Looking for a recommendation for cheap & reliable wifi extender in another floor

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Looking for a recommendation for cheap & reliable wifi extender in another floor

gamliela

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#306444 23-Jul-2023 12:40

Hi all,

I have HG659 wifi router on the second floor which is working great. However, our reception on the first floor is bad, probably due to a concrete wall. There is already a Lan (cat6?) cable going to the first floor, probably laid out by the previous owners. Therefore, I would like to put a wifi extender on the other side of the cable.

I don't need a lot of coverage, and I don't have a lot of bandwidth requirements - two mobile devices and one computer for the kids. So I'm looking for a cheap & reliable extender that can be fed from the cable, something that I can easily buy on PB Tech or Noel Leeming. I would also prefer something that supports roaming, so no need to reconnect manually when moving floors. If the device has an internal switch so I can connect the computer directly to it with a cable then that's a plus, but the computer can also use a wifi.

Keen to hear of brand recommendations or even specific models, or, maybe brands/models I should stay away of.

Also, the existing router has a dual wifi band. Should the router and extender work on the same band or should I configure them differently?

Thank you!

1 | 2

2857 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3107312 23-Jul-2023 13:50

I have a three -node set of the older TPlink Deco Mesh units plugged into my ISP router, and they give great coverage throughout quite a large house. You could get a twin pack for less than $200 and plug one into your router, and one downstairs. This will allow seamless roaming between the floors. probably best to turn off the existing wifi also. They have two LAN ports so you can connect things downstream if needed
Eg this https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NETTPL9404/TP-Link-Deco-E4-Whole-Home-Mesh-Wi-Fi-System---2-P

nzkc

1572 posts

Uber Geek

#3107314 23-Jul-2023 13:57

If you can confirm your lan cable works ok I'd buy another router and set it to access point mode only. Can get another HG659 for $20-$40 off trade me easily by the looks of it! This'll work better than any mesh network. Also you get a few ports to use for cabling up the computer you mention with this set up.

Edit:

I would also prefer something that supports roaming, so no need to reconnect manually when moving floors.

Just set the SSID names and passwords to be the same on the access points. Your device(s) will jump to the stronger one as you move around.

gamliela

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3107325 23-Jul-2023 15:22

@shk292 Thanks for the recommendation! It looks like a very decent product. My existing router connects to Chorus RGW (model type 300), which to my understanding is also some sort of a router. Do I still need the HG659 if using the mesh solution? Would love to get some space back if possible.

@nzkc Thank you for your response. I can confirm the cable works; it is currently connected to a desktop computer downstairs. Good advice on looking at Trademe; will definitely have a look. I understand your comment about the SSID of both devices needs to be the same. But what about the wifi band/channel? Does it matter?

nzkc

1572 posts

Uber Geek

#3107330 23-Jul-2023 15:45

gamliela:

I understand your comment about the SSID of both devices needs to be the same. But what about the wifi band/channel? Does it matter?

For the roaming aspect of things not at all. Ideally you want to use channels that dont clash with one another and also avoid the channels your neighbours are using. I have a couple of access points in my house. I have both using 5GHz and one of those also using 2.4GHz. Ive left them to auto select the channels and in most use cases this is fine.

shk292

2857 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3107354 23-Jul-2023 18:57

gamliela:

@shk292 Thanks for the recommendation! It looks like a very decent product. My existing router connects to Chorus RGW (model type 300), which to my understanding is also some sort of a router. Do I still need the HG659 if using the mesh solution? Would love to get some space back if possible.

The Chorus box effectively acts as a modem, so all you need is a router to connect to it; the HG659 currently does this but the deco nodes can equally do it and are reasonably easy to set up provided you know your network type and VLAN setting - so no, you don't need to retain the HG659. The only complication is if you currently connect your land line phone to the HG659 - the deco units don't provide that functionality.

Delorean

654 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3107361 23-Jul-2023 19:35

You can hook them up directly to the ONT and you can ditch the ISP supplied router

I have 2x TP Link Deco X20 units which are brand new with 3 yr warranty you could buy for $300, they are a step up from the ones recommended and come with WiFi6 and free network antivirus and parental controls. they are normally $449

PM if you are interested

Referral Link: | Quic Broadband (use R142206E0L2CR for free setup)

gamliela

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3111214 2-Aug-2023 20:42

I took the advice of @nzkc and purchased another HG659. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it work. I can connect devices to the second router, and they can connect to the Internet, but not all the time. Sometimes I cannot connect anywhere outside the local network. This problem happens only downstairs, with the new router. Devices on the second floor and the original router work fine. I would appreciate some help debugging the problem.

What I did:

1) Factory reset on the new router.

2) Connected it with a cable to the old router on the second floor. I'm using LAN ports (not WAN).

3) I set DHCP range of the old router to 192.168.1.3-192.168.1.254.

4) I set the device names of old and new routers to be different.

5) I disabled DHCP on the new router. I also disabled RA Settings, IPv6 DHCP server, and UPnP. I don't know what are these so just turned them off to be sure.

6) I fixed IP on the new router, to 192.168.1.2.

7) I disabled WIFI on the new router, to help debugging the problem.

8) I connected a desktop Windows machine, with a cable, to the new router.

With this setup, I can connect to the Internet from the desktop machine. But, sometimes I can't. It works for a few minutes, then stops for a few minutes, and so forth. Restarting the computer also helps. However, even when the connection to the Internet doesn't work, I can still connect to the routers themselves (both of them).

To debug, I tried running arp from a machine on the second floor but I couldn't find an entry for the machine on the first floor.

This is where my level of understanding is reaching, would appreciate any help to debug this further!

