Someone I know has home wifi, and when they are in a room about 50 feet from the router their ability to get a signal drops to nothing. There is also a chimney in between the router/modem and the person’s seat where they use their laptop.
So they want to get better home wifi. What is a better idea in this situation, getting a new router/modem (DSL) or getting a wifi range extender?
Powerline adapters do not work in this room either for some reason.
I assume a range extender is the better idea. It’d probably be easier to install, its cheaper and it can be installed to bypass the chimney (which I think reduces the signal).
If it is, it is very simple to buy a cheapo wifi router, wire-connect it to the existing router, then use it as “wireless access point”. I just did it because my wi-fi speeds on the floor above where my wifi router is and on the other side of the house were bad enough that I couldn’t skype-show the kids to the grandparents. Putting in the wired wifi accesspoint like that increased the upload speeds from 1Mb to 12Mb.
The router is connected to the computer, and there are no wires leading out of that room. The room is fairly small, so any router connected to the modem is only going to be 10’ or less from the router.
With a powerline adapter kit this idea could work couldn’t it? Like if I put a powerline adapter to connect to the modem then the other to the other router? The powerline adapter doens’t work in the room that needs wifi, but I can put it in an adjacent room.
What I meant was that my house is “wired” - there are Ethernet wires that go from the router (that sits in the basement) to every room in the house. So the second “access point” wifi router sits on the first floor, connects through Ethernet to the router downstairs, and then provides wifi connectivity at much better speeds upstairs.
Since your friend’s house isn’t wired, apparently, then this is not an option. As for wifi extenders - the news isn’t great. See http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wi-fi-extender/ Note that they do talk about the “wired” solution. Maybe that will work for your friend? Especially since the distance is only 50’.
The house isn’t wired, but I do have an old powerline adapter kit that I can use. The kit won’t work in the room he uses his laptop, but I could set it up in a separate room. I used to use the kit for an Xbox 360.
Yes. That will work, I did it in my house a few weeks ago using a powerline adapter.
See the second post in this thread for some of the details to configure the router as a WAP . Just use the powerline adapters to connect the new router (configured as a WAP) to the existing router.
BTW, I now have two wireless access points in my house, the first being the original router set to channel 1, and the new router set up as a WAP, set to channel 11. I haven’t tried setting them both to the same channel, but I’d guess I’d just get interference.
Some router manufacturers sell optional directional antennas. I recently got one of these for my ASUS router and pointed at the general direction of our garage; and now I can use WiFi in my garage.
I was having the same issue about a year ago- I like to listen to Pandora on my phone (connected to a stereo) when I’m working out in my garage, but it’s out of range from my router. I picked up a Netgear range extender- about $40- and set it up in my den, next to the garage. Works like a charm. Simple to set up.
The proper solution would be a wifi range booster unit. Routers can be configured to do so as well but can be more hassle.
Try to locate the booster so that the path to his computer and the router from the booster does not cross any major obstacles, a typical interior wall or two is fine, large appliances, fireplaces, major electrical junctions, stairwells, or fire rated walls like between garage and rest of house.
Any heavy wall like tile masonry, or metal sheathing are huge impediments to wifi signals as well.
It won’t drastically increase your range, but it can boost it enough to change it from no signal to some signal in certain parts of your house. The nice thing is that is it free and you don’t need to modify your existing router.
If the current router is more than three or four years old, it might be time for a new one anyway. You’ll be impressed with the greater range of the N dual-band routers if you are still using a previous generation.