wireless range extenders?

spreadsheet · 06-09-2014, 09:59

large three storey house with router situated right at the back on the
bottom floor - old thick walls

bought a range extender from argos yesterday which is effectively useless

anyone had any experience with sorting this sort of thing?

router can't be moved (or don't want it to) and want to have decent wifi throughout house

Ken W · 06-09-2014, 10:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by spreadsheet

large three storey house with router situated right at the back on the bottom floor - old thick walls bought a range extender from argos yesterday which is effectively useless anyone had any experience with sorting this sort of thing? router can't be moved (or don't want it to) and want to have decent wifi throughout house

One option is Home Plugs which plug into the ring mains, there are several makes.

idi banashapan · 06-09-2014, 13:02

you could put in an access point, but it does mean running a cable from the router.

spreadsheet · 06-09-2014, 13:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by idi banashapan

you could put in an access point, but it does mean running a cable from the router.

how do you mean?

idi banashapan · 06-09-2014, 14:44

An access point will act as a wireless point for your devices to connect to, and transmit data too and from the router it is plugged in to via a wire. It's like a wireless extender in principle (i.e., it means you can use wireless without needing to be near the router), but uses a different method.

A wireless extender, or repeater, will pick up the existing wireless signal and amplify it so that devices out of the normal range for the main wireless hub can get a signal.

An Access point has no dependency on an existing wireless signal - so long as it is attached to the router / switch / network via a wire, you can set up a wireless access point anywhere. If you wanted to, and the wire was long enough (but still within usable limits), you could run a cable to next door with an AP on the end of it and they could connect to your network if you gave them the credentials. Any old router you have still laying around will likely be able to perform the task for you, however you can buy dedicated AP units.

Matth · 06-09-2014, 18:11

The problem with a range extender, is it has to be within coverage of the first wifi, so half of its coverage will overlap.

The alternative, is either a wired connection to an additional access point (or router set up to act as an access point - may be cheaper!), or a powerline adapter pair providing connection to the AP

spreadsheet · 10-09-2014, 10:07

so I got hold of a cheap range extneder

TP Link from argos - tried to set it up using the WPS method but the superhub 2 does not seem to have a WPS button

googled around a bit but have got myself confused

anything obvious i am overlooking?

spreadsheet · 10-09-2014, 15:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by spreadsheet

so I got hold of a cheap range extneder

TP Link from argos - tried to set it up using the WPS method but the superhub 2 does not seem to have a WPS button

googled around a bit but have got myself confused

anything obvious i am overlooking?

sorted it now