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Adding an old 2704n router to home network

fimbokimbo
Newbie
Posts: 1
Registered: ‎11-09-2016

Adding an old 2704n router to home network

Trying to add a Plusnet 2704n router to our (Hub One powered) home network as a secondary router to get better coverage at the back of the property but I'm hitting a few snags at while setting it up.

 

Am following this guide on Labnol and all going well until these parts of Step 5:

Once you are in the router settings, you need to change the values of the Wireless mode, the channel, the security mode and the passphrase such that they match with your MASTER router. You can use a different SSID name for this router so it is easier to distinguish which router your phone or laptop is connect to.

No idea what Wireless Mode is as there is nothing in the Hub One or 2704n settings that seems to match this. Any ideas? 

Then go to Setup – > Advanced routing and change the current mode from Gateway to Router. In some routers, this is listed as NAT and in that case, you need to disable it.

There is no obvious "Turn mode to Router" setting in the 2704n here. However there is a NAT in the settings but it appears to be an empty list of some kind that you can add entries to, and doesn't seem to be a "Disable" option. Again, any help here? As the NAT list is empty does that mean it's already disabled? I'm inclined to believe it's not as the 2704n was designed to be a gateway out-of-the-box (and it was our only router before we got a Hub One earlier this year) but I can't say for sure.

Finally, change the IP address of the SLAVE router to any free address in your LAN. For instance, if the IP address of MASTER router is 192.168.30.1, you can safely assign a fixed IP address of 192.168.30.2 to SLAVE. Also make sure that the Subnet mask is the same as determined in Step 1. Save the settings of the SLAVE router and close the browser window. 

As soon as I change the IP address of the 2704n and save, the router cannot be found when I type in the new IP address in the browser. The few times I've changed the IP address on the 2704n I've always had to factory reset the unit and start the process again. Most annoying. I'm assuming the IP address absolutely has to change, not least because the Hub One and 2704n share the same IP address by default. Any tips?  

 

Has anybody successfully added their old 2704n router to their home network? I'm no expert by any means but I've added a couple of non-ISP branded wireless routers to the BT network at work and never had frustration like this. Did Plusnet hobble the functionality of the router at all or are the bits I need tucked away and obscured with unfamiliar names? Would this be a simpler process if I bought a non-ISP branded router off eBay and used that? 

Thanks in advance for any help that can be given!