Most transparent way to extend a Wi-Fi signal in a home?


Recommended Posts

My sister's home has three floors.

 

The wireless router (Sky Hub SR101 from 2012) is on the bottom floor.

 

When she's on the top floor, the wireless connection (for things such as her laptop, phone and video baby monitor) becomes sketchy.

 

What's the most transparent way to extend the range of a Wi-Fi connection? (e.g. not needing to connect to a second access point, which I've experience with cheap, plug socket-style extenders in the past)

 

She has a budget of around £40 and can't wire-up a three-storey house.

Edited by Elliot B.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

look up wireless mesh.

 

products include:

netgear orbi

ubiquiti amplifi

google wifi

eero

 

 

the best would be to run a wire and add an access point (poe ap would be easiest, one of the ubiquiti ap's). 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On a £40 budget.  If you find something at that price let me know...I know a lot of people would be really really really happy with that.  Trashy routers are in that price point, but that is about it.

 

 

You could wire up the house, but you have to be really good and know a lot of tricks...tunnelling along side copper piping, looking at the duct work going in the house and following that or even attaching to that...tracing along the cable lines for your cable tv....there are a few ways that are pretty easy without having knowledge of anything else....if there isn't concrete, you could use either a spade bit or a very long boring bit to get through the outside. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, sc302 said:

On a £40 budget.  If you find something at that price let me know...I know a lot of people would be really really really happy with that.  Trashy routers are in that price point, but that is about it.

The only feature she needs in a device is that will "grab" a signal and boost it another few meters.

 

I see no reason why something that simple should cost more than £40.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if it were simple, they would have built it into the router.

 

It isn't simple, though I can see where you could perceive it to be as simple as turning up the gains for a few more feet.   You could get a range extender, but I am sure you have already noticed that is also trash (again leading me to say "it isn't simple").

 

To reiterate things you probably already know with existing tech:

range extenders = garbage

plug in aps = garbage

wall plugs with ap = less garbage but still garbage

wired ap = what you want to extend your service in areas that cannot be reached with other means that isn't garbage

 

 

I haven't tried the wireless mesh, but to novices and people who have no other appreciation to tech believe they are the best thing that happened to wireless.  To me, they look like plug in aps with a centralized controller.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well she needs to save for a bigger budget to be honest..  Cheap way to do it wold be a powerline adapter and then either a wifi router using as AP or a real AP.  That is still going to be over 40..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Look into powerline adapters, for around that price you'll get a access port (has to be wired to the router, then paired on the same electrical circuit) then a receiver that your sister can plug into a wall socket in her bedroom. 

 

This option ensures a great (wired) Ethernet option and zero loss on the wifi signal. They even sell cheaper models without an Ethernet port on the receiver.

 

I did this for my house and it works great.

Edit: did not read BudNan's post before doing mine :p

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers for your help, guys.

 

She needs Wi-Fi on the top floor due to the phone and baby monitor. Wired is no good.

 

How do powerline adapters work?

 

I assume two adapters come in a box?

  • First one plugs into a socket near the wireless router on the bottom floor and a cable connects the adapter to the wireless router?
  • The second adapter plugs in upstairs?

If so, what do I plug into the adapter upstairs in order to get Wi-Fi up there? A standard wireless router?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Elliot B. said:

Cheers for your help, guys.

 

She needs Wi-Fi on the top floor due to the phone and baby monitor. Wired is no good.

 

How do powerline adapters work?

 

I assume two adapters come in a box?

  • First one plugs into a socket near the wireless router on the bottom floor and a cable connects the adapter to the wireless router?
  • The second adapter plugs in upstairs?

If so, what do I plug into the adapter upstairs in order to get Wi-Fi up there? A standard wireless router?

Check this out 
http://uk.tp-link.com/common/Spotlight/Powerline.html

and
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=tplink

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, Yazoo said:

But, but, powerline adapters aren't wifi, and if you plug a Wifi AP into them don't do well with handoff to a strong signal. If the unit is connected to the main router and has a low signal it will continue to try to stay connected to the low signal until it totally loses it. With a mesh network the mesh APs will negotiate the device that is slow and hand it off to the closer mesh AP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got the Dutch kit of this http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/cat-18_TL-WPA4530-KIT.html it even supports adding receivers.

