How do I secure a wifi repeater?

[bloodscalper]

Hi, I'm currently renting an apartment unit with 5-6 other strangers. All of us share a wifi network via the main router with a general password.

My concern is security with a repeater. It has to use the same pw to connect to the main router. But there doesnt seem to have any repeater that provides a different pw for my PC and other devices to connect to the repeater. Is there?

I thought of getting a wireless router to connect wirelessly to the main router. Then i can set a different pw for my devices to connect to this new router. Can this be done? Connecting the new router with the main router via ethernet cable is simply not feasible for me. I'd also like to at least minimize MAC spoofing as this has been happening all the time.

Or is there any other way around this? Thanks.

 

[kanewolf]

I have used Engenius wireless bridges (ENS202) that have a router mode and a local independent WIFI. Since they can operate with a WIFI input and a router mode, you get a NAT and can use wired or wireless connectivity from the Engenius. There could be other alternatives.

 

[failboat]

even if you have multiple ssid with different pw it won't do anything for you.
If you want to separate the networks you need VLANs/Trunking. unifi USG + unifi access points. if you have a lot of wired devices then maybe also a unifi switch.

If anyone has physical access to the equipment they can restore the defaults and reconfigure it.

 

[bloodscalper]

I have used Engenius wireless bridges (ENS202) that have a router mode and a local independent WIFI. Since they can operate with a WIFI input and a router mode, you get a NAT and can use wired or wireless connectivity from the Engenius. There could be other alternatives.

I assume the bridge you mentioned is a repeater/AP? I do have an old repeater that can whitelist my wireless devices to be able to connect to the repeater (have to use general pw) which the repeater in turn connects to the main router using also the general pw. But others can still MAC spoof my repeater or my devices to connect to the main router since the pw is known to them.

 

[bloodscalper]

even if you have multiple ssid with different pw it won't do anything for you.
If you want to separate the networks you need VLANs/Trunking. unifi USG + unifi access points. if you have a lot of wired devices then maybe also a unifi switch.

If anyone has physical access to the equipment they can restore the defaults and reconfigure it.

VLAN/Trunking? Now you've lost me! Anyway, thanks. I'm checking out several solutions from Ubiquiti, something new to me. Perhaps the UAP-AC-Lite seems be suitable for me although I still don't understand some of what is advertised. Helluva expensive too if you ask me...

 

[kanewolf]

I have used Engenius wireless bridges (ENS202) that have a router mode and a local independent WIFI. Since they can operate with a WIFI input and a router mode, you get a NAT and can use wired or wireless connectivity from the Engenius. There could be other alternatives.

I assume the bridge you mentioned is a repeater/AP? I do have an old repeater that can whitelist my wireless devices to be able to connect to the repeater (have to use general pw) which the repeater in turn connects to the main router using also the general pw. But others can still MAC spoof my repeater or my devices to connect to the main router since the pw is known to them.

The Engenius has a router mode. It acts just like any other home router with NAT and firewall, except it accepts a WIFI signal as input. It has its own DHCP server an local independent WIFI source. I used it when Frontier took over my internet service and messed it up for a week. I had a neighbor that allowed me to use their internet.
Since this is a NAT router, the devices behind it would be shielded from the rest of the house. It seemed like that is what the OP wanted. Obviously the traffic at the main router could be snooped. A VPN would be the only option to secure that.

 

[failboat]

I'd take this up with the apartment management. They need to secure the network and provide separation to each unit.