Wi-Fi Extender For BT Hot Spot

[TheDutyPaid]

I often visit my gran who does not have internet. Because I am with BT Infinity I have free access to BT Hot Spots and at my grans I can find one, but only by sitting in the kitchen of the house (neighbor has BT 2 doors down)

Would getting a wifi extender and plugging it in, with in the kitchen area extend the signal to the rest of the house. I log in to the BT service using a app on my phone or a web page that comes up on the lappy.

I have a feeling that I have to have access to the main router for the password to set up the repeater, which is not possible to obtain?

So, plug and play, local set up or needs full access?

[PsychoPoo]

I use a TP-Link TL-WR702N to extend WiFi into my garden. It's good pretty good range on it, especially for the price. May be worth checking out. They are going pretty cheap at the moment at around £12. Its a handy little device to have as it can be used for several different applications.
The main thing you would need to consider is how strong the WiFi signal is from the BT HotSpot coming into the kitchen. A weak connection will result in a slow connection.

[TheDutyPaid]

I use a TP-Link TL-WR702N to extend WiFi into my garden. It's good pretty good range on it, especially for the price. May be worth checking out. They are going pretty cheap at the moment at around £12. Its a handy little device to have as it can be used for several different applications.
The main thing you would need to consider is how strong the WiFi signal is from the BT HotSpot coming into the kitchen. A weak connection will result in a slow connection.

Was there any set up from the main router side, as I do not have access to that.

[scaryjim]

AFAIK for an extender you'd need access to the hot spot MAC address, which you won't have, but if you're willing to mess around a bit and invest a small amount of capital there is a way: you can use an access point in client mode to connect to the BT Wifi, connect it to a switch, then run a second AP normally from the switch.

Essentially the AP in client mode connects the rest of your network to the BT network, acting as a bridge. You can also buy dedicated wireless bridges which would do the same job, but I've not used one of those personally. I'm about to do a similar thing to extend wifi into the attic of the house I just moved in to.

Two caveats: one is that you'll need to buy two APs and a switch, so expect to be forking out somewhere between £50 and £100; the other is that the BT hot spots might have some feature built in that would prevent that kind of bridge from working.

[herulach]

two wr702ns would sort this for you for about £20 + cables and wall warts. One connected in client mode as a bridge, ethernet to the other set up as a hotspot. It'll be a bit of a faff to configure (probably bridge first via ethernet, then the ap via ethernet, then connect). You might have some fun and games with IP ranges as well, but its certainly feasible.

Realistically though - how often do you access the internet at your grans house? I'd make do with your phone/tethering or just leave it tbh.

[TheDutyPaid]

Realistically though - how often do you access the internet at your grans house? I'd make do with your phone/tethering or just leave it tbh.

I have been thinking about this over Xmas and the new year as I am at grans with family, we are all moaning a little about the lack of internet, apart from the wife and I who are the only ones with BT.

I think I am quite happy sitting in the kitchen to catch up with work ect, lol