Router Range Extension

[#1]

I want to extend the range of My Plusnet Hub One into our outside seating area, in anticipation of the long, hot summer.  The router is already on the ground floor, I'm using my old TalkTalk repeaters to help boost the signal upstairs so looking for recommendations to either replace the standard Hub One with something more powerful  or some additional/enhanced repeaters. Thanks

[#2]

If you get really weak signal with Hub One, you would probably need additional wireless access points (APs). It's best to connect the APs using wired connection (e.g. Ethernet cable), only use wireless (repeater mode or mesh mode) if you can't. If you want to avoid dropping connection when moving from one AP to another, you'd need 802.11r. You can find more information in this post https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/DrayTek-Vigor-130-with-Plusnet-One-Hub/m-p/1730471#M18149

[#3]

@WilliamG Welcome to the forum.

Whatever you do to improve WiFi is a compromise and it all depends on factors such as the distance, the composition of walls and your budget. Personally I am a great believer in running Ethernet cable to different areas and fitting Wireless Access Points where required.

If you can afford it the best solution is to invest in a set of Mesh Units.

[#4]

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@Baldrick1 wrote:

@WilliamG Welcome to the forum.

If you can afford it the best solution is to invest in a set of Mesh Units.

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There're many inexpensive OpenWrt APs that support wireless mesh, Hub One can also run OpenWrt wireless mesh (with some one-off DIY work). Because the free open source project doesn't advertise, few people know about it. People were playing with OpenWrt wireless mesh more than a decade ago https://forum.archive.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=21824 https://www.battlemesh.org/

Wireless mesh mode is usually better than repeater mode, but due to the inherent limitation of wireless it's still inferior to wired Ethernet in most situations.

[#5]

Thanks for comments. I'm trying to avoid running cables - it's a marginal signal strength situation at the moment and  I was just looking for a booster that would extend the excellent signal I'm getting in the room to outside. The cause is probably the 2 foot thick stone wall thats in the way.

[#6]

Thanks for the comment. Signal strength is currently marginal so just looking for a simple way of boosting the signal strength. For the amount of use we'd actually get out of it, its not worth the trouble of running cables.

[#7]

You could get a Hub One or BT Home Hub 5A with OpenWrt pre-installed for less than £20 on ebay, then configure it to work in repeater mode, it supports fast roaming (802.11r) and wireless mesh if you need them in the future.