How to Configure a Movistar Router as a Repeater

Do you want to take advantage of your router Movistar and use it as a wireless repeater? No problem: almost all modern network devices distributed by Movistar have this possibility. Let's see How to configure a Movistar router as a repeater.

However, before proceeding, you should carefully check the data sheet of the router in your possession, to identify the supported connection mode.

How to configure a Movistar router

As you may have already seen, to configure a Movistar TP-Link router it is essential to access, through any browser (preferably a computer), the web interface of the operating system.

It is through this interface that all aspects of the router can be controlled. To get started, if you haven't already, plug the router into the power supply and plug the ADSL/fibre cable into the WAN/Internet room on the back of the network device.

Then, connect the router to the computer using an Ethernet cable or, if this is not possible, check the availability of a possible "factory" Wi-Fi network: the access credentials are usually printed on the label located on the bottom of the router.

Once the physical connections are made, open the browser of your choice and connect to the address 192.168.1.1.

If everything went well, you should see the device admin panel login page. If you see an error message, try connecting to the address 192.168.0.1.

To complete the connection, you must enter the router's username and password combination, inside the boxes you see on the screen: usually this corresponds to the administrator or admin/admin password.

If you are unable to connect, try looking for the correct “contact information” on the label printed on the router, on the sales package label, or in the pages of the device’s user manual.

Once you have accessed the router's control panel, you can configure all its aspects, using the available buttons, menus and options.

How to Configure a Movistar Router as a Repeater

Movistar has among its devices, several brands and models of routers, and the configuration varies slightly from one to another. The configuration explained here is done on a Movistar TP-Link router, although it is very similar to that of other brands.

Almost all routers equipped with modem functions, and therefore directly connected to ADSL, VDSL or FTTC, can be used as a Wi-Fi repeater in access point mode, but they must be connected to the main modem via a good quality Ethernet cable.

Instead, there are Movistar routers that can be used with real “range Extender" or "Repeater".

In this case, you simply use the built-in functionality to connect the router to the main wireless network, without the need to put the two devices powered on the network in physical communication.

Before you begin, we recommend that you have an Ethernet cable through which to connect the Movistar router to be configured, and the computer from which you will make the settings.

If your Movistar device only supports hotspot mode, you will also need a second Ethernet cable, which is long enough, to connect the router to the main modem. We will explain everything in detail below.

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1. Access point mode. Ethernet connection

To begin, place the Movistar router with the access point functions in the position that is most comfortable for you.

Insert one end of the long Ethernet cable into the Internet/WAN port on the back of the router and connect the second end to one of the Ethernet ports on the main router, the one that is directly connected to the Internet.

Once this is done, insert one end of the second network cable into one of the Ethernet ports on the Movistar router with access point functions, connect the second end of the cable to the Ethernet port on the computer and turn on the device.

Now open the browser of your choice, go to the router's configuration panel, click on the settings tab at the top and then on the “Operating mode”, visible on the side bar of the router’s administration interface.

Once this is done, check the box next to the item “Access point"And click the"Save” to reboot the router and change its operating mode.

At the end of the reboot, re-enter the Movistar router administration interface, this time click on the “quick installation” and use the form provided to specify the name of the wireless network generated by the access point, as well as the network key that will be used to access it.

Do not forget to check the box "Activate wireless”, to activate the corresponding connection. Finally, make sure that the “Hide SSID” are not selected, otherwise the respective networks will not be visible.

To finish, click on the “Continue”, take a look at the summary of the configured networks to check that the parameters are correct and finally press the “Save”, to save the network settings and put the new access point into operation.

The new access point should be able to take advantage of the Internet connection generated by the main router, making it available to the various devices (smartphones, tablets, PCs, etc.) that connect to the newly configured Wi-Fi networks.

2. Range Extender Mode. Wi-Fi Connection

If you are interested in setting up the Movistar router's range extender mode, everything is even simpler: the only requirement, in this case, is to place the device in question where the Wi-Fi signal strength in "replicate" is high and sufficient, around 60%.

Once you have correctly placed the future “range Extender”, connect the computer to it using the Ethernet cable, turn on the router and open the administration panel.

Now click on the “quick installation” visible in the left sidebar (or at the top), check the box next to the Extender Range item and click the “Next”, to go to the next step.

Once this is done, check the box corresponding to the Wi-Fi network name extension (corresponding to the Contact box), verify that the signal is strong enough by looking at the information visible in the “Signal strength"And click the"Next".

Also after this step, check the box next to the “Enable” label corresponding to the type of Wi-Fi network to be created (2,4 GHz and/or 5 GHz) and specify the access key to the wireless network.

Now, if you want the WAN name to be the same as the original network name, check the box next to the “Copy” from the root access point; otherwise, check the box next to Custom Label and assign your preferred name to the wide area networks.

The access key will remain the same as the original network.

Finally, click the “ button againNext”, configure the Optional LAN IP Type drop-down menu, so that the access point can configure its own IP address.

Then click the “Next” and “Finish” buttons to complete the configuration and make the new access point operational.

