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Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY

mmacmillan55
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Registered: ‎26-03-2021

Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY

Hello Plusnet Community

 

Newbie to the community so apologies if this has been covered somewhere or if it's not in the correct place.

 

A few weeks ago Openreach visited to sort out a broadband problem. They decided to put in a master socket as I didn't have one in my (old) house. The thing is they put the new socket at the furthest point upstairs from my TV downstairs. Now I am having issues with streaming TV as the TV seems to be at the edge of the Wi Fi range and I regularly get buffering.

I have two Hub One routers and I have connected them with ethernet to extend the range but I don't want cable trailing about. (I read how to do this on this very forum so thanks for that.)

 

My question is can I do this wirelessly - I've read that it can't be done with the Hub One router but I hope some of you clever people on this forum can tell me otherwise - and how to do it obviously.

 

If not are there any other routers that I can use - second hand even - that would do the job?

 

I'd rather try this than use powerline or Wi Fi boosters but would that be a better option?

 

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

Mags the newbie.

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dvorak
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Re: Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY


Moderators Note


This topic has been moved from Fibre to My Router

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dvorak
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Re: Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY

You can have a look at something like a mesh network where you place stations round your house.
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Chilternphil
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Re: Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY

Had a similar problem with thick walls between Router and TV.  My simple solution was to buy a TP-Link WPA4220 power line kit which gave me two plug-in Ethernet connections and a Wireless access point by the TV.  Works fine for HD TV and using two tablets at the same time. Cost about £35 from John Lewis or Curry's.  Available for home delivery in these locked down days. Note you get one connecting cable in the box but if you want to cable to your TV (even more reliable) then buy another.

mmacmillan55
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Re: Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY

Thanks for your reply.

I've considered powerline and won't rule it out but what concerns me is that the electrical wiring in my house is pretty old and this may not be the best option for me.

Chilternphil
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Re: Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY

Generally its not the age of the wiring that matters. The main difficulty may be in houses where there are multiple 13A power circuits and the power-line might not cross through the consumer unit from one to the other. Also the type of 30Amp cable used, I am informed, can be a secondary factor. 

In my case I have the 'wrong' cable type and two different power circuits - and it works well.

mmacmillan55
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Re: Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY

I don't know about power circuits or what type of cable I've got but I might give it a try.

Baldrick1
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Re: Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY

@mmacmillan55 

I don't know if this will help:  https://community.plus.net/t5/Tech-Help-Software-Hardware-etc/Distributing-Data-around-Larger-Proper...

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mmacmillan55
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Re: Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY

I'll have a look.

mmacmillan55
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Re: Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY

I've had a look at that and I have a question.

 

Can you plug the powerline adapters into an extension or do they have to be plugged straight into a wall socket?

 

If you can only plug them into a wall socket then that would be a problem for me.

Baldrick1
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Re: Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY

You can plug then in to an extension but they might not work well. They definitely should not be connected in to a filtered extension. These things in my experience are flaky, be they work well for some, so all that you can do is try it and see.

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mmacmillan55
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Re: Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY

Would this be better than a WiFi range extender?

Baldrick1
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Re: Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY

@mmacmillan55 

These are your options with pros and cons. https://community.plus.net/t5/Tech-Help-Software-Hardware-etc/Distributing-Data-around-Larger-Proper...

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mmacmillan55
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Re: Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY

Thanks Baldrick1 - I read this earlier from the link in a post from another member.

 

I've seen your name cropping up quite a lot giving advice to people so you must be quite knowledgeable.

I was really hoping that you may have a "cunning plan" - I'm a Blackadder fan -  on how to link 2 Hub one routers wirelessly but it seems not as I'm sure you would have mentioned it so it looks like it can't be done.

 

I'll take your advice on powerline adapters and extension cords and I've now read that you shouldn't plug anything else into the extension cord apart from the adapter and that's no use to me so I think I'll try a range extender.

 

You say that it's essential that there is a good wireless connection to the main router. How good is good?

The socket that I would plug it into gets  a "poor" connection as measured on my phone which has poor - fair - good or excellent.

If I use an WiFi measurement app it get around 45% signal strength - is that good enough do you think?

 

 

Baldrick1
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Re: Extending Wi Fi Range WIRELESSLY

@mmacmillan55 

Sorry for repeating myself, I had forgotten that I had already posted that link.
The trick with wireless extenders is to find a location approximately half way between your router and where you want to use your devices. This way you boost the signal up so that the extender can have adequate signal strength  to communicate with both devices.

If this is still a limiting factor you could try a better hub. You can pick up a BT Smarthub 6 from an auction site for peanuts, see https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Using-A-BT-Smarthub-An-Update/m-p/1795292#M24601

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