what's the best product to boost a wireless signal in a home?

jlindy

jlindy

Experienced Member
Joined
11 November 2002
Messages
1,658
Location
St. Louis
I have a three story home and the router and access point is in the far side of my house in the basement in a storage room. It is near two concrete walls. I currently have Centurytel DSL and their supplied wireless router. In the basement the signal is fine. On the main floor the signal is only decent when I am on the router side of the house. The other side is my kitchen/hearth room where we spend the most time. Upstairs same story...only works on the router side of the house.

My question is what is the best product to boost or repeat the signal. Ideally I would like to place a wireless repeater of some sort on the main floor that will take the signal and amplify it throughout my main level. I went into Best Buy and they acted like I was speaking a different language and finally one guy said he knew what I needed. All it was good for was taking the wireless signal and boosting for 1 wired device like a XBox or something. I need to it boost the signal wirelessly so my wireless blu ray player works in my hearth room and so I can sit in the kitchen on my laptop and work. I have to go into the other room just to type this.

Go into Walmart and they carry nothing, go into The Shack and they carry nothing. Ideas? What's the best and easiest set up to get this done? Thanks for your help.

Jlindy
 
What you are looking for is a wifi-repeater. You can froogle.com search for wifi repeater or check cnet.com for reviews.

A second option, but probably beyond your scope is taking an old router and upgrading the firmware via http://www.dd-wrt.com/ and making an older router into a repeater. I did this for one of my old Linksys routers.
 
I just installed 3 airport express wireless gizmo's from Apple. You can use them to extend an existing wireless network. Setup was simple and works fine with Windows or Macs.

I bought mine at Best Buy.
 
All you need is another access point and a cable going to it somehow. I have an access point in my office room and my tv cabinet in my livingroom.

Another option is to get a powerline network adapter with another access point connected to it.

As long as the network name and security settings are the same on both Access Points your laptop will automatically change to whichever one has a better signal.
 
or possibly replace what you have now with an amplified buffalo router. lots of options. ideally it would be great to get something in a central spot in your house though.
 
Before you purchase a repeater, try moving the access point around. A small move can make a big difference.

I had the same problem you did. I was housing my wireless access point in the server cabinet down in the utility room in the lowest floor of my house. With that setup i wasn't getting adequate signal in my bedroom 2 floors up.

I moved it out of the cabinet and placed it on top of it. Problem solved.
 
Definitely not a wireless N set up as it is an older router that was supplied by CenturyTel. Moving the access point is not an option because everything terminates in the basement storage room. Also, when I built the house they had cat 5 cable run behind the walls to have one wired PC upstairs on the top floor so that would be gone if I move it.

If am I understanding correctly, I could just buy another wireless router and put it upstairs in the wired connection so I would essentially have two. I would think that might cause interference, but thought that I would ask.

Regarding the repeaters, that is what I thought I needed but they don't seem to sell them in stores and only online, so not sure which ones work better than others. Also, the people working at best buy and radio shack had no knowledge of this or how to do it which is very strange considering every hotel in america with wifi has to have a load of repeaters to get access to all the rooms. hmmm.

What is the apple option you are mentioning. I think repeaters are about $50 and anything apple is usually expensive. (just got macbook pro and ipad) :)
 
I too use an Apple Airport Express to add a second wireless gateway with all the same settings as my main Linksys router that is in the basement. Adds the ability to streem music to my stereo via itunes or direct from a iphone, ipad, or ipod touch.
It works very well as a WDS device. Simple to setup and once set, never needs maintaining. I stream music and video through it to my TV and PS3 as well.
Great place to buy is the BestBuy open package table. I have bought two there.
 
jlindy said:
Moving the access point is not an option because everything terminates in the basement storage room.
Click to expand...

If you are using a DSL connection as stated in you original post, you can get internet access out of any phone jack in the house.
 
Looowwww Tech:
I used a large stainless steel bowl (or you could use a SS colander) and set the router in it to focus the signal upwards through my quad level. The router was on the first level and struggled to get to the top floor. Focusing the signal did not degrade the signal on lower levels and greatly improved the signal at the top.
 
Regarding the phone jacks, I can't get DSL from any jack as it is set up on my office line which is only in the basement.

Not a shocker, but went to best buy and bought the netgear wireless extender, brought it home and set it up. Everything seemed to be going as instructed with little problems until I hit the final step. It simply wouldn't connect wirelessly. I could see the network, connect to it and configure as instructed in the manual, but when it came to connecting to the internet, nothing. When I hard wire a computer into the extender, I have internet but that's it. On the phone with netgear for 1 hour and couldn't figure it out so I returned it. What a pain in the ass.
 
for stuff like this I get a pro to come in figure out what I need and make it work.The 50-100$ you pay him is well worth it vs the hassle you seem to be going through.
 
