Extending Vodafone Ultra Hub

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arnies

531 posts

Ultimate Geek

#243414 11-Dec-2018 09:42

Hi there,

My parents have a VF Ultra Hub and want to extend their WiFi further outside to serve their WiFi (2.4GHz) speakers.

I've done some reading on GZ and I realise I have a few options:

- WiFi Extender

- Second AP, wired into host. (This is likely hard to do as I don't want to do internal wiring)

- Mesh Network (Google WiFi or Ubiquity. any others?)

The property is quite large, and multi story. The UFB and Router are on the ground floor of a 5+ bedroom home.

I think I could probably get away with an Extender, or Powerline + Extender but I don't really want to spend the $ and then find out it doesn't work well.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and can share their experiences + advice?

Cheers

antoniosk

2358 posts

Uber Geek

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#2142981 11-Dec-2018 09:57

If the electrical wiring in the house is suitably modern, powerline ethernet is ok for this sort of thing. It's a little hit and miss when it bridges between fuses or if there's noise on the line caused by external power feeds, or if the wiring is just old. Your call on this one.

Wifi bridging, mesh and so on, can impact your wireless bandwidth quite hard - essentially half of it goes to act as backhaul, and then you get the normal loss caused by distance etc. A rule of thumb... if 802.11n is about 150mbps max, 75mbps goes to bandwidth and then performance drops as you hit walls, plants, glass etc, until you rapidly get down to 1mbps. Remember, those are maximum speeds with high quality equipment that has great antennas and direct line of sight.

________

Antoniosk

SpartanVXL

1323 posts

Uber Geek

#2142982 11-Dec-2018 09:57

You can get power line adapters that also serve out an extended wifi-signal. One end plugs into the router, the other end dishes out the wireless (maybe another physical jack too if you get a fancy one).

1101

3122 posts

Uber Geek

#2142990 11-Dec-2018 10:08

With most EASY options, its a try & see if it works

Powerline usually works really well , get the kit that has built in wifi . Ive installed a dozen or so in various homes
You can add extra units through the house .
But , some mains plugs dont work or block the powerline signal, Ive had one main socket not pass the signal , but the mains socket literally 4 feet from that one work perfectly
Dont plug them into any sort of power surge multibox

Extenders : usually just a waste of money. They can work in very specific cases , its often just clutching at straws .
Mesh, never tried it , its alot of $ if it doesnt work in your house.

arnies

531 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2143011 11-Dec-2018 10:33

Dont plug them into any sort of power surge multibox

I was wondering about this. This could be an issue as everything is plugged into a multibox around the Entertainment system.

1101

3122 posts

Uber Geek

#2143902 12-Dec-2018 10:08

arnies:

Dont plug them into any sort of power surge multibox

I was wondering about this. This could be an issue as everything is plugged into a multibox around the Entertainment system.

generic/non antisurge multiboxes are OK.
Or buy a Powerline kit that has has power plug passthrough : you plug the powerline unit into the wall socket, plug the multibox into the powerline