Attached: the LAN settings of the new router.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

nzkc

1572 posts

Uber Geek

#3111219 2-Aug-2023 21:14

What you've stated looks correct. Can you confirm with the 2nd (downstairs) router that you have NOT configured its internet/isp settings. You want it to act as an access point/switch only.

gamliela

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3111221 2-Aug-2023 22:31

@nzkc Yes, I think it's all disconnected. See the image below. Also, nothing is connected to the WAN port. Note the router was originally supplied with an ISP subscription - maybe the factory reset still "remembers" that it once belonged to an ISP?

nzkc

1572 posts

Uber Geek

#3111512 3-Aug-2023 15:29

I wish I had a HG659 to check and confirm things for you - alas I do not.

Anything enabled in the IPTV Service setting? A lot of routers bury the VLAN config there and maybe a factory reset it has put VLAN10 on something (particulary if it has ISP firmware).

Basically you want everything turned off to start with. Wifi should be ok to keep on. Then attach it how you explained.

And make sure the two devices have different IP addresses. I did read it that your original one was 192.168.1.1 and your new one 192.168.1.2 - which should be fine. Just worth checking thats the case :)

gamliela

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3111987 4-Aug-2023 22:48

@nzkc I think I had a breakthrough. When disconnections occurred, I noticed that all traffic to websites outside was routed to the 10.10.10.10 address instead of a normal IP. So definitely a DNS issue.

I then edited the INTERNET_ETH_VID connection (screenshot above) and made it a Bridged connection. The other options for this connection were IP Routing (PPP), IP Routing (IP) and DHCP Spoofed. Since then I haven't had issues.

So not sure why this solved the problem, so I'm still watching this closely.

fe31nz

1232 posts

Uber Geek

#3112179 6-Aug-2023 00:35

Bridging is what an Ethernet switch does - it simply copies all the packets without processing them at all. Which is usually what you want when using a router just as a WiFi access point - by bridging, you bypass all the router functions and just leave the WiFi bit working.

gamliela

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3112357 6-Aug-2023 11:53

My joy was too early. I don't think INTERNET_ETH_VID has changed anything, I suspect this setting matters only when you connect something to the WAN port (which I didn't).

I think the problem may be related to IPv6. Although both routers have IPv6 DHCP turned off, the Windows machine does get an IPv6 address from somewhere. So I turned off IPv6 on the Windows machine itself (in the Ethernet Adapter settings), and so far it works fine. Again, I'll watch this closely :)

Worth mentioning that the problem I'm facing is not new in the forum. There is also a reference to it in SuperUser. I saw that while this setup worked for a few people, it didn't work for others, and the difference is probably in the hardware. I guess HG659 is not built to act as an access point.

Edit: I attached a link to SuperUser that describes this problem from a different perspective. But the link was removed after I posted my reply. Anyway, to find this content on SuperUser google for "Ping any domain is directed to 10.10.10.10".

raytaylor

4014 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3112883 7-Aug-2023 16:50

Sorry if i missed it, but can you please confirm you have the incoming data cable from the LAN port of the master router / ONT in RGW mode, and it is definitely going into a LAN port of the secondary router/access point, and not the WAN or INTERNET port of the secondary router?

When you then plug your computer into another LAN port on the secondary router, do you get an ip address issued? Can you ping the gateway address that has been issued to the computer?

If the master router is 192.168.1.1 then the secondary should be 192.168.1.2 and as you have set the dhcp server is switched off. Then the desktop should be getting issued the ip address by the only dhcp server (the master router) and it should specify that the gateway is to be 192.168.1.1 and be pingable.

Next can you ping 8.8.8.8

And then after that, what ip address is being issued as the DNS server? Can you ping it? It is usually the same as the gateway.

Ray Taylor

There is no place like localhost

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gamliela

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3113014 7-Aug-2023 21:28

> Sorry if i missed it, but can you please confirm you have the incoming data cable from the LAN port of the master router / ONT in RGW mode, and it is definitely going into a LAN port of the secondary router/access point, and not the WAN or INTERNET port of the secondary router?

The ONT box is connected to the master router via the WAN port. Then the master router, via LAN port, is connected to a LAN port of the secondary router. The WAN port of the secondary router is not connected.

> When you then plug your computer into another LAN port on the secondary router, do you get an ip address issued?

Yes

> Can you ping the gateway address that has been issued to the computer?

Yes, all the time.

> If the master router is 192.168.1.1 then the secondary should be 192.168.1.2 and as you have set the dhcp server is switched off. Then the desktop should be getting issued the ip address by the only dhcp server (the master router) and it should specify that the gateway is to be 192.168.1.1 and be pingable.

Correct.

> Next can you ping 8.8.8.8

Yep, this works all the time.

> And then after that, what ip address is being issued as the DNS server? Can you ping it? It is usually the same as the gateway.

This depends if IPv6 DHCP is turned on or not. This is the ipconfig when it's turned off (no problem spotted in this state):

net adapter Ethernet:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 94-DE-80-B0-B0-DA

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.11(Preferred)

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, 7 August 2023 3:11:09 pm

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, 8 August 2023 4:01:33 pm

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

192.168.1.1

NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

And this is when it's turned on (and when the problem occurs):

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 94-DE-80-B0-B0-DA

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : fd84:4765:979a:d00:8ac9:b0ce:655f:f3b(Preferred)

Temporary IPv6 Address. . . . . . : fd84:4765:979a:d00:8c7b:d767:d487:517a(Preferred)

Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::502d:d445:a8ca:5fcd%14(Preferred)

IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.11(Preferred)

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, 7 August 2023 8:13:55 pm

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, 8 August 2023 8:13:54 pm

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 244637312

DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-28-D2-F7-12-94-DE-80-B0-B0-DA

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fe80::1%14

192.168.1.1

NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Note the "fe80::1%14" address in the DNS server, I suspect this is the culprit.

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