SilverStone05 said:
Before you purchase a repeater, try moving the access point around. A small move can make a big difference.

I had the same problem you did. I was housing my wireless access point in the server cabinet down in the utility room in the lowest floor of my house. With that setup i wasn't getting adequate signal in my bedroom 2 floors up.

I moved it out of the cabinet and placed it on top of it. Problem solved.
Click to expand...

I agree. Prior to possibly wasting money, move the router around a bit. You may be pleasantly surprised.
 
jlindy said:
Regarding the phone jacks, I can't get DSL from any jack as it is set up on my office line which is only in the basement.
Click to expand...

Ah....got ya.

jlindy said:
Not a shocker, but went to best buy and bought the netgear wireless extender, brought it home and set it up. Everything seemed to be going as instructed with little problems until I hit the final step. It simply wouldn't connect wirelessly. I could see the network, connect to it and configure as instructed in the manual, but when it came to connecting to the internet, nothing. When I hard wire a computer into the extender, I have internet but that's it. On the phone with netgear for 1 hour and couldn't figure it out so I returned it. What a pain in the ass.
Click to expand...

Yep. I just returned a wireless bridge to cisco. Got it all setup save for the last step....it wouldn't connect to my wireless network. After spending 4 hours trying to get it to work....had to return it, and wasted $12 on return shipping that they wouldn't credit me for. Pain in the ass.
 
Take a look at the ASUS WL330gE wireless access point -

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-WL-330gE-Portable-Functions-Universal/dp/B0014L4ZKK

I have one connected to my BluRay player since the player has an ethernet connection only, no wi-fi. This unit functions in four different modes - wireless access point, repeater, ethernet adapter and gateway. For my BluRay player it's set up in adapter mode, you'd need to set yours in repeater mode to boost your signal in the house. There are a few reviews on the Amazon site that discuss how well it works as a repeater, never tried it with mine. 802.11 b/g only.
 
SilverStone05 said:
Ah....got ya.



Yep. I just returned a wireless bridge to cisco. Got it all setup save for the last step....it wouldn't connect to my wireless network. After spending 4 hours trying to get it to work....had to return it, and wasted $12 on return shipping that they wouldn't credit me for. Pain in the ass.
Click to expand...

Wireless bridges imho are not all that reliable.

Better to go with Ethernet over Powerline, or pull ethernet cable to the main floors of the house and then use a wireless access point from there.

Trying to use wireless bridges is like trying to swim the ocean wearing concrete shoes. Just not all that great.
 
Since I work in the industry. Here is the cookie cutter response based on personal experience. There is a reason manufacturers do not place distances on the boxes. It's because there are too many variables that can affect wifi range. Consumer class routers can be iffy to cover a three story home. Normally if you want a single device to cover this, then you might be looking at a pricier business model, but again, this is not a guarantee. My parents home for example is only two story, but even a high end wireless N router had a tough time going from floor to floor. I ended up doing what I did below with an access point. Other options mentioned above also work, such as bigger antennas, but be prepared to do some trial an error.

QUICK NOTE: Repeaters: Good for a quick fix to help with range, however one must realize, repeaters will cut your wireless speed, usually around half. So you have to weigh the importance, range vs. speed. You can't have both when using repeaters.

For homes such as you have decribed, the best option I have done is usually run ethernet cables to each floor, and install Access Points. Access Points are not repeaters in that they do not repeat a signal, instead they create their own signal from the ethernet cable connection that you ran to it. So there is no degregation in speed. Depending on the size of the home and the interferance I have seen as many as half a dozen access point installed throughout a home.

2 cents.
 
Last edited:
what you just stated would have been done and implimented using my suggestion above...:cool:
 
NSXrunner said:
...QUICK NOTE: Repeaters: Good for a quick fix to help with range, however one must realize, repeaters will cut your wireless speed, usually around half. So you have to weigh the importance, range vs. speed. You can't have both when using repeaters.

For homes such as you have decribed, the best option I have done is usually run ethernet cables to each floor, and install Access Points. Access Points are not repeaters in that they do not repeat a signal, instead they create their own signal from the ethernet cable connection that you ran to it. So there is no degregation in speed. Depending on the size of the home and the interferance I have seen as many as half a dozen access point installed throughout a home.

2 cents.
Click to expand...
Thanks Ed for backing up exactly what I said and suggested. :biggrin:
 
baynsac said:
Yeah but it was done Without Your suggestion above and he saved $50-100. So whats your point? :cