Earlier this year, I changed ISPs because my previous ISP was driving me up the wall. When my new ISP was installed, they gave me a new router, making the router that came with my previous ISP was pretty much useless, or so I thought.

I initially kept it in my old tech stuff drawer — the one drawer, cabinet, or storage room filled with old gadgets we swear we’ll use again someday. Well, I finally found a use for that old router. Instead of letting it gather dust, I realized I could repurpose it for a few useful networking projects around my home.

Turn your old router into a Wi-Fi access point

A second access point beats a mesh system I don’t need

This is actually what I’m currently using my old router for. When my new ISP installed my internet, I asked them to put the router in my bedroom because that’s where my workstation is. It made sense for my work setup, but it created another problem.

The Wi-Fi signal in my living room was pretty weak, and several areas outside my bedroom had a practically dead connection. Rather than buying a Wi-Fi extender or an entirely new mesh system, I decided to pull my old router out of retirement.

I connected the old router to my main router using an Ethernet cable and placed it in my living room, where the Wi-Fi signal was weak. This turned the old router into a secondary access point that could provide Wi-Fi coverage to that part of my home. To make this work properly, you need to change a few settings.

You need to log into the old router’s admin panel and change its local IP address. The IP address should be on the same subnet as your main router (for instance, if your main router is 192.168.1.1, set the old router to 192.168.1.2). Then disable the DHCP server on the old router. I also recommend giving the old router the same SSID and password as your main router.

Use it as a WireGuard server

An old router can give me secure access to my home network when I’m away

If your router has enough processing power and supports the right firmware, you can also turn it into a WireGuard server. WireGuard is a lightweight VPN protocol that can let me connect back to my home network when I’m away. That means I can access devices, files, and other services on my home network remotely while also getting an encrypted connection when I’m using public Wi-Fi.

But your router needs to support VPN hosting. I checked mine, and unfortunately, its stock firmware didn’t support VPN hosting. So, if you’re in the same boat, you may need to replace the manufacturer’s firmware with something like OpenWrt.

Once OpenWrt is installed, I can install the WireGuard package through its package manager and configure the router to act as a WireGuard server. The basic process involves generating a public/private key pair, configuring the WireGuard interface and peers, and setting up the necessary network rules.

You’ll also need to configure port forwarding on your primary router, so WireGuard traffic can reach the old router. WireGuard commonly uses UDP port 51820, although you can configure it to use another port. Just keep in mind that your actual VPN performance will depend heavily on the router’s hardware and your internet connection.

Turn it into a DIY Network-Attached Storage device

Not a real NAS, but enough for a shared drive

Sadly, I couldn’t really test this one myself because my old router doesn’t have a USB port. It’s a pretty old model, so it’s not surprising. If your router has a USB 3.0 port and supports storage sharing, though, you can connect an external hard drive or a USB flash drive and make the storage accessible across your home network.

The setup will vary depending on the router, but the general process is similar. First, plug your external storage into the router’s USB port. Then, open the router’s administrator interface and look for settings related to USB storage, Storage, File Sharing, or Media Sharing.

From there, you can enable a network file-sharing protocol like Samba (SMB) for Windows and macOS network sharing. Some routers may also support FTP for accessing files remotely. You’ll also want to create user accounts and passwords rather than leaving the shared storage completely open to everyone on your network.

However, an old router won’t turn into a Synology or QNAP NAS just because you plugged a hard drive into it. File transfer speeds can be slower than what you’d get from an actual NAS, especially if the router has an old processor.

Old hardware doesn’t mean useless hardware

When I first put my old ISP router in that drawer, I honestly thought I’d never use it again. Now it’s helping me solve a Wi-Fi coverage problem that would’ve otherwise had me spending money on another piece of networking equipment. And that’s the interesting thing about old stuff. They might no longer be good enough to serve their main purpose, but that doesn’t mean they’ve become useless.

So, before you throw that dusty router into a drawer and forget about it, it’s worth checking what it can actually do. You might already have a usable networking device sitting in your pile of old tech.