Repurpose an Old Router as a Network Switch

Repurpose an Old Router as a Network Switch We've covered how to repurpose your old router as a range-boosting repeater or a wireless bridge, but if you just need a few extra wired ports for devices your current router can't accommodate, consider repurposing your old router as a network switch.

Photo by DeclanTM.

By simply running an Ethernet cable between your old router to your current one (run a wire from one of the available LAN ports on your active router to ~~the WAN-in~~ LAN ports on the old router), you can repurpose it as a network hub/switch. Home improvement blog Unpluggd notes that you'll want to disable DHCP on the router you want to use as a switch, which you can normally do from your router's admin page.

It's important to note that you'll need to make sure the two routers are not using the same IP address before connecting the devices. If you're having trouble with the routers after disabling the DHCP, assigning the new hub a non-conflicting, static IP address will help.

Got any network-savvy tips for the rest of us? Share them in the comments below.