Wifi repeater - bewildering choice!!
Discussion
Hi
I want to see if I can get better wifi coverage in my attic room however there are a bewildering choice of devices on the market.
I think I'm after a cheap, plug-in-to-the-nearest-socket-upstairs device as I am a techno numpty so need it to be very basic to set up (I don't want to run cables etc).
Can anyone please advise on any particular make/model?
Also does it need 'line of sight' to the router?
Thanks
I want to see if I can get better wifi coverage in my attic room however there are a bewildering choice of devices on the market.
I think I'm after a cheap, plug-in-to-the-nearest-socket-upstairs device as I am a techno numpty so need it to be very basic to set up (I don't want to run cables etc).
Can anyone please advise on any particular make/model?
Also does it need 'line of sight' to the router?
Thanks
No line of sight required.
If you want to use a repeater then it needs to be placed roughly half way between the dead spot and your router. Put it in the deadspot and it can't 'reach' back to the router to get a signal to repeat.
Generally repeaters are a bit rubbish. The speed quoted is halved to begin with and even then people get mixed results. But they are significantly cheaper than a much better wifi option which I would urge you to consider which is mesh networking. This also doesn't need line of sight or cables and you dot units around and they talk to each other and not just the router, hence the 'mesh' bit. It generally provides better performance than an extender. Something like the Tenda MW3 is cheap and cheerful and will probably give you a better experience than an extender with greater reach. If you want to spend a bit more then things like Google WiFi are very consumer friendly needing little technical knowledge or you can spend lots and lots on a really premium system like the Netgear Orbi.
If you want to use a repeater then it needs to be placed roughly half way between the dead spot and your router. Put it in the deadspot and it can't 'reach' back to the router to get a signal to repeat.
Generally repeaters are a bit rubbish. The speed quoted is halved to begin with and even then people get mixed results. But they are significantly cheaper than a much better wifi option which I would urge you to consider which is mesh networking. This also doesn't need line of sight or cables and you dot units around and they talk to each other and not just the router, hence the 'mesh' bit. It generally provides better performance than an extender. Something like the Tenda MW3 is cheap and cheerful and will probably give you a better experience than an extender with greater reach. If you want to spend a bit more then things like Google WiFi are very consumer friendly needing little technical knowledge or you can spend lots and lots on a really premium system like the Netgear Orbi.
Thanks - I'll give that some thought
Our wifi is rubbish anyway as we are very rural: no fibre optic here!
Is it worth trying out a cheap extender first? Amazon have a Netgear and a TP-Link one at around 15 quid each...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NIUHAG6/ref=psdc_43...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Universal-Extender-Broadb...
Thanks again
Our wifi is rubbish anyway as we are very rural: no fibre optic here!
Is it worth trying out a cheap extender first? Amazon have a Netgear and a TP-Link one at around 15 quid each...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NIUHAG6/ref=psdc_43...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Universal-Extender-Broadb...
Thanks again
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-PA4010KIT-Powerline-Co...
I've used this with perfect results, it was better than the wifi coming out of the standard router on the other side of my flat (It's a very long, old flat)
Name it the same as your normal wifi and there is no distinguishable change from one to the other as you move rooms
I've used this with perfect results, it was better than the wifi coming out of the standard router on the other side of my flat (It's a very long, old flat)
Name it the same as your normal wifi and there is no distinguishable change from one to the other as you move rooms
J8 SVG said:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-PA4010KIT-Powerline-Co...
I've used this with perfect results, it was better than the wifi coming out of the standard router on the other side of my flat (It's a very long, old flat)
Name it the same as your normal wifi and there is no distinguishable change from one to the other as you move rooms
Thanks but I don't think this will work for me. I don't have a socket close to my router that is free plus I don't really want to have any cable connections if I can help it.I've used this with perfect results, it was better than the wifi coming out of the standard router on the other side of my flat (It's a very long, old flat)
Name it the same as your normal wifi and there is no distinguishable change from one to the other as you move rooms
The cheapo TPLink (nothing wrong with TPLilnk btw) wifi extenders work well, as long as bandwidth is not terribly important. i.e. I tested them in my house but they would not smoothly stream Slingbox video to my bathroom, but web browsing was fine.
Because of how they work, half of their wireless bandwidth is taken up with the "extending", and the other half is available for data, so you lose a chunk of bandwidth. That is unless you buy more expensive ones that had a seperate network to create the link.
Because of how they work, half of their wireless bandwidth is taken up with the "extending", and the other half is available for data, so you lose a chunk of bandwidth. That is unless you buy more expensive ones that had a seperate network to create the link.
Um right, now you are losing me (I did say I was a techno numpty 
)....
