Wi-Fi booster/extender options question

[wdfifteen]

Once again I'm turning to the brain trust.
While the guy who built this house was a gadget nut, there are only two phone jacks, one on each end of the house, both on the main floor. We have 2 phones, 2 iPads, and 2 laptops that roam all over the house - 3 floors and up to 120 feet away from either of the phone jacks. We also have 2 TVs that we stream movies on, one is on the main floor and one is in the basement. The only internet connectivity available out here in the sticks is DSL running at a nominal 20mbps. Actual speed at a WiFi device 11-17mbps.

So, I need to boost the WiFi signal. There are a dozen or so devices that will do it, but they all broadcast on a different channel than the main router. Does this mean if we got a WiFi extender we would have to change networks as we move from one end of the house to the other? Seems like a pain.
Any other solutions, short of a $300 mesh network?

[RKDinOKC]

I have Apple wifi routers. They are all on the same channel and are the same network name. The "extenders" are in wireless bridge mode. That means they are setup to get their internet from the base router over wifi and use their wifi to connect devices to the base. To the devices it is all the same network and devices use the strongest signal available. It works like what they now call mesh.

The way I have it set up I have an Airport Extreme as my base in the middle of my house and 2 Airport Express routers in rooms at either end of the house. The Airport Express are just plugged into AC for power and are configured as bridged with the Airport Extreme set as the internet connection. This way I get full signal in every room in the house, 300mbps over wireless backing up to my server, and the full 50-60mbps of my cable internet connection.

Did the same thing in my brother's two story house.

An Airport Extreme is under $100 on ebay and an Airport Express is $50 on ebay.

Most all wifi routers let you set them up in bridge mode to extend the network of the base router and on the same channel and network of the base router. There are web sites that tell how to setup bridge mode using old wifi routers to extend your network. Any cheap wifi router that can be set to bridge mode should work to extend your network.

With the "mesh" they are basically selling all you need to setup a new bridged wifi network with a base and two bridges out of the box.

[cabmandone]

Get a router with DD-wrt and set it up as an access point or repeater. I have 3 different routers each with DD-wrt with two setup as access points that simply repeat the signal of the main router.

[Admin at Pelican Parts]

Not necessarily Wi-Fi related, but I'm using these for my TV/streaming devices now- they extend your network over your electrical lines. I've found that we lose a little bit of mbps (our old condo wiring might account for that) but the consistency is like night and day. If you have the option to use an ethernet cable I would recommend giving these a shot, especially for that basement TV.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UVN4318/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Ziggythecat]

I use Netgear N-300 wi if extender, which repeat the signal, and solved my problem.
They run around 25.00, and work great.

I’m in Mexico, so the link is in peso’s , but you get the idea.

https://www.amazon.com.mx/netgear/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Anetgear

[cstreit]

I had poor luck with the extenders that Wayne suggests although those are the easiest option. I have the nethear nighthawk extender. With it I can adjust the antennas to tune out some dead spots. They provide an app that helps read signal strength.

[JCGMS]

I know you said no mesh network....I tried all sorts of range extenders and multi router setups for years until I bit the bullet and bought an eero system and haven't looked back. Now I have a seamless wifi network in all the nooks and crannies. Setup and customization is easy through a smartphone app, and customer service by phone is domestic and excellent.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[stomachmonkey]

Mesh is great in theory. In practical application it does not always work. It's client dependent. Basically the WIFI radio in your devices needs to be tune-able for roaming otherwise they don't hand off a signal until they lose it.

Meaning you could be sitting on top of a strong access point but remain connected to a weak one and it won't hop until the currently connected one is no longer reachable.

Forget the powerline stuff. Works well on the same circuit. As soon as they go through the panel all bets are off.

If you want to limit hoping / having to switch networks and don't want to drop coin on mesh there is this option.

I use them on my security cameras and they work awesome.

My camera out back is 100 ft away from the receiver and has the signal passes through multiple walls and obstructions that are not WIFI friendly and the signal is as strong as the front door cam that sits 10 ft away from the receiver.

Assuming your current router has external antennae of course.

NOTE, there are 2.4 and 5 versions.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B94U438/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And the supplied cable is a bit short, I grab one of these at the same time. Makes placing it more flexible.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E9V8T62/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[RKDinOKC]

My Apple and PC laptop have no problems roaming around my house and switching to the strongest signal.

The only problem I have had is trying to extend my network across my back fence to my neighbors. Directly behind my house is the houses of the founder, and the president of the company I work for. We tried to setup a wireless network we could all share.

The problem is that on my back property line is both above ground and below ground cables. Am told the cabling is from the early 80's and cheap without very good sheilding. It is like a wireless wall. In my back yard I can see all the wireless networks near my house on my side of the fence. Walk thru the gate and they all disappear and the wireless networks on the other side of the fence appear. Even tried wifi routers with 2 watt radios. Could get almost a block away on my side of the fence and still get good wifi, but cross the fence and it still disappeared.

