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I’m looking for a router that can create a new wifi-network “B” with its own SSID and password but the router gains its internet access by connecting to another existing wifi-network “A” simultaneously.

The reason for this is because we don’t want to hand out the password to network “A”, and network “B” won’t be online at all times.

Other than that the router should be able to handle at least 50 connected client devices at any time (but they all won’t be downloading stuff simultaneously, only be connected to the router). Also its 5 GHz coverage should have good range.

Could you give me preferably many product recommendations? And what is the capability that I described first called?

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  • For personal use, most Wi-Fi range extenders will let you do this (have a separate SSID). For commercial routers, this is called "Wi-Fi as WAN".
    – browly
    Commented Oct 12, 2017 at 17:10
  • You can probably setup a "Guest" WiFi network with different SSID and authentication on Router A. Would that be acceptable?
    – timuzhti
    Commented Oct 13, 2017 at 3:16
  • @Alpha3031 No we can't do that because we're not allowed to enter and modify the system that broadcasts network "A". We're only allowed to borrow their network but without sharing the wifi-password to others. That's why we need to broadcast a new network "B". But thx for your suggestion
    – Arash B.
    Commented Oct 13, 2017 at 13:46

2 Answers 2

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Just connect router B's WAN(Internet) port to any free port on router A. Enable DHCP service on router B so it can provide addresses to the machines connecting to it. Machines can also use static addresses if preferred.

With this configuration, computers on router B can get to the Internet transparently through router A. No configuration regarding A is required on them.

The computers on B can see each other since they are on the same network segment. But they cannot see the computers on router A at all. Nor can the computers on A see the ones on B.

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Assuming your network B has a different, wired WAN that is occasionally offline, I'm recommending the Pepwave Surf Soho MK3. It's available for $199 (not including shipping) on 3G Store, with the stock external antennae, and the same price on Amazon, with free shipping, if you want to buy your own.

The range is claimed to be 250-300’ through walls, though this is likely to be the 2.4 GHz band. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any sources specifying range for the 5 GHz band. If the range is insufficient you may need to use higher gain or directional antennae, or provision additional access points.

Officially, the number of recommended users is 25, but if few users use any bandwidth, it is unlikely there will be a problem, as most issues arising from too many users come due to bandwidth contention. Overall, the Pepwave Surf is an excellent Wifi-as-WAN device, and likely one of the best single AP networking device for your purposes.

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