Main Features of the TP-Link Movistar Router

The main features of the operating system installed on Movistar TP-Link network devices are shown below.

1. General description

The administration panel of the TP-Link Movistar router is generally divided into two main sections: the top, which allows for quick configuration; and the side, which allows you to navigate between the different menus and functions of the router.

By clicking on the “Quick Installation” tab, you can start the first setup procedure of the network device, during which you must configure your own country of residence, time zone and Internet connection settings.

Many TP-Link modem-routers feature automatic recognition, thanks to which you can instantly obtain the correct parameters to use for connecting to the network managed by your Movistar service provider.

Alternatively, you can manually specify the connection parameters, based on the "contact details" tailored to the specific service provider.

Once the Internet access setup is complete, the initial setup procedure ends with setting the Wi-Fi Network parameters:

Using the menus and text boxes on the screen, you can specify the name of the wireless network, the operating band (2,4 GHz, 5 GHz, or both), the network key to use to secure it, and, if necessary, the wireless channel.

Let's now move on to the functional options of the router: as you can imagine, the Basic / Basic mode allows access to a limited set of parameters, strictly essential for the basic configuration of the device.

The Advanced/Advanced mode instead displays all available options. Let's take a look at a complete overview of the menu items available for both modes.

• Network map (Basic): Allows you to view the status of the Internet connection, the number of devices connected to the modem and their type.
• Internet (Basic): Allows you to configure the Internet connection through the router, automatically or by manually entering the parameters related to your access provider.
• Wireless (Basic/Advanced): Allows you to customize the name of the Wi-Fi networks generated by the router, the network password, and the frequency band. In advanced mode, you can also choose the channel for each network, enable/disable the WPS system, and view connection statistics.
• Configuration USB (Basic / Advanced): Configure the use of devices storage and printers connected to the router.
• parental control (Basic/Advanced): Allows you to apply restrictions on browsing and duration of network usage for one or more connected devices.
• Guest Network (Basic/Advanced): Allows you to set up “guest” access, which is a separate, restricted Wi-Fi network that will be used to allow Internet access to guests and people outside your home.
• Country (Advanced): Provides a complete overview of the network interfaces configured on the router, the status of the Internet connection, the status of connected devices, etc.
• Red (Advanced): Using the submenus of this item, it is possible to configure the Internet access by the router, its IP address, parameters related to LAN network profiles, the behavior of the DHCP server, the use of dynamic DNS and advanced routing options.
• Operating mode (Advanced): Allows you to change the way the device is used: router, access point, or range extender, if applicable.
• NAT forwarding (Advanced) – This section allows you to open router ports using virtual servers or trigger rules, set a demilitarized IP, and configure ports to be opened automatically via UPnP.
• QoS (Advanced): This is the section dedicated to configuring the QoS mechanism integrated into the router, with the possibility of defining the rules manually.
• Security (Advanced): Allows you to enable/disable the router's firewall, DoS protection mechanism, allow/deny network access by certain devices, and perform the connection between IP and Mac, that is, to assign a static IP address to a specific physical address.
• employee VPN (Advanced): Create a VPN server through the router.
• System tools (Advanced): Allows you to change router settings that are independent of Internet/network connections, such as date/time settings, turning LEDs on or off, update, reset, etc.

2. Open ports

Opening ports on a router means unblocking the communication channels that some software and devices use to communicate with the outside world.

The most common cases, at the time of writing, are game servers and consoles. If you do not unblock ports, it is not possible to host matches from outside, due to the NAT system.

To open the ports on your router, you need to go to the device administration panel, click on the “Advanced"And select"NAT forwarding”. Then click on “Virtual Server Elements” in the left sidebar.

After that, you need to click on the “Add” item and you need to fill out the form that is offered to you with the “Contact information» related to the door you want to open.

• In the countryside Type of service, you must specify the name of the service for which you plan to unblock the port.
• In the fields Outer port and Inner port You must enter the number of the port to open.
• In the countryside Internal IP You must enter the IP address of the device for which to unblock the port.
• On the menu Protocol, select the protocol of the port to open (TCP, UDP or All / ALL, for both protocols).

When the operation is complete, to make the rule operational immediately, check the box next to the Skills label and press the OK button to apply it.

If you need to open ports for commonly used software (e.g. FTP client, mail client, etc.), you can use the predefined rules accessible by clicking the “View existing services".

Conclusion

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Of course, this is an extremely simplified version of what can be done at the configuration level of a router. Indeed, you may want to configure DNS zones, parental controls, QoS, a VPN server, in short, the configuration options are becoming more and more complete.

But being each model specific, we have kept it as simple as possible.

As we stated above, few brands require you to do this these days. The online interface is usually replaced by a smartphone app that will take care of a lot of the setup.

Anyway, it's up to you, once the router is in place, to adjust certain points through this app.

It is impossible to make a complete router installation guide as it would require scanning all models.

However, if you understand that the router comes after the box, that it should (most of the time) be in the same IP range as this box, and that it should have a fixed IP address, you should be able to get it to work.