 

In my case, I had "Poor" 5GHz wifi upstairs, but after using these, it's "Very Good" The AP already has to be near the router, so it will also reproduce the Wifi strong at the receiver.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, xendrome said:

But, but, powerline adapters aren't wifi, and if you plug a Wifi AP into them don't do well with handoff to a strong signal. If the unit is connected to the main router and has a low signal it will continue to try to stay connected to the low signal until it totally loses it. With a mesh network the mesh APs will negotiate the device that is slow and hand it off to the closer mesh AP.

All I know is I live in a 3 story house in the UK and also had bad WiFi signal on the top floor.  I added a power line adapter with WiFi and now I have full bars on the top floor.  Your experience may vary I guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Keep in mind, wireless signals travel best in a downward direction. Placing the router a floor or two upwards would give you better signal at the top while not completely killing the signal at the bottom.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, satukoro said:

Keep in mind, wireless signals travel best in a downward direction. Placing the router a floor or two upwards would give you better signal at the top while not completely killing the signal at the bottom.

Not possible due to where the cable comes into the house from outside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Elliot B. said:

Not possible due to where the cable comes into the house from outside.

Ah that sucks, worth a shot though. Alternatively you could get one hell of an extension (think ~33m) for either the coax or phone cable or however your internet is delivered, and run it up to the floor above until you can afford a better method.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While it is possible that a client can try and stay connected to a weak AP SSID, this should be adjustable in the client.   Also if you were using real AP you can setup min rssi that basically tells the client hey your too weak to use me, try a different AP on this SSID..

 

The bubblegum and rubberband fix for such an issue is just use a different SSID, Say ssid3rdfloor, ssid1stfloor, etc..

 

Powerline adapters are going to get you the cheapest way to get a "wire" to where you need better wifi, and then you can deploy a correct AP or any off the shelf 20 quid wifi router if need be due to budget constraints.  Any wifi router can be used as just an AP, you connect it to your powerline adapter via one of its lan ports, turn off its dhcp server and give its lan an IP on your current network and there you go budget AP..

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/20/2017 at 9:52 AM, Elliot B. said:

What's the most transparent way to extend the range of a Wi-Fi connection? (e.g. not needing to connect to a second access point, which I've experience with cheap, plug socket-style extenders in the past)

Without adding another piece of equipment into the equation, how would one expect to improve it? I am not entirely sure what responses you were expecting, but seeing as most of the hardware answers have been given I can recommend one thing. Grab a wifi scanning app and scan the area, maybe the router is on a congested channel. I wouldn't expect this to be the solution, but it is a good thing for you to try and doesn't require any additional hardware. Maybe it does the trick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
On 2/20/2017 at 0:52 PM, Elliot B. said:

My sister's home has three floors.

 

The wireless router (Sky Hub SR101 from 2012) is on the bottom floor.

 

When she's on the top floor, the wireless connection (for things such as her laptop, phone and video baby monitor) becomes sketchy.

 

What's the most transparent way to extend the range of a Wi-Fi connection? (e.g. not needing to connect to a second access point, which I've experience with cheap, plug socket-style extenders in the past)

 

She has a budget of around £40 and can't wire-up a three-storey house.

The most transparent method is also the most pricey - extenders (wired, wireless, or those that are both; the latter are mostly PoE).  The extenders also tend to create a MESH network, if they aren't the foundation of one themselves.

Google and Netgear have joined Amplifi in the creation of home mesh networks designed to replace existing home prosumer routers in their entirety.  There are two drivers for mesh - devices (smartphones/tablets/phablets, consoles, portable PCs, etc.), and the hatred of wiring a house (not to mention the expense - even if you have the house prewired during construction).  Right now, I'm trying to decide between Google Home, Netgear's Orbi, and Amplifi.

