Boosting Wireless Signal
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Boosting Wireless Signal
22-06-2011 5:16 PM
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He's mentioned getting a repeater, but i have no idea what this does or where to get one from. Could someone explain, in simple terms, how this works and whether it would in fact help at all? Or would there be an easier way to boost the signal to the best possible strength given the situational limitations?
Thanks for your help.
Re: Boosting Wireless Signal
22-06-2011 5:24 PM
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If thats the case then I'd suggest a pair of homeplug/powerline devices, which in effect turn your mains into a long ethernet cable - http://www.homeplug.org/tech
Costwise about £40 per pair (you'll need one pair).
Re: Boosting Wireless Signal
22-06-2011 7:59 PM
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What is your existing wireless router?
Re: Boosting Wireless Signal
23-06-2011 10:05 AM
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The router is the Thomson TG585 v7 supplied by Plusnet.
I've heard the 'plug in to mains' products are vunerable to security issues. Is this the case or is security in the router enough to prevent this? As you may have gathered, I'm not exactly well clued up on such issues :P, so your help is much appreciated.
Re: Boosting Wireless Signal
23-06-2011 10:45 AM
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Quote from: caryn I've heard the 'plug in to mains' products are vunerable to security issues. Is this the case or is security in the router enough to prevent this? As you may have gathered, I'm not exactly well clued up on such issues :P, so your help is much appreciated.
There is a risk that the signal they create can go outside your house. They can be passworded to prevent access to them.
The reason I recommend them is that they will give a connection close to that of running a wire, with consistent performance. Wireless performance can vary and is not ideal for gaming.
Re: Boosting Wireless Signal
23-06-2011 11:27 AM
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Bear in mind for gaming, the latency and jitter will play an important role as well.
You can try running a jitter test (www.pingtest.net) to see how well your homeplugs have fared (don't forget to re-run the test while being next to the router to get a fair comparison against the baseline of wifi)
Re: Boosting Wireless Signal
23-06-2011 12:31 PM
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The reason why I asked which router is that some models have removable external antenna, you can then replace the antenna for one with greater gain for approx £15. Sadly the Thomson 858 does not have those type of antenna.
Re: Boosting Wireless Signal
23-06-2011 1:00 PM
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if a cable isn't out of the question then consider running an ethernet CAT5 cable which will be effective up to 100 metres and is not a security risk and probably much cheaper.
Jojo
Re: Boosting Wireless Signal
23-06-2011 4:29 PM
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Quote from: vultura
There is a risk that the signal they create can go outside your house. They can be passworded to prevent access to them.
The reason I recommend them is that they will give a connection close to that of running a wire, with consistent performance. Wireless performance can vary and is not ideal for gaming.
Plugging something into the mains sounds an easy enough alternative, but would password protecting them be simple as that sounds? In other words, would those kind of products come with instructions how to do that?
dick:quote
Re: Boosting Wireless Signal
23-06-2011 4:43 PM
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If you google "password protecting homeplugs" you'll see that they all talk about being able to password protect, and by the looks of it relatively simple to apply.
Jojo
Re: Boosting Wireless Signal
23-06-2011 5:45 PM
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The ones I've got have two methods of setting their interconnect encryption.
1) You can use the supplied desktop software to set a password of your own choosing.
2) Alternatively, on the plug there is a small button (see picture), which you hold in for two seconds, then you have two minutes to do the same on all the other plugs in your network.
During this time all the plugs detect each other and then set a randomly generated encryption key, which from that moment all of them use.
So your network is secured without having to run ANY configuration software !
Re: Boosting Wireless Signal
28-06-2011 12:59 PM
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Is it possible to buy a longer network cable to go from the first plug to the router? Our router takes power from an extension cable, as the wall socket is slightly too far for the power cable to reach, so I'm guessing the standard network cable supplied by Devolo would also be too short to reach the router. Also, would it be a problem for the Devolo to be plugged directly into a double electrical wall socket, alongside the extension cable that powers the router etc?
As they're intended to be used with an Xbox, how would the configuartion software be used - would I use that through our main pc downstairs or does it need to be done through the wireless device connected itself?
And finally ... is there any benefit from shelling out the extra bucks for the 500Mbps version
http://www.devolo.co.uk/consumer/82_dlan-500-avplus_starter-kit_package-contents_5.html?l=en
Sorry for all the questions lol, but your replies are very much appreciated
Re: Boosting Wireless Signal
28-06-2011 2:14 PM
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Plugging the Develos directly into wall sockets will be best. There won't be an electrical problem if you plug one into a double socket alongside an extension cable. The only possible issue is whether the Develo leaves enough room for a plug alongside - it probably does.
I think you'll want to do the button-pressing configuration as you are connecting an Xbox. I'd do it that way anyway as it avoids installing yet more software that'll hardly ever need to be used.
I doubt there is any real advantage in going for the faster version for an Xbox.
Re: Boosting Wireless Signal
28-06-2011 3:37 PM
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Re: Boosting Wireless Signal
28-06-2011 4:59 PM
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I have just looked at one of my Devolo AVEasy plugs fitted to a standard MK switched double socket, and the plug is not wide enough to reach the middle of the faceplate (i.e. you could fit a pair of AVEasy plugs side by side without them touching each other).
Alternatively you could choose one of the other Devolo plugs which has a filtered mains socket on the front of the unit. Therefore if you plugged your router's extension cable into the front, then not only would the router's mains supply become filtered, but you would still have an unused mains socket on your double outlet !.
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