Extenders and Repeaters, as stand-alone boxes, can take a wireless signal, thereby expanding your wireless range, but often involve setup using ethernet cables to start, connected to your TelMex box. Depends on the make, the "quality" of the firmware, and your patience level. Each one is different, and there are no locked-in steps that I can share. Certainly not for the faint-of-heart.

In one case, our standalone repeater kept messing with IP addresses of other computers on the network, to the point where we gave up trying. This was after successful wireless hookups.