I need to extend my wifi provided by a SOHO MK3 to cover my house and lot. Can I use the AP one as an extender?
You would need to run an Ethernet cable from the SOHO to the AP One. If you want to do it wireless then you would want to purchase a Device Connector instead. Cheers
The short answer is yes, but the Surf SOHO is not designed for this. Routers in the Balance line have software for managing access points, the Surf SOHO does not.
Elsewhere here on the forum, I have read that you will have to duplicate all the WiFi settings from the Surf SOHO on the AP One. Not hard, small annoyance. I have not tried it.
The AP One has a web based user interface. Plug it into the LAN, figure out its LAN side IP address and open a browser directed at that IP address.
The Device Connector can be thought of as a Peplink Wi-Fi extender.
I’ve done this with a Surf SOHO and AP One AC Mini. During setup, I connected the AP One via ethernet to the SOHO’s LAN. Now the AP One connects to the SOHO through an ethernet switch. The SOHO and AP One both use the same SSIDs and passwords. Everything’s working fine, except for an odd problem with the AP One’s time sync, which I posted about earlier today. Good luck!
Thanks for the info.
For some reason I missed the Device Connector, and purchased the AP-One_rugged thinking that would allow me to extend the wifi. I have duplicated the SSID and the password across the AP and SOHO. One thing I noticed is that from the web admin page of the AP that I can’t check for new firmware. Also the only client I see of the AP is the SOHO. So I’m not sure if I got everything configured right. Thanks for the quick replies!
I have duplicated the settings Same SSIDs/passwords and any other settings. I’m still not getting it to work. Do you have any suggestions?
Here are a few things to check:
- Your router (SOHO) should be the only DHCP server. Is the AP One in Bridge mode? Look under System | Operating Mode.
- Are the SSIDs and wifi passwords exactly the same as on router? I made typos when I was setting up mine.
- You might also check that the security policies are the same (e.g. WAP2, WAP3 or whatever you’re using).
My experience in this stuff is somewhat limited so take these suggestions with a grain of salt.
Good luck,
John
Make sure whichever lan port on the SOHO connecting the AP is set to TRUNK ANY.
I had 2 issues, i had fat-fingered a password and I had to set thresholds so that the mobile devices could move back and forth between devices. It is up and running, thanks everybody!
I’m trying to setup a house wide WIFI with same SSID using Soho Surf and possibly two AP One Minis.
Router is at center of house. Defined a VLAN called Guest and assigned a 2Ghz and 5Ghz SSID to it, along with two ethernet ports.
I have hardwire ethernet at both ends of the house. If I put ethernet cables on the Guest VLAN, run to either end of house, attached to the AP One Minis, could my Roomba roam around the house and stay connected to the same SSID and not think its loss internet connection? The second it looses connection, it stops and claims something is blocking it from returning to its base station. Poor programming.
What was your comment about setting thresholds?
Thanks,.
On the SOHO login to admin portal and go to the AP tab and then select settings on left hand side.
You will see next to bottom, Client Signal Strength Threshold. Use these settings to control the “handoff” from one AP to the next. Currently for the 2.4GHZ I’ve set mine to 35 (-60 dBm). My 5GHZ network is only used in one room due to signal attenuation. On rugged AP i have for the 2.4GHZ set to 20 (-70 dBM) and 5GHZ 10 (-85 dBm). Your MMV, I haven’t had time to tweak it. My topography is hardwired AP on one end of house and SOHO in middle. I will probably be going to your topography as soon as I can run hardwired ethernet to other end. Have to figure out how to run it since that area has all finished walls and ceiling.
I faced similar problem running my hardware’d ethernet. I did this in the days when latest Wifi was 802.1b and did’t have much bandwidth. I have a two story house with a finished basement with drywall ceilings.
- Upstairs bedrooms and office have cold air returns. You have to get special ethernet cable to run inside a cold air return. I don’t think an is rated for the hot air side. Tied string to a radio controlled car that had a camera. Dropped it down the cold air returns and drove it around looking for the drops to first floor and then to basement. Followed returns until I found the furnace and cut through the sheet metal in the return to get the car and string. Used the string to pull ethernet cable down to the mechanical room.
- If you have a central forced air heating or air conditioning, look at how the vents are run. Usually there is a big square sheet metal vent coming horizontally off the furnace called the Trunk line. Same for cold air return. If you have a drywall ceiling, they usually have to box that in leaving a few inches on the side or bottom. You can snake ethernet cables through this space that usually runs most of the length of the house. Look at your basement ceiling where the height drops from 8 to 7 feet. That indicates you probably have one. I ran ethernet 80% of the way to the north and south ends of my house.
- Last 20% to get the ethernet cable to where you want it. Determine location and direction of the joists the drywall is attached to. Cut small rectangular holes every 32 inches. Use a box cutter to get clean holes and save the rectangle you cut out. That comes up in the open space between every other joist. Hole needs to be big enough to fit a battery powered drill and your hand into it. Use a 1/2 inch speed bit (the kind that are flat, but have a threaded point) to drill holes in the joists on either side of your hole. Take a wire cloths hanger and straighten it out. Tie a string to the end starting at the hole closest to where you’ve been able to run your ethernet cables. Shove the hanger with the string end through the hole until it hits the next joist. Keep poking and proding until you hit the 1/2 inch hole you drilled on the other side. This takes patience and some luck since you are doing it blind. Eventually you’ll get the ethernet to the wall where you want the outlet. Then, drop it between the 2x4 in the wall and put a blue outlet box. They make special ones that have little flaps that pull against the opening securing it in place.
Now go back and fix all the holes. I get wood painter sticks from the hardware store. Cut them 1 1/2 inches longer than the width of your rectangle holes. Screw both sides inside the hole across the opening. Two per hole. Then, attach the drywall plug you saved to the boards. I use both construction adhesive and drywall screws. Finish and paint.
Of course, all of this explains why Wifi was created and we keep upgrading to get faster speeds.
When I did all of this work, I did not imagine having a robotic vacuum scurrying around all corners of my house 
Do I need a device connector between a AP one and Balance 20x too? I noticed that the AP works when wired to the balance 20x, but has no internet connection when i remove the ethernet cable. All devices have the same SSID/VLANs.
The balance 20x has its AP controller settings set to ‘External AP’ and recognizes the 2 APs under AP->AccessPoints
I believe the answer to this question has changed since it was first asked. Peplink now supports mesh in many (not all) routers and Access points. If your router and AP do support mesh (a firmware upgrade may be needed), its a whole new thing to setup and configure. But after fighting that battle (instructions are elsewhere here on the Forum) the AP should talk to the router via WiFi.