 

The current router is Netgear's WNDR3700v4 (with the current DD-WRT installed).

 

The problem is lack of range and some rather frustrating holes in the existing coverage map - more so for devices (smartphones and tablets) as opposed to the notebook (Mom's) and two laptops (mine).  The notebook and laptops all run Windows 10, as do her AIO and my desktop.  Only the AIO, the notebook, and the laptops use wireless - the reason the AIO does is because the Ethernet wiring in that room (which I did NOT configure) is borked - hence, it uses a wireless connection to the telephony gateway in the garage. Both Orbi and Google Home have their extenders act as wired gateways as well.  Orbi is pricier and includes one fewer extender (Orbi includes a single extender, while Google Home includes two; if I were to go with Google Home, the extra extender would go in my bedroom to act as a wired/wireless extender (primarily wired), as the router would directly replace the existing router - which is just outside my bedroom; my Tivo Premiere does NOT have a wireless adapter, hence the need for a wired extender connection - a Tivo wireless N adapter is not cheap, even used.  (Used ones START at $80 on Amazon, and head north from there - the IOGEAR Ethernet-to-N external adapter is $33.)  The extender in the library (Mom's AIO is in this room) would be both a wired extender (for the AIO) and a wireless extender for that floor and the floor above (where her bedroom is - her smartphone and tablets).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fwiw extenders do not create a mesh network. Mesh is controlled by a central controller, the aps are smart in the sense that they will terminate the connection if you are weaker and basically force you to a stronger connection, your computer doesn't control that. In a extender, it is up to the computer to do that...it isn't as good as the controller based. There are other things that make mesh better than extenders essentially being wired through your house electrical and using that as its communication.

 

Simply put, extenders are not mesh.

Mesh is more along the lines of enterprise wireless and extenders are along the lines of stringing a line and putting tin cans at the end of each.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought my own recent experience might help the OP but more likely other readers.

 

long time reader, first post...be kind!

 

I have a three story house with solid walls everywhere.

 

 

plugging the router in on the middle floor, was my preferred solution:   right in the middle of the house.  I also ran two lan cables out of the router for the PC and the PS4 ( mid floor and top floor respectively).  that worked a treat.      I had to solder to extend the router 12v power cable and run cables under carpet to get to the staircase in middle of house.

 

solution for router on ground floor:  

(after Openreach took a point to bits and could not get me live again anywhere else in house except ground floor)

wireless router on ground sends wireless to a 'wireless extender' Linksys RE6500 £70 amazon.  The two wireless boxes have only timber floor between them and distance say 7-10m max.   critically, no solid walls between them.  The linksys extender picks up the LAN cables from 1st to 2nd floor.  This solution offers only a 2% drop in throughput compared to be 100% wired lan.  Which I thought was amazing...expected much more drop in bandwidth.  the wifi from the extender additionally helps the upstairs rooms to receive wifi.  And as a bonus i have slightly better wifi on ground floor now.  works a treat.   

 

Hope that might help someone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im shocked someone mentioned extenders.

Well, if "transparent" means easy, cheap, and problematic - then OK.

I assume the baby is the reason for the low budget.

If money is that big of an issue - get a used AP, or even an old, used router that has a bridge mode (turning it into an AP) - if its for the baby monitor - that should suffice.

If money is that big of an issue - then she has to take what she cant get - that simple.

Some old workhorse ASUS router where YOU can slap tomato or DD-WRT on there, make it an AP - and she will have baby monitor coverage under budget.

If that isnt good enough - spend more money. :/

I still dont know what transparent means in this usage


 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I completely agree with TPLink PowerLink adaptors to extend a WiFi network. It is way better than your typical extender in that you essentially create a roaming WiFi network through wire instead of halving the bandwidth of your extended WiFi.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The first thing you should do is change the wi-fi channels(Google best wifi channels). You can find a extender for that price range on Amazon, just make sure it's on the second story directly over the router.

 

//Placing the router on the third floor might be the best bet

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.