Extend wireless network?

GaryMo

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I'm using a Netgear DGN2200 wireless router in place of the Sky supplied Sagem wireless router. This is located in a room downstairs. I've just purchased a Samsung Smart TV which is located in a bedroom upstairs which is part of an extension so essentially it's on the other side of the existing gable wall which causes a problem with the wireless signal in that room. It can be very hit and miss which won't suit the needs of a Smart TV.
Is there any equipment available to extend the wireless network over the wireless network, i.e. place a piece of equipment in a room upstairs which receives a good wireless signal then boost from there?
 
Hi, thanks for such a prompt reply.
Don't homeplugs need to be on the same ring final circuit? Or can they now (or always have) be located on different ring finals?

EDIT - just seen they can be located on different ring finals.

Out of neatness, the use of a wifi dongle on my TV would be better for me until we choose to redecorate.
 
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Out of neatness, the use of a wifi dongle on my TV would be better for me until we choose to redecorate.
Not sure why that would be the case?

However here is another vote for HomePlugs, Much more reliable than WiFi and WiFi connected extenders/repeaters half your bandwidth.
 
beerhunter said:
Not sure why that would be the case?

However here is another vote for HomePlugs, Much more reliable than WiFi and WiFi connected extenders/repeaters half your bandwidth.

How does wifi half your bandwidth ?
 
WiFi alone doesn't halve the bandwidth but a WiFi repeater does since it has to flip flop between receive and transmit to relay data.
 
Chris Muriel said:
WiFi alone doesn't halve the bandwidth but a WiFi repeater does since it has to flip flop between receive and transmit to relay data.

Maybe so, But,
My repeater has two, (transmit, receive) longer, 9dbi aerials, mounted in the loft space of our bungalow, my iPhone 4 n laptop show no difference whatsoever between router n repeater, they both are very fast on wifi, even on patio and in garden, which you may not get with home plugs, I'm well chuffed with my Edimax, cracking little unit.
 
It would be interesting to know what model your repeater is, but the fundamental of wifi are that two things can't transmit at the same time, hence the bandwidth halving.

If it was using two separate radio channels and had discreet radio chains, it could work without hitting your bandwidth. Essentially it's two AP's in one box.

At the office I have AP's that are dual band dual radio and one of their tricks is that you can use one band for backhaul and one for client access which would achieve the same result.

Be sure you're not confusing link rate with bandwidth. The "speed" that client devices show is the (nominal) link rate the device is associated with it's AP at and that will be the same whether you're using repeating or not. To see the effect on bandwidth, you'd have to use a tool like NetIO (or time a big file copy on a watch) both with and without your repeater active and see if there's any difference.
 
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The reason you probably don't see any degredation in speed is that even at half speed, it's still faster than most Internet connections. It's not good enough for streaming though without dropouts. Another issue is that most can only use WEP security rather than WPA(2).

My personal vote is for home plugs that are as discrete as the mains cable to the connected appliance (especially if you use a pass through type). I use these extensively as I cannot change the wiring in my rented property, and have tested their security for leakage with none found ( they are on a private network and they couldn't see or be seen when I added additional plugs - not sure what else you want from a private network). I use solwise 500mbps units mixed with ebuyer own brand; they all work together, no issues and very reliable even across circuits. In fact, the only reason I keep the wireless up is for the smartphones and iPads.

Just my 2p's worth!

Pat
 
The bandwidth halving sounds probable to a beginner like me,
I'm on Virgins 10mb service, until the PC died last june, and i replaced it with a laptop, i used the Virgin supplied basic Netgear router with a Edimax EW-7416APn V2 range extender (Edimax EW-7416APn V2 - Wireless 802.11n Access Point fitted with longer 9dbi antenna) in the roof space in our bungalow, i then decided to upgrade the router, and got a Cisco Linksys E4200 dual band router (Cisco Consumer Products Pte. Ltd. Europe Online Store - E4200) but i could only get 65mbps out of it, but am using a TP Link TL-WR1043ND router (TL-WR1043ND - Welcome to TP-LINK) that i got cheap, which kicks out 150mbps, which i'm chuffed with, its only 2.4mhz, but don't have anything that has 5 ghz,

I'll try NetIO, been looking for something like that,

Both the TP Link and the Edimax use WPA2 security with AES encryption, i don't notice any difference on wifi between router or repeater, in use, in fact i get the feeling, the Edimax Repeater is slightly better ?
They both have a max speed of 300mbps, which am tring to find how to achieve ?

Just a thought, i've never used a homeplug, but don't they use WiFi for part of the way they work ?
 
65mbps sounds like one of the "standard" MCS values for 802.11N. Basically, that's the fastest link rate that you get with a single antenna in the pathway (which could be either in the client or the AP.) Maybe there's a box you need to tick in the AP admin screens to enable higher rate (look for things like the "MIMO" you often hear mentioned, "channel bonding" AKA "40MHz mode".) A brief look at your E4200 says it's 300+450mbps capable, which is pretty much state of the art at the moment.

I've got a few laptops at work that suffer a similar fate: Despite being 802.11N capable they "only" support up to 65mbps, so that's the fastest they'll go whatever the AP's are capable of.

Point being, check the specs. of your kit to see which "flavours" of 802.11N they support. Some are faster than others. Wiki's article on 802.11N has a table I rather like listing all the 802.11N MCS values and their associated link rate, antenna counts, etc. etc.

Again at work, I note a lot of smart phones and tablets "skimp" on their wifi capabilities (I'd guess to eek out battery life) and despite my giving them 300mbps AP's to talk to, often the best they manage is 65mbps.

I believe you can get homeplugs with a wif AP built in, but otherwise the only way they would be related to wifi is if they shared some underlying technolgy. In the same way that my toaster and my kettle are "related" by the fact that they both run on electricity and have heaters in them, but they are otherwise distinct "kinds of thing."

There's a comprehensive HomePlug FAQ in this forum.

NETIO might look a bit scary to a novice. I like to rename the executable file to NETIO.EXE rather than the default (Windows is OK with that) then to use it, on one computer run "server" mode "NETIO -s -t" and on the other run "NETIO -t a.b.c.d" where a.b.c.d is the IP address of the computer running "server" mode. Run it a few times and collate an average of the results.
 
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