I have weak broadband speeds coming into my house (around 1.45mbps download and 0.7mpbs upload) which I think is made worse as I am up in an upstairs room with the router downstairs near our front door.
Obviously at these speeds I don't do much live streaming nor big downloads
Are you saying that one of these plug in devices may actually make things worse?
ta
)....I have weak broadband speeds coming into my house (around 1.45mbps download and 0.7mpbs upload) which I think is made worse as I am up in an upstairs room with the router downstairs near our front door.
Obviously at these speeds I don't do much live streaming nor big downloads
Are you saying that one of these plug in devices may actually make things worse?
ta
oblio said:
Um right, now you are losing me (I did say I was a techno numpty )....
I have weak broadband speeds coming into my house (around 1.45mbps download and 0.7mpbs upload) which I think is made worse as I am up in an upstairs room with the router downstairs near our front door.
Obviously at these speeds I don't do much live streaming nor big downloads
Are you saying that one of these plug in devices may actually make things worse?
ta
What's the Three 4G coverage where you are? If good, then you'd probably solve your problems with a 4G router and and one of their 20 quid u/l everything SIM. )....I have weak broadband speeds coming into my house (around 1.45mbps download and 0.7mpbs upload) which I think is made worse as I am up in an upstairs room with the router downstairs near our front door.
Obviously at these speeds I don't do much live streaming nor big downloads
Are you saying that one of these plug in devices may actually make things worse?
ta
Bonus, you can plug in a DECT phone too....
oblio said:
Um right, now you are losing me (I did say I was a techno numpty )....
I have weak broadband speeds coming into my house (around 1.45mbps download and 0.7mpbs upload) which I think is made worse as I am up in an upstairs room with the router downstairs near our front door.
Obviously at these speeds I don't do much live streaming nor big downloads
Are you saying that one of these plug in devices may actually make things worse?
ta
No - because your transfer speeds are WAY below what the wifi extender can handle, even running at half speed. So you won't lose any performance.)....I have weak broadband speeds coming into my house (around 1.45mbps download and 0.7mpbs upload) which I think is made worse as I am up in an upstairs room with the router downstairs near our front door.
Obviously at these speeds I don't do much live streaming nor big downloads
Are you saying that one of these plug in devices may actually make things worse?
ta
I have a sling box in my lounge, it streams whatever my TV is showing, live, over my LAN (inc wifi) - which is more data than the wifi extenders can handle, but we are talking much much more data than 1.45Mbps - more like over 100Mbps.
I have this so I can watch TV on my tablet, in the bath. :-)
With boradband speeds that low then, much as I dislike them, a cheap extender is probably going to do OK for you and worth a try. It sounds like you must use your WiFi only for casual internet usage anyway so you'l probably find it fixes the problem you have of some deadspots. Just remember to put it halfway between the router and the deadspot NOT where the deadspot is.
BigTZ4M said:
With boradband speeds that low then, much as I dislike them, a cheap extender is probably going to do OK for you and worth a try. It sounds like you must use your WiFi only for casual internet usage anyway so you'l probably find it fixes the problem you have of some deadspots. Just remember to put it halfway between the router and the deadspot NOT where the deadspot is.
Yes just just stuff like browsing.I have a signal upstairs but on many occasions have to keep clicking 'Try Again' to actually find/get into websites.
For 15 quid it might be worth a punt. I can always sell it on Ebay if it doesn't work for me...
ta
Try Vodaphone.
We are inthe sticks, and our microwave link "should" give us 25mbps but we generally get 6 or 7.
I checked with my voda mobile and I can get 40 mbps and on O2 25 mbps. EE is 15 at best here.
Voda do a router and monthly unlimited data for £22 at the moment.
I will probably go with vodaphone, and use a mesh system for high def music streaming. not arsed about telly or films.*
- except Project Binky.
Labradorofperception said:
Try Vodaphone.
We are inthe sticks, and our microwave link "should" give us 25mbps but we generally get 6 or 7.
I checked with my voda mobile and I can get 40 mbps and on O2 25 mbps. EE is 15 at best here.
Voda do a router and monthly unlimited data for £22 at the moment.
I will probably go with vodaphone, and use a mesh system for high def music streaming. not arsed about telly or films.*
Patchy 2G only We are inthe sticks, and our microwave link "should" give us 25mbps but we generally get 6 or 7.
I checked with my voda mobile and I can get 40 mbps and on O2 25 mbps. EE is 15 at best here.
Voda do a router and monthly unlimited data for £22 at the moment.
I will probably go with vodaphone, and use a mesh system for high def music streaming. not arsed about telly or films.*
- except Project Binky.
Only BT and EE wifi works in our village and mobile phone coverage is poor across all providers.
BigTZ4M said:
Not according to their map but I'll look into it...ta
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff