WFi Network Extender/Booster?

[Boomyal]

Anyone with experience with these and any recommendations? We have a pretty long house on the ground floor. Reception is good all through the ground floor. The house has an upstairs that has a weak signal for a tablet. A laptop works just fine but the tablet reception is spotty. The wireless router is only about 25 ft (diagonally) from the upstairs room but it has to go thru a tiled firestove alcove and a cast iron woodstove to get there. It wouldn't take much to improve the signal but googling the subject shows a confusing array of choices for a booster.

 

[JASinIL2006]

You will get much better speeds if you can hardwire a second wireless access point. I had a second wireless router configured as a repeater, and it was quite pokey. I eventually ran som CAT 5 to the second router/access point, and saw an impressive jump in speed.

If a wired run isn't possible, you can use an old router/access point as a wireless repeater. You might need to change the firmware-- DD-WRT can do it. JustGoogle "DD-WRT repeater" and you'll find helpful links.

 

[oldjeep]

My folks use one of these in their Florida place and it works well

http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-AC120...8379418&sr=1-4&keywords=netgear+wifi+extender

 

[JASinIL2006]

It probably depends what you're trying to do with the connection, too. If you just need extended wifi for web browsing, etc., a repeater would probably be fine. If you're hoping to stream HD video wirelessly, you might be disappointed.

 

[Boomyal]

My folks use one of these in their Florida place and it works well

http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-AC120...8379418&sr=1-4&keywords=netgear+wifi+extender

How do you incorporate that into your system?

 

[MTboatguy]

Normally you just plug it in to the wall and it picks up the wifi signal, boosts it and passes it on, pretty simple device really. Just a wifi repeater.

 

[Boomyal]

Normally you just plug it in to the wall and it picks up the wifi signal, boosts it and passes it on, pretty simple device really. Just a wifi repeater.

Do you plug it in somewhere between the location of your router and the area that has the spotty service or do you plug it in closer to that area.

 

[Boomyal]

It probably depends what you're trying to do with the connection, too. If you just need extended wifi for web browsing, etc., a repeater would probably be fine. If you're hoping to stream HD video wirelessly, you might be disappointed.

Just doing email and general browsing JAS. I already constructed a housewide CAT 5 network but it does not go upstairs and besides even if I could route a wire up there, my cat5 wall jack plug, down near the main computer station, is already full up.

 

[MTboatguy]

Do you plug it in somewhere between the location of your router and the area that has the spotty service or do you plug it in closer to that area.

I plugged mine into a wall outlet about half way through the house so that I could get a signal in the master bedroom and my garage, took me about 5 minutes to get it all set up. I don't have the brand shown in the link, but I do have another brand that works the exact same way.

 

[oldjeep]

How do you incorporate that into your system?

You just plug it into the wall somewhere that you are still getting a full signal. My folks place is all concrete construction so the booster is just about line of sight from the main router, that gives it line of sight to the area of the house they were having problems.

Line of sight isn't necessary in stick construction, but their issue wasn't really distance it was just the density of all the walls between point A and point B

The other benefit to the one I posted is that it has a Ethernet port on it so that you can also use it to direct connect a non wireless device near the booster.

 

[bruceb58]

The repeater normally has to login to the main wifi router and then the repeater has it's own login so there is some simple setup to do. A true repeater would not have to do that but are typically more expensive.

I set up a wireless repeater for my parent's house and it works ok. In my house I have a wireless access point that is hardwired to the main router. It works way better and typically a wireless repeater has half the bandwidth of a wired access point.

If I was going to install one today, I would likely get this one which is basically what oldjeep was recommending but with more ports.
http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wi-fi-extender/

 

[dingbat]

If I was going to install one today, I would likely get this one which is basically what oldjeep was recommending but with more ports.
http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wi-fi-extender/

I installed one of these units a month ago to resolve a couple of dead spots in the house and get WIFI out to the pool area. for the most part It resolved the issues in the house, (worst case, 6 framed walls) but it really shines at the pool, Good 3-4 bar WIFI, 150-200' away

 

[Boomyal]

I installed one of these units a month ago to resolve a couple of dead spots in the house and get WIFI out to the pool area. for the most part It resolved the issues in the house, (worst case, 6 framed walls) but it really shines at the pool, Good 3-4 bar WIFI, 150-200' away

Where did you install the extender in relation to your router and pool location? ....and I am still not clear if you access your router thru the extender or whether you have to hook up to a different network name via the extender?

 

[MTboatguy]

It is just a repeater Boom, takes the signal and boosts it, is all it does. No extra network address at all.

 

[dingbat]

Where did you install the extender in relation to your router and pool location? ....and I am still not clear if you access your router thru the extender or whether you have to hook up to a different network name via the extender?

Connection to the router was done via WPS. location requires that you have 50% signal.

Our house is very large and chopped up with a very large fireplace with wood storage (takes up entire wall) in the center of the house. I used a signal app to find the best location which turned out to be sitting on the bar in the dining room. Probably 25' diagonal thru fireplace. Perfect location since the opposite end of the dining room is a double sliders with line of sight to the pool area.

The extender uses a separate network ID and password

 

[bruceb58]

It is just a repeater Boom, takes the signal and boosts it, is all it does. No extra network address at all.

It definitely is NOT a signal booster. It is its own network and broadcasts its own SSID. It is a client to the existing WiFi Network.

You don't want signal boosters.

....and I am still not clear if you access your router thru the extender or whether you have to hook up to a different network name via the extender?

You access to whatever has the highest signal to where you are sitting so you log into one or the other.

What I do to set it up is to download a WiFi signal app to my Android phone and look to where I have a relatively good signal and start with it there. Once I get the new extender in that place, then I can use the app and see what the signal is that the extender is giving.

EDIT:Here is a manual that shows how it works:
Go to page 12
http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/EX6200/EX6200-UM-5Feb2014.pdf

 

[MTboatguy]

The extender uses a separate network ID and password

Mine didn't

 

[bruceb58]

You do not want range extenders that just boost signal. The interference between the base and the extender blasting the same frequency signal with slightly different delay makes them not worth even using. The bit error rate will go through the roof and wipe out bandwidth.

 

[MTboatguy]

My wifi extender works just fine with no interference at all, but every set up is going to be different and you need to set up for your situation, I am in kind of a unique situation as my closest neighbor is over a mile a way from me and I live remotely from anything that could interfere with my home.

 

[bruceb58]

Boomyal, another thing you should do is get an app for your phone or laptop and see what frequency channel your neighbors are on vs what you are running on. Sometimes getting more range is simple as selecting a channel that is further away from what your neighbor is on especially if you happen to be on the exact same channel.