Extending home network

[mjallan123]

I'm looking to extend my home network as my house has really think walls/floors which make it difficult for wifi signal to penetrate.

I have seen power line adapters for sale which promise to convert your power circuit into a sort of data network. Do these things actually work? It might just be the thing I need.

[abaxas]

Yes and no.

Personally I'd go with a better access point and aerial first. My house has 3 foot thick walls and with proper kit, there is no issue other than being a bit slower 'on the other side of the wall'.

[MrJim]

I'm looking to extend my home network as my house has really think walls/floors which make it difficult for wifi signal to penetrate.

I have seen power line adapters for sale which promise to convert your power circuit into a sort of data network. Do these things actually work? It might just be the thing I need.

They do indeed work, but the connection speed depends in a large part on the wiring in your house. I use several TP-Link 500Mbs adapters, & they're just a 'plug & play' solution. On some others you'll have to 'pair' them to recognise each other. I get a very good connection, & can definitely recommend them.

[gupsterg]

I'm looking to extend my home network as my house has really think walls/floors which make it difficult for wifi signal to penetrate.

I have seen power line adapters for sale which promise to convert your power circuit into a sort of data network. Do these things actually work? It might just be the thing I need.

In the same boat as you after my move, I'm toying with idea of 3 different bits of equipment on the powerline side.

1. Link:- Linksys PLSK400 without wifi signal.

2. Link:- Linksys PLWK400 with wifi signal.

3. I recently missed out on a great today only deal on Scan for Link:- ZyXel PLA4231 @ £11.99 .

Currently I use a router with a repeater (worked well in old place) but the powerline adapters with the wifi extender seems the best option to me as you have the RJ45 connection plus the wifi signal is created from the powerline connection to router not the router's wifi signal being repeated.

[mjallan123]

Yes and no.

Personally I'd go with a better access point and aerial first. My house has 3 foot thick walls and with proper kit, there is no issue other than being a bit slower 'on the other side of the wall'.

The problem is I'm with Sky and they pretty much force you to use their equipment, which I don't think is very good.

My house is quite large and old so I am not sure how good the wiring is. Maybe a wifi booster/extender would be better.

[herulach]

There's nothing stopping you using a router on a sky connection. Just stick it in ap only mode.

Powerline is a bit pants in our house as my gaming stuff is in an extension on its own ring. Tried it with cheap Powerline adaptors with no joy. Plus I wanted signal for tablets, laptops etc there so went with a decent ac router.

[abaxas]

Another option would be a repeater. This will slow down the wireless to sub half speed but in reality if it's for ipads etc, it makes no difference.
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[mjallan123]

There's nothing stopping you using a router on a sky connection. Just stick it in ap only mode.

Powerline is a bit pants in our house as my gaming stuff is in an extension on its own ring. Tried it with cheap Powerline adaptors with no joy. Plus I wanted signal for tablets, laptops etc there so went with a decent ac router.

Really? I was sure you could only use the router they sent you? Do you have sky? Which router do you use?

[herulach]

Really? I was sure you could only use the router they sent you? Do you have sky? Which router do you use?

Just set it to access point mode and turn the sky wifi off. We dumped it for sweet sweet cable a while ago but mine (Asus rt ac66u) works fine. The sky router still routes, yours just does the wifi

[GeorgeWalsh]

Just use this cheap TP-Link (www(.)mbreviews(.)com/tp-link-tl-wr841n-wifi-broadband-router-300mbps-n), it does it's job like any expensive router.
I use it as an access point and I have about 85% signal through one thick concrete wall so I wouldn't worry about it.
If you can install dd-wrt to it (there are lots of tutorials on the net) and you're set for the next 6+ years.

[shaithis]

The problem is I'm with Sky and they pretty much force you to use their equipment, which I don't think is very good.

There is a website that will read your username/password out of the Sky router so that you can use any router as a replacement.

[MrJim]

There is a website that will read your username/password out of the Sky router so that you can use any router as a replacement.

I used Wireshark to read my password from the Sky router when I was with Sky. There's a PDF tutorial somewhere on how to do it (Google should find it). The other problem is finding a router that will accept the extra authentication information...

[gupsterg]

I relocated my router and signal strength increased to the repeater the same as what it was sited right next to it.

This better connection between router & repeater meant my internet mbps doubled when using device on repeater and ping rate.

Only issue has been router slowed down on ADSL connection speed and mbps due to use of extension lead but will be sorted when I relocate master socket .

Using in built repeater site survey app / inSSIDer discovered optimum locations.

[Dareos]

Another option would be a repeater. This will slow down the wireless to sub half speed but in reality if it's for ipads etc, it makes no difference.
+

actually it can bud, can make a lot of difference. some of these repeaters appear to be using some form of DHCP reservation. quick example

Anything connecting to the VM superhub (using this as i know it best) will get its ip given out by the shub in order, ie starting at 192.168.0.2 and finishing at theoretically .254
If you put in a wifi extender, namely the TP link ones, that dont use a physical connection to the shub, then the ip any devices get given appear to be in the range of 192.168.0.100+. Now if the extender loses connection to the hub at any time then the device you are using will connect directly to the hub, but wont get online as the shub does not recognise that it has given out that ip address to that mac.

its a fairly strange problem but just one of many that I come across with these devices on a daily basis. I have had no issues however with powerline ones (other than neighbours wifi being cloned) that as Gupsterg says, broadcast their own wifi signal rather than attempting to repeat another.

I do agree with you on speed however, people are fixated on having 150Mbps and are kicking up hell when they get 70 on wifi, without actually having any understanding of how fast 70 is, or any of the other limitations of wifi.