Ended up with my wifi and setting up a wifi for them to share between their two houses.

Thought it was interesting that when I had that high powered wifi I approached my neighbors to use my wireless instead of paying for their own internet. Even showed them how fast it was on my laptop in their house. They were still using dial-up. Offered it for FREE! They were not interested and each got and pay for their own internet.

[cabmandone]

I use Windows 10 so I don't know about others and I'm not 100% sure about windows 10 but I thought it automatically jumps to the strongest signal if you have it setup to connect to a network automatically. So when I walk out of my house and go into my barn where one of my access points are located it will jump to that connection since the signal from the house isn't as strong. I can do the same going from my barn to my shop.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

If you want to limit hoping / having to switch networks and don't want to drop coin on mesh there is this option.

Interesting. How is that installed?

It occurred to me that I still have a Netgear wireless router at my other place - and I have a phone jack in the TV room. I think I can plug that router into that phone jack and ethernet it to the TV. That would eliminate that user from the WiFi. Would that help the range issue for laptops, phones, etc?

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Interesting. How is that installed?

It occurred to me that I still have a Netgear wireless router at my other place - and I have a phone jack in the TV room. I think I can plug that router into that phone jack and ethernet it to the TV. That would eliminate that user from the WiFi. Would that help the range issue for laptops, phones, etc?

Cake.

Unscrew antennae from router, screw that in, feed it power from an outlet.

As far as the phone line, iffy.

Ethernet vs phone are essentially the same but not necessarily.

Phones use RJ11 plugs, Ethernet RJ45. RJ11 will plug into an RJ45 outlet but not the other way around. If the cable was not originally installed as dual purpose but phone only you may be missing pairs.

How about coax? Is there any near the TV and also near the router?

You could use MoCA extenders which are my preferred way to go.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

As far as the phone line, iffy.

Ethernet vs phone are essentially the same but not necessarily.

Phones use RJ11 plugs, Ethernet RJ45. RJ11 will plug into an RJ45 outlet but not the other way around. If the cable was not originally installed as dual purpose but phone only you may be missing pairs.

The installer originally put the router on this phone line before I asked him to move it to the one I’m currently using. He left a filter so a phone could be used on either of the outlets. They are both rj11. I don’t know if the cable router at my old house has dsl capability or not.
Coax may be possible. PITA.

[beepbeep]

Mesh or wired AP's.m (I prefer AP's)

Repeaters usually halve the available bandwidth. It is a band aid to get coverage where there is none (at low speed). That being said, you do not need much WiFi speed to use up your meagre ADSL so perhaps it does not matter that speed goes down ...

[Rtrorkt]

https://www.amplifi.com
Works great and is scalable

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by beepbeep

you do not need much WiFi speed to use up your meagre ADSL so perhaps it does not matter that speed goes down ...

That’s the point. Connecting my computer to the router via ethernet gets me 20+ mbps. On WiFi I get 17+mbps at best and as low as 11 on high traffic hours. Even at peak power times I get 17+ at one end of the house and, “Whut, are you talkin to me?” at the other end. I’m paying for 20mbps and I’d like to use it. As it is I’m getting buffering delays on the TVs that are 90 feet from the router.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

That’s the point. Connecting my computer to the router via ethernet gets me 20+ mbps. On WiFi I get 17+mbps at best and as low as 11 on high traffic hours. Even at peak power times I get 17+ at one end of the house and, “Whut, are you talkin to me?” at the other end. I’m paying for 20mbps and I’d like to use it. As it is I’m getting buffering delays on the TVs that are 90 feet from the router.

You need to run Ethernet or go MoCA to as many devices that will accept a cord.

Understand that data transfer is bi directional and data is packet based.

A bunch of packets are sent and need to be acknowledged as received before more packets are sent. The return trip, the acknowledgment, is backhaul.

A wired network is like a two lane road, traffic moves in both directions simultaneously.

WIFI networks are like a one lane road where traffic has to take turns going in both directions.

In theory single frequency WIFI networks, without any of the other things that negatively affect them, are half as fast as their wired counterparts.

On a current gen AC dual band network you can set them up for one frequency to do TX and the other to do the backhaul. This is how they can claim to get a theoretical gigabit throughput.

Since you are limited to feeding your LAN with a 20 MB WAN there is still plenty of overhead on your side that to some degree mitigates that.

If you really want to go full on geek hang a caching proxy server off your router on the LAN side and you can in theory get a 20x's improvement in throughput on the LAN.

[Deschodt]

By default don't those extenders halve the speed ? I recall being told that when I inquired... Works great for me, moveable devices pick up on upstairs or downstairs automatically...

[wdfifteen]

I can’t stream anything at night. From somewhere around midnight to almost exactly 5 AM my dsl internet speed drops from 17mbps to 2mbps. Why? Is there some daily maintenance that needs to done on dsl?

[onewhippedpuppy]

I have several powerline adapters on high demand devices and they work quite well. Both are through the panel, not on the same circuit.