Idiot question about extending wifi
Discussion
Hi all.
Sorry for what is an idiot question!
I have a router in my lounge, and I want to drill a hole in the wall to the room next door and run a cable from the ethernet socket of the router to a new unit that will provide wifi to the room next door.
I dont want a wireless extender, I want one that plugs directly via cable into my router.
What are they called? Everything I google comes back as a wireless booster, but I want a cabled one.
Thanks
Sorry for what is an idiot question!
I have a router in my lounge, and I want to drill a hole in the wall to the room next door and run a cable from the ethernet socket of the router to a new unit that will provide wifi to the room next door.
I dont want a wireless extender, I want one that plugs directly via cable into my router.
What are they called? Everything I google comes back as a wireless booster, but I want a cabled one.
Thanks
Some bits of kit are absolutely terrible at dealing with signal drops, some will lose signal briefly and pick it up again and you'll never notice. If you have the former you'll know the signal isn't quite good enough, if you have the later you'll not notice.
They've improved now but the original Chromecasts were terrible for dropping signal briefly, not enough that whatever you're playing stops, but enough that the phone you were using to control it loses access, then you can't pause etc without reestablishing the connection, which breaks the stream.
You could either live with it, or hardwire a WiFi repeater closer to the device.
OP, there's a thread on here somewhere about mesh WiFi that's probably worth a read. If you add a second access point you can have issues with hand-over as the two devices won't talk to each other to get a device onto whichever AP has the best signal, so best case you don't get the benefit of the second AP, worse case you have them far enough apart that a device can see both, but can only get data from one, it stays connected to the one that can't supply data and stops working.
I had that issue running WiFi to my workshop, you'd go out there and your phone would lose internet because it stayed connected to the AP that couldn't transmit the data.
I'm running Google's WiFi now, 4 APs one on each floor and one in my workshop. Works great, the only issue I've noticed is that Amazon's music app seems to only see Chromecasts that are on the same AP a lot of the time. Running back-to-back comparisons in the same circumstances Google Music could see them all, so it looks like just Amazon doing their anti-Google thing.
If you setup Google WiFi you establish the mesh over WiFi, then can connect them up with a cable, so I'd be inclined to do that and run them with just the WiFi link to see if you need to run a cable, though cable is better and it depends how much work running the cable is.
They've improved now but the original Chromecasts were terrible for dropping signal briefly, not enough that whatever you're playing stops, but enough that the phone you were using to control it loses access, then you can't pause etc without reestablishing the connection, which breaks the stream.
You could either live with it, or hardwire a WiFi repeater closer to the device.
OP, there's a thread on here somewhere about mesh WiFi that's probably worth a read. If you add a second access point you can have issues with hand-over as the two devices won't talk to each other to get a device onto whichever AP has the best signal, so best case you don't get the benefit of the second AP, worse case you have them far enough apart that a device can see both, but can only get data from one, it stays connected to the one that can't supply data and stops working.
I had that issue running WiFi to my workshop, you'd go out there and your phone would lose internet because it stayed connected to the AP that couldn't transmit the data.
I'm running Google's WiFi now, 4 APs one on each floor and one in my workshop. Works great, the only issue I've noticed is that Amazon's music app seems to only see Chromecasts that are on the same AP a lot of the time. Running back-to-back comparisons in the same circumstances Google Music could see them all, so it looks like just Amazon doing their anti-Google thing.
If you setup Google WiFi you establish the mesh over WiFi, then can connect them up with a cable, so I'd be inclined to do that and run them with just the WiFi link to see if you need to run a cable, though cable is better and it depends how much work running the cable is.
Road2Ruin said:
Powerline Wi-Fi extender would make more sense. 1Gbps versions available now. Probably only get about 100-200Mbs but still very good.
Yes but which one?I am sitting looking at a TP-Link with a red light on it. It may have lasted a year. We want a better one with an RJ45 outlet plus wifi.
Any suggestions?
[/hijack]
I've recently installed this Mesh Kit - each note has an ethernet out too.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tenda-MW3-Nova-Whole-Ho...
£66 with the code Partytime
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tenda-MW3-Nova-Whole-Ho...
