Are the devices closer to your WiFi extender getting connected to your WiFi router? This might result in a spotty internet connection. Let’s consider a scenario wherein you have your WiFi extender placed in one room and root router in the other. The devices that are close to your WiFi extender connect to the router’s WiFi. Since the distance between the router and these devices is more, the resultant WiFi signals won’t be good.
Is there a way to forcefully connect these devices to the extender’s network and not the router’s WiFi? Yes, it is very much possible. Keep reading ahead to learn more about it.
Force Connect Devices to Extender Instead of Router: How?
The reason why these devices are getting connected to your WiFi router and not the extender is that both have the same SSID or network name. Thus, the very first solution that we suggest is to change the extender’s SSID to the one that’s different from the router’s SSID. We are taking a Netgear extender as an example. The login URL will be mywifext.net. Use the URL that works for the extender brand that you own.
Solution 1: Change Extender’s SSID (Network Name)
- First, connect your computer to the extender’s network.
- Open Chrome or any other browser installed on it.
- Visit mywifiext.net.
- Enter admin in the username field.
- Type the password that you created during the Netgear WiFi extender setup.
- Click Log In.
- On the status page, go to Settings > Wireless Settings.
- Change SSIDs for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz network bands.
- Save the settings once done.
Now, connect the devices to the newly assigned SSID of your Netgear extender. The devices are forced to connect to the extender instead of the router this way.
Solution 2: Forget Router Network on Devices
The second option that we suggest is to forget the router’s network on the respective devices. This is a tedious task as you need to open the settings of each device and make the required changes.
See ahead how you can forget the router’s network on various devices.
Android Device:
- Go to Settings on the Android device.
- Tap Connections.
- Now, tap WiFi.
- Select your router’s SSID.
- Tap Forget.
iPhone:
- Open Settings on your iPhone.
- Tap WiFi.
- Find your router’s network name from the list SSID.
- Tap the Info button next to it.
- Select Forget this Network.
- Confirm it by tapping on Forget.
Windows Computer
- On your PC, go to Settings.
- Click open Network and Internet.
- Select WiFi > Manage known Networks.
- Choose your router’s SSID.
- Click Forget.
Mac Device:
- Open Menu.
- Go to System Settings.
- Click Advanced.
- Now, click on More button located next to the router’s SSID.
- Select Remove from List.
- Choose Remove and confirm.
This way you can forget your router’s SSID or network name on different devices. Now, you can connect these devices to the extender’s network.
In the End
Using this blog, you have learned how to force the devices to connect to WiFi extender instead of router. We hope you have found this post informative and are no longer experiencing the same problem of spotty internet after you have applied the solutions listed here.