Quick Links
There’s a good chance that you have at least one old router lying around that’s on the way to being e-waste, but before you bin it, consider these potential alternative uses that could breathe new life into your old hardware.
1Make a Wi-Fi Extender
AWi-Fi extender(sometimes called a repeater) simply listens for Wi-Fi signals from a main router and then repeats them to extend the range. You might not know that many routers can be turned into extenders by simply changing a few settings in their internal software. Whether this is possible and how to do it all depend on the specific router you have, so you’ll have to refer to its manual. Usually, once you’re logged in to the router’s settings page, you’ll toggle it from router to repeater mode. Then select the Wi-Fi network you want it to repeat and it should be job done.
2Make It Into an Access Point
Turning your old router into an access point is a good way to extend your network without the downsides of a Wi-Fi repeater or extender. Many routers have an “AP mode” where it stops working as a router and simply works as an access point to another router. Once the old router is in AP mode, all you have to do is connect it to your new router using an Ethernet cable. Then, wireless devices close to the router in AP mode will get a strong signal and you’ll have speedy internet thanks to the Ethernet connection.
If your old router doesn’t have an easy AP mode toggle, you can alwaysset access point mode up manually.
3Turn It Into a Network Switch
Most routers these days come with about four Ethernet ports, and for most people this is enough, but what if you need to wire up more stuff? Usually I’d recommend you hop online and buy a network switch, but if you already have an old router, then you can just use that as a switch instead. It’s aneasy process, though you’ll likely have to do a small amount of scratching around your router’s menus, or in extreme cases flashing it with new custom firmware.
Once you’ve made all the changes to the router, you can simply connect it to your primary router using an Ethernet cable. On a typical router with five ethernet ports, you can connect three devices, since the “WAN” port can’t be used in switch mode and you need one regular port for the connection. Of course, some routers have more ports.
One other thing to look out for is the Ethernet port speed of your old router. There’s a chance it could be limited to 100Mbps rather than the modern standard of 1Gbps. That’s not a dealbreaker for most use cases, but it’s important if you need as much speed as possible. Especially considering that the entire switch and all devices will be limited to 100Mbps total.
4Use It as a Dedicated VPN Router
If your oldrouter supports running a VPN(or just needsopen source firmwareto do it) then it’s a neat way to have some devices share a permanent VPN connection while the rest of your household isn’t affected. Sure, it’s possible to dosplit-tunneling, but not every service supports it.
Basically, you’ll use your old router as a VPN access point, and hook it up to your current router much like you did when using it as an access point. Again, the exact details of how to do this vary by router and firmware, so you’ll have to do some personalized internet sleuthing to get the right instructions for your hardware.
5Keep It as a Backup Router
This is probably the most obvious use for an old router, but it’s worth mentioning it as I wrap up the list. Yes, routers die all the time. Whether it’s lighting, bad luck, or your cat knocking it into the aquarium, there are lots of ways your shiny current router can shuffle off this mortal coil into the actual cloud network. So don’t sell or throw away your second-latest router. You might need it over a weekend or in the middle of the night when you may’t just pop out to the store or have to wait for a delivery.