£66 with the code Partytime
So said:
Sorry I am not sure what you mean, have you got a link to one such device?
https://www.4gon.co.uk/ubiquiti-unifi-ac-aps-c-337_610_760_1350.htmlBe a little wary, these are most excellent bits of kit, but it's a little more complex than just plugging it in, so if you need to, don't be afraid to ask your 13yr old nephew for help
randlemarcus said:
So said:
Sorry I am not sure what you mean, have you got a link to one such device?
https://www.4gon.co.uk/ubiquiti-unifi-ac-aps-c-337_610_760_1350.htmlBe a little wary, these are most excellent bits of kit, but it's a little more complex than just plugging it in, so if you need to, don't be afraid to ask your 13yr old nephew for help
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Gigabit-Controlle...
thebraketester said:
They are excellent, but not cheap.... TP link do similar products which are around half the price..
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Gigabit-Controlle...
Slightly apples and oranges, but the functions in the Unifi kit are almost certainly ones the OP doesn't need. Christ, some of those functions are a little esoteric, even for a committed geek like me. Disclaimer: UDM on preorder, as annoyingly, Ubiquiti don't seem able to source UK power cables.https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Gigabit-Controlle...
randlemarcus said:
thebraketester said:
They are excellent, but not cheap.... TP link do similar products which are around half the price..
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Gigabit-Controlle...
Slightly apples and oranges, but the functions in the Unifi kit are almost certainly ones the OP doesn't need. Christ, some of those functions are a little esoteric, even for a committed geek like me. Disclaimer: UDM on preorder, as annoyingly, Ubiquiti don't seem able to source UK power cables.https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Gigabit-Controlle...
thebraketester said:
Hence me recommending something a little more user friendly perhaps. Although I am not sure what setting up the TP ones require.
Completely agree, though the question was "where do I find a buying link to a Ubiquiti AP" 
Suspect the TP link setup will be a guided wizard to create the bridged network, or a brand spanky new one. With annoyingly hidden "advanced" settings.
I did this by buying BT Whole Home Wifi discs.
This was after trying various things with additional wifi routers that I could never get working.
In short, my set up is:
- Disc 1 sits in the living room next to the broadband router connected via Ethernet cable
- Disc 2 sits in the hallway connected to the same broadband router via 10m long Ethernet cable under the floorboards
- I disabled WiFi from the broadband router – so only use WiFI from the discs now
I now have great wifi coverage throughout the house and it was easy to setup.
The discs are really designed as Wireless repeater / Mesh system but I had the Ethernet cabling in place so don’t use that part of it.
This was after trying various things with additional wifi routers that I could never get working.
In short, my set up is:
- Disc 1 sits in the living room next to the broadband router connected via Ethernet cable
- Disc 2 sits in the hallway connected to the same broadband router via 10m long Ethernet cable under the floorboards
- I disabled WiFi from the broadband router – so only use WiFI from the discs now
I now have great wifi coverage throughout the house and it was easy to setup.
The discs are really designed as Wireless repeater / Mesh system but I had the Ethernet cabling in place so don’t use that part of it.
If you are going to run a cable, just buy a cheapo broadband router for around £25
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-WR940N-450Mbps...
Fire it up, log in wirelessly as per the supplied instructions, it will ask you which mode - choose "Access Point". Plug your cable into one of it's 4 network ports.
That's it! (You can now log in and rename the wifi network and set a password for it - I set mine to match my main router and my devices switch to the strongest signal automatically)
There are so few access points for sale, but so many broadband routers, which are access points, with a broadband modem and a DHCP server added! - The latter is diabled when you run it in Access Point mode.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-WR940N-450Mbps...
Fire it up, log in wirelessly as per the supplied instructions, it will ask you which mode - choose "Access Point". Plug your cable into one of it's 4 network ports.
That's it! (You can now log in and rename the wifi network and set a password for it - I set mine to match my main router and my devices switch to the strongest signal automatically)
There are so few access points for sale, but so many broadband routers, which are access points, with a broadband modem and a DHCP server added! - The latter is diabled when you run it in Access Point mode.
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 6th December 13:03
So said:
Road2Ruin said:
Powerline Wi-Fi extender would make more sense. 1Gbps versions available now. Probably only get about 100-200Mbs but still very good.
Yes but which one?I am sitting looking at a TP-Link with a red light on it. It may have lasted a year. We want a better one with an RJ45 outlet plus wifi.
Any suggestions?
[/hijack]
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