Introduction
Apart from 5G development, 2020 is ready to embrace the Wi-Fi 6 technology that offers more bandwidth and incredibly low latencies. However, as you offer your money to grab a new router and throw the old one out, you may have a better use for the latter. According to Mark Roemer, your old Wi-Fi router can bring you more benefits than you can imagine. Here are a few of them:
The Ideas
- Wi-Fi for guests – Old routers usually don’t have a good encrypted guest mode in them. However, if you are buying a new router you can convert your old one into an exclusive router for your guests. This router can be free from password so that you don’t have to answer that inquiry every few minutes and you can keep your devices safe in your private network.
- Repeater – You may have a large home or thick walls that make for poor radio frequency penetration. One of the solutions is to throw out your current router and opt for an expensive one that can reach all corners of your home. On the other hand, you can go with the economical approach and save a few dollars by buying an inexpensive router and converting your current router into a wireless repeater. Repeaters can increase the coverage of your Wi-Fi by bouncing off the signal from your network router. Finally, you can chill out in the backyard with a strong Wi-Fi signal.
- Network Switch – The devices that require an Ethernet connection doesn’t seem to be going down despite the advancement in wireless technology. Instead of buying a new network switch, you can solve the issue with your old router. Extend your connection to the new router and gain a few Ethernet ports without spending any extra dime.
- Smart Home Hub – Central Home Automation systems are expensive and big tech with their Smart home devices aren’t really known for their privacy policies. You can use your old router to make your own home automation system, provided the router has a serial port. The project requires a bit more than just the tag of tech-savvy. However, if you pull it off, you can achieve decentralized control. That means there is no need to buy all the appliances from one manufacturer for compatibility.
- NAS Drive – Want to have your own cloud storage in a budget? A bit of tinkering with your old router can allow you to achieve that with a bit of patience and little to no cost. You can use a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device with your old router to access the data from anywhere you want. Just make sure that your router can run customized firmware and has a USB port.
Conclusion
Mark Roemer believes that repurposing your old router brings you economic benefits and can be your small contribution to keep it away from landfills for a few more years. Moreover, tinkering with technology is fun and this is just a good excuse.
