Wifi Range Extenders

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BuzzLightyear

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#105390 3-Jul-2012 15:43

I couldnt find info info on this in other threads but it must have been discussed before. Has anyone had any experience with the out of the box wifi range extenders? I am particularly keen to understand whether streaming netflix / itunes over a range extender is practical.

I am aware the best solution is to cable up and run another AP but I just can't be bothered given I might be moving soon. For the record I don't need to increase the range by much just 10 metres or so. Any experiences that people have had would be very helpful.

DrStrangelove

368 posts

Ultimate Geek

#650227 3-Jul-2012 20:14

Hmmmm,,, I haven't seen any general info on range extenders here.

I have a TP-Link TL-WA730RE and it's a keeper. It's only a single stream 150Mbps device but it's got a good set of features and is brilliantly paired with the Thomson TG585v8 65Mbps

I also have a [cough] Linksys RE1000. It's OK but does seem to drop a connection after a few hours use.
The RE1000 supports a 40MHz 300Mbps connection which is nice when using a 2.4GHz 300Mbps WiFi router.
The Linksys RE1000 does not support short preamble.

I tried to install DD-WRT on the RE1000 and even though I could install it, it couldn't be configured to work functional. Doh!

At 10metres my RE1000 still maintains my 12Mbps Internet speed to my notebook at 15metres.

I only use my RE1000 to support my 802.11g phone as it has a few low signal points in the house.

Range extenders used as such will halve the available bandwidth as they read the inbound data on the same antenna that they then seen the data back out on.

So knowing that, if you place a notebook at approx two thirds good signal distance from the router and then connect another notebook to the router via Ethernet. Then transfer a large file to the WiFi notebook from the connected notebook and measure the bandwidth. Knowing the bandwidth throughput at that point, and given this is the position the range extender will be placed you can then expect approx half that bandwidth with any client device placed further down the line.

If the 'calculated' bandwidth you observed above 'halved' is acceptable, then a range extender could be an answer.

Effectively you don't want to reduce the Internet throughput by using a range extender.
As long as the end node(client) is getting much the same bandwidth as that of the Internet extension you should be fine.

Using Ethernet over power may be another option with the end station transmitting WiFi.

BuzzLightyear

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#650327 3-Jul-2012 23:13

DrStrangelove: Hmmmm,,, I haven't seen any general info on range extenders here.

I have a TP-Link TL-WA730RE and it's a keeper. It's only a single stream 150Mbps device but it's got a good set of features and is brilliantly paired with the Thomson TG585v8 65Mbps

I also have a [cough] Linksys RE1000. It's OK but does seem to drop a connection after a few hours use.
The RE1000 supports a 40MHz 300Mbps connection which is nice when using a 2.4GHz 300Mbps WiFi router.
The Linksys RE1000 does not support short preamble.

I tried to install DD-WRT on the RE1000 and even though I could install it, it couldn't be configured to work functional. Doh!

At 10metres my RE1000 still maintains my 12Mbps Internet speed to my notebook at 15metres.

I only use my RE1000 to support my 802.11g phone as it has a few low signal points in the house.

Range extenders used as such will halve the available bandwidth as they read the inbound data on the same antenna that they then seen the data back out on.

So knowing that, if you place a notebook at approx two thirds good signal distance from the router and then connect another notebook to the router via Ethernet. Then transfer a large file to the WiFi notebook from the connected notebook and measure the bandwidth. Knowing the bandwidth throughput at that point, and given this is the position the range extender will be placed you can then expect approx half that bandwidth with any client device placed further down the line.

If the 'calculated' bandwidth you observed above 'halved' is acceptable, then a range extender could be an answer.

Effectively you don't want to reduce the Internet throughput by using a range extender.
As long as the end node(client) is getting much the same bandwidth as that of the Internet extension you should be fine.

Using Ethernet over power may be another option with the end station transmitting WiFi.

Thanks for the advise. I'll have a bit of a play and see what the min bandwidth I can get away looks like. I've thought about ethernet over power but again no experience on how people have found this. Also looks a little expensive.

networkn

Networkn
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#650337 3-Jul-2012 23:24

POE If you can get it is far preferable to WiFI of any type, especially for movies and other high bit rate things. You can get them pretty cheaply. If your house has RCD's it will only work on a single circuit (So downstairs only or upstairs only depending on your house wiring.

