WiFii Extenders

[virtuo]

I've got a bit of a problem, I don't really "do" wireless networking, but having a few extra WIFI only devices in the house means I need to start looking in to it.

My Wireless router is in the hallway, I've got thick stone walls and lots of wood between it and some of the bedrooms, so the wireless signal in them is very poor. Not great when I'm trying to stream video or browse the web on a tablet/phone.

What I have got is a full CAT-6 wired network, with some free outlets closer to the bedrooms. Obviously I can't plug my tablets in to these.

From what I can see of the top results for WiFi extenders Google shows up, they work by picking up a WiFi signal, and boosting/relaying it. So I expect if an extender can't get a decent signal, it can't extend it. Is this right? The layout of my house makes positioning one of these particularly difficult.

What I was hoping to find was some sort of gizmo that plugged in to an ethernet port and provided wifi access to that port - so the tablet connects to the device, which forwards the traffic over ethernet to the router. Does such a thing exist, like a wireless switch?

[burble]

From what I can see of the top results for WiFi extenders Google shows up, they work by picking up a WiFi signal, and boosting/relaying it. So I expect if an extender can't get a decent signal, it can't extend it. Is this right?

Yep, spot on.

What I was hoping to find was some sort of gizmo that plugged in to an ethernet port and provided wifi access to that port - so the tablet connects to the device, which forwards the traffic over ethernet to the router. Does such a thing exist, like a wireless switch?

It's called an access point. There's loads of different ones to choose from, but for example, I keep one of these in my laptop bag so that when I'm in a hotel that has an ethernet port in the room and no wireless I can create my own wireless network.

[Agent]

I also use the TP Link access point burble has linked. Work's fine, although make sure you put the latest firmware on it.

[virtuo]

Perfect, exactly what I needed to know

Time to do some shopping


I'm going to look for something with a strong signal, as it'll only be used in one location and needs to reach quite a few rooms. Might get work to get me one of the portable ones though.

[Agent]

The TP Link ones are multi use and configurable. You could have one going off the ethernet socket broadcasting the signal and a second one set up as a repeater a bit further away.

[burble]

The TP-Link one I mentioned is powered by micro USB and comes with a USB power adapter in the box. If the AP is going to be in plain sight then you may want to go for this one instead which has a plug built in. The unit is physically bigger but is possibly neater. I use one to give my VoIP phone an ethernet socket. Does the job very nicely.