Wireless repeaters/extenders?

srichards

srichards

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I have slightly patchy wifi as the router has to be on one side of the house.

I did use a dlink wireless repeater thingy but it is cack. It kept on resetting itself, losing its settings and then broadcasting itself with a totally insecure wifi. So nothing from dlink.

So I need a dual band repeater, ideally. One that broadcasts the same SSID not one with a different name like the dlink also did. It also needs to be set up once and need nothing doing from then on. Most that it should need doing to it is switching it off and on again very occasionally.

What models are robust and reliable and interoperable with other wireless kit? I don't want to be tied into one vendor eg apple or BT etc.

Budget will be under £100 and ideally closer to £50. The one I had shortlisted was this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01HSKT11S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
srichards said:
I have slightly patchy wifi as the router has to be on one side of the house.

I did use a dlink wireless repeater thingy but it is cack. It kept on resetting itself, losing its settings and then broadcasting itself with a totally insecure wifi. So nothing from dlink.

So I need a dual band repeater, ideally. One that broadcasts the same SSID not one with a different name like the dlink also did. It also needs to be set up once and need nothing doing from then on. Most that it should need doing to it is switching it off and on again very occasionally.

What models are robust and reliable and interoperable with other wireless kit? I don't want to be tied into one vendor eg apple or BT etc.

Budget will be under £100 and ideally closer to £50. The one I had shortlisted was this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01HSKT11S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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I had a similar issues, but what I have done is used some home plugs and an old wireless router to get the signal to the other rooms.
 
+1 for Homeplugs.
 
sep9001 said:
I had a similar issues, but what I have done is used some home plugs and an old wireless router to get the signal to the other rooms.
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Me too, I use TP Link powerline adaptors. I also run devices that need high bandwidth such as the TV, lads XBox etc. off them, saves the WiFi for other devices.

One thing to watch is that my BT home hub power adaptor interferes with them badly if they are in the same socket, but the plugging he TPLink into a different socket a few feet away solves that,
 
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Home plugs I haven’t considered due to the potential for interference with audio gear.

Do they work across separate trips/circuits within a house?
 
AFAIK they should work as long as everything's on the same phase so for MOST domestic installations you should be OK but check with your regular electrician to make sure. Installations using more than 1 phase will tend to have separate distribution boards (circuit boxes) for each phase.
 
My supply cupboard is a bit of a mess it had to be said but home plugs might be a better and more secure way to go.
 
If I get another wireless repeater I'd prefer one which used the same name as it makes set up easier and also it means if/when it fails devices connected to it don't get so confused.
 
Trying a dual band tplink one. Fairly easy to set up. 3 year guarantee which is decent.
 
srichards said:
It also needs to be set up once and need nothing doing from then on. Most that it should need doing to it is switching it off and on again very occasionally.
Click to expand...

-lots for homeplugs with that requirement. We had a pile of failed pairs at work where we used them to bridge two rooms, and even before they expired and needed replacing they needed regular reboots and the transfer rate would randomly drop to 14K modem speeds at times.

Run cat5e cable if you want to set it up once and not touch it again. Not pretty, but the best solution for network security and reliability.
 
Noticed today the wireless again fritzed even with the repeater when the neighbours got home. Went back to fixed wireless channels again as I noticed the router was back on auto scan which I think just ends up with everyone round robinning across all the available channels. I suspect it got changed in an update and I had forgotten to find free fixed channels and that's why it's been wonky.

Hopefully if I've got a good strong signal other routers won't choose my channel if they're on auto.
 
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