I have clients who use them and think they are great.

BuzzLightyear

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#650558 4-Jul-2012 11:56

networkn: POE If you can get it is far preferable to WiFI of any type, especially for movies and other high bit rate things. You can get them pretty cheaply. If your house has RCD's it will only work on a single circuit (So downstairs only or upstairs only depending on your house wiring.

I have clients who use them and think they are great.

I need to figure out whether upstairs is on a single circuit or not. I don't want to buy the gear and find out that it doesnt work in my setup. Do you know anyone you could check this out for me?

CYaBro

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#650579 4-Jul-2012 12:31

BuzzLightyear:
networkn: POE If you can get it is far preferable to WiFI of any type, especially for movies and other high bit rate things. You can get them pretty cheaply. If your house has RCD's it will only work on a single circuit (So downstairs only or upstairs only depending on your house wiring.

I have clients who use them and think they are great.

I need to figure out whether upstairs is on a single circuit or not. I don't want to buy the gear and find out that it doesnt work in my setup. Do you know anyone you could check this out for me?

How old his your house?
RCDs have only been fully required in the last few years I think.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

LookingUp

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#650587 4-Jul-2012 12:49

Err - should it be Ethernet over Power we're talking about here?

Power over Ethernet (PoE) is used to drive an Ethernet device over the Ethernet connection, not run the Ethernet connection over the power wiring.

Things are LookingUp.... A photo from my back yard :-)

BuzzLightyear

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#650592 4-Jul-2012 12:56

How old his your house?
RCDs have only been fully required in the last few years I think.

House is about 25 years old. Pretty sure we run seperate circuits to different parts of the house so I don't think this solution will work

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BuzzLightyear

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#661900 25-Jul-2012 17:20

FYI because of the lack of power outlets close to the devices I wanted to hook up I bought a circa $100 wifi range extender and it works really well. Streams netflix and Hulu really well.

duduwaka

19 posts

Geek

#662517 26-Jul-2012 17:29

Hi is there any other practical cheap way of extending wifi range. my room is a sleep out in my house and i get poor wifi reception. ihave seen a lot of things on youtube etc like putting tinfoil around your router or similiar things but i dont know if these actually work or not. Any advice on this?

Thanks

BuzzLightyear

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#662530 26-Jul-2012 18:00

duduwaka: Hi is there any other practical cheap way of extending wifi range. my room is a sleep out in my house and i get poor wifi reception. ihave seen a lot of things on youtube etc like putting tinfoil around your router or similiar things but i dont know if these actually work or not. Any advice on this?

Thanks

I think everybody here will tell you the best way is to cable up with cat 6 or next best is the ethernet over power option. These two options will give you the best results (performance)

However, I was just being lazy and saw the below product end of life and thought I'd give it a go (fully intending to return it the next day as I thought it wouldnt do the job). Cost me about $100

http://www.netgear.com/home/products/wireless-range-extenders/WN3000RP.aspx

I have the range extender approx 20 metres from my router now and the device I am trying to improve the signal too is my PS3 which is another 15 metres or so from the repeater (so total distance of 35m). It has to pass through 3 internal walls (timber framing) on the journey. I could previously get a signal from my PS3 but it was 30 - 45% strength and a bit flakey. I now get 100% signal pretty much continuously on the PS3. I'm sure its slower being a repeater (not that noticeable in everyday use) but the stable connection is what I was looking for. I am mainly using it to watch video (netflix and Hulu) and it works great.

While this works great for me your situation sounds quite different and it is also in a different building. There are a huge number of variables that can impact on performance. However, worth checking with a retailer to see if you can use and return if its not up to the job.

duduwaka

19 posts

Geek

#662616 26-Jul-2012 20:37

Ye the problem for me is that i am only going to be in my house for another 3-4 months so i dont want to spend alot of money for such a short time. I was more wondering if anyone knew of any tricks that could help the wifi strength. i did try changing the frequency but that did not make any noticable difference. the easiest solution would be just to buy a ethernet cable for the 30 metres or so but even that would cost more than i am keen to spend