It's been a few months since I've set up my home network and so far it has served me and my family with zero issues, so I want to share my experience on how I set up my home network using two router and a ethernet switch.
Why upgrade?
There are two main reasons I opted to upgrade the home network:
First, rooms that are far away from the router would suffer from lagging and frequent disconenctions. On wireless connections, I would get 200-300 mbps in the same room of the router,
but the opposite end of the house would get only 2-3 mbps, on top of disconnecting very often.
Secondly, as we buy more smart home accessories, I started to notice lags when using any device wirelessly.
It could be an issue with the router given by the ISP () being overwhelmed, but I am not too sure.
Upgrade #1 (Ethernet Switch)
The first upgrade I did was in 2021, getting the ethernet switch for upstairs computers.
In 2020, I purchased a 100ft ethernet cable to hook up to my brother's computer upstairs, but as Work-From-Home and smart home demands were getting higher, we needed to connect more computers upstairs.
By connecting the port #5 to the router, I can use ports #1-4 to connect my PC, my dad's, and my brothers and still have a port open to use for the future.
This setup worked great with the exception of Wi-Fi still being slow, but it was good enough at this point... until we bought more smart home devices.
Upgrade #2 (Adding a Router)
I originally purchased the google router 3-pack to have more network control at an apartment that had wifi included, but as I moved out, I brought the routers back as well.
My first thought was that since the ISP's router was taking too many devices, maybe adding the google router to distribute the usage would help, and it did.
I installed this right next to the original ISP with the intention of splitting the devices into the two separate routers. This worked and I experienced less interruptions, but because this is installed on the first floor, it didn't fix the slow Wi-Fi speed at the far rooms.
Final Upgrade (Secondary/Bridge Router)
This time, instead of just adding another router to upstairs, I rerouted the switch so it comes from the Google Router rather than the ISP router, that way I can use the newly added router as a bridge.
This allowed me to essentially create a range extension rather than a whole new Wi-Fi identifier.
This was the most significant Quality-of-Life upgrade for me. Since my room is the furthest from the original Wi-Fi access point, it had been severely affected by Wi-Fi degradation.
After this upgrade, I went from experiencing disconnections every five minutes to consistently achieving 200-300 Mbps internet speeds in my room.
At the end, here is the list of devices connected to each router:
| Router | Devices |
|---|---|
| ISP Router | Multiple Light Bulbs, Tesla, HP Printer, 2 Google Nest Thermostats, Google Nest Doorbell |
| Google Routers | 3 PCs, Smart TV, mobile devices |
Final Thoughts
Setting up this home network was an invaluable learning experience, as my prior knowledge of networks was primarily theoretical. This project gave me the opportunity to gain hands-on experience and apply what I had learned in a practical context.
Each upgrade, from adding the ethernet switch to configuring the secondary router, highlighted the importance of optimizing for both performance and convenience to meet the demands of a growing smart home.
Looking back, every step of the setup was essential in helping me better understand how the networks operate, troubleshoot problems, and improve connectivity in a real-world setting.
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