Options for hidingmVirgin router/boosting the signal

Options for hidingmVirgin router/boosting the signal

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AC43

Original Poster:

11,435 posts

207 months

Friday 30th January 2015
quotequote all
Hi all,

I'm on the middle of configuring the newly open plan space at the back of my house

I've got the TV (which will be wall mounted with cabling in a conduit) and I've just ordered an AV unit with an IR-friendly door.

http://www.costco.co.uk/view/product/uk_catalog/co...

I want to put all my clutter in it (amp, cd plater, Virgin box, etc) to make everything look at clean as possible.

So am tempted to put my Virgin router in there as well.

However it already struggles to send a signal round the whole house and sticking it in a cupboard will make it worse.

I'm already using a Netgear booster upstairs to help with the weak signal up there but am not convinced by the speed and effectiness.

So maybe the answer is to (a) put the router in the cupboard and (b) use Cat 5 connections to chain in one or more boosters?

Does this make sense? Has anyone done something similar?

Thanks

scottri

950 posts

181 months

Friday 30th January 2015
quotequote all
I ran cat 5 to every room for wired devices (not to boost the signal), its worth the effort. Then for wireless stuff i put the 'superhub' into modem mode, bought a decent router, and used one of the Cat5 runs in a spare bedroom to run it from - something like this:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/asus-rt-n66u-n900-dual-b...

I now have good strong signal in the whole house, garage, garden etc

AC43

Original Poster:

11,435 posts

207 months

Friday 30th January 2015
quotequote all
scottri said:
I ran cat 5 to every room for wired devices (not to boost the signal), its worth the effort.
Totally agree. Did this for my last two houses. Have now bought one pre-developed and although it has plenty CAT 5 most of the sockets are in the wrong place. Which is a challenge.....

But the real problem is that I have new (wireless) use cases now;

(1) the kids want to wander around downstairs watching streaming video to their iPads - that seems to work.

(2) At night they sometimes want to watch streamed films on latops upstairs - the link would sometimes drop at the back of the house so I stuck a cheap Netgear 150 booster up there which seems to have got rid of one hotspot

(3) And I bought a now TV dongle so that they can stream video into their den. There is another blackspot here and (amazingly) there is no way to connect an ethernet cable to Now TV. (!)

I think I might just get a second Netgear booster for that room - but maybe a 300 or 750 for a bit more grunt


scottri said:
Then for wireless stuff i put the 'superhub' into modem mode, bought a decent router, and used one of the Cat5 runs in a spare bedroom to run it from - something like this:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/asus-rt-n66u-n900-dual-b...

I now have good strong signal in the whole house, garage, garden etc
Interesting.....will have a think about that approach.

AC43

Original Poster:

11,435 posts

207 months

Saturday 31st January 2015
quotequote all
Update; I've moved the booster from upstairs at the back of the house to downstairs at the front and the signal received by Now TV is no much improved on both floors at the front.

At the same time the fact that I've just had a massive section of wall demolished between the kitchen and rear reception has greatly improved the signal going from router to the furthest rear bedroom.

I seem to have stumbled across a solution.

The AV Cabinet has been shipped so soon I'll be able to see if I can also get away with stashing the router in there. Hope so.

After two years of cabling mess & various compromises I'm soon going to have proper, hidden clean installs for everything.

boxst

3,699 posts

144 months

Saturday 31st January 2015
quotequote all
Wireless repeaters are slow, if you can you are better off using a powerline wifi extender like this http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?model=....


AC43

Original Poster:

11,435 posts

207 months

Saturday 31st January 2015
quotequote all
boxst said:
Wireless repeaters are slow, if you can you are better off using a powerline wifi extender like this http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?model=....
Thanks Boxst!!

You have given me the answer I was looking for.

EDIT going for this lot;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GC3Z6I0/ref=dra_a_rv...

Then I can hide the router on the ground floor and know that I can get proper wifi everywhere.

Off to get a Chromecast shortly so I can have two TV's on Virgin and the other two on dongles.

And I can cancel Sky Sports because now I can just watch the odd game on day pass - and I can pick the room to watch it.

Happy days.





Edited by AC43 on Saturday 31st January 18:43

AC43

Original Poster:

11,435 posts

207 months

Tuesday 3rd February 2015
quotequote all
boxst said:
Wireless repeaters are slow, if you can you are better off using a powerline wifi extender like this http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?model=....
Cheers for that. Bought a set with two extenders. Now have the first one up and running in the blackspot at the front of the house.

Did a before and after speed test.

Download speeds have gone from 2-3 Mb/s to 35-40 Mb/s. Uploads from under 1Mb/s to over 12 Mb/s.


Thanks for the tip!!

Edited by AC43 on Tuesday 3rd February 11:16

furtive

4,498 posts

278 months

Tuesday 3rd February 2015
quotequote all
Get Virgin to replace your router with their new one that supports 5Ghz wifi. It's got a massively better signal than the old one.

AC43

Original Poster:

11,435 posts

207 months

Tuesday 3rd February 2015
quotequote all
furtive said:
Get Virgin to replace your router with their new one that supports 5Ghz wifi. It's got a massively better signal than the old one.
Think I've already got one - it was replaced a few weeks ago. I'do go and check but it's a hassle as the rear of the house is sealed off to keep the dust out.

It still can't send a decent signal from the back of the house to the front. Too many obstacles - 2 thick wall, one cupboard and one shelving unit stuffed with kids carp in between it and the front room.

edit; plus boiler, washing machine and dryer now I think of it


Edited by AC43 on Tuesday 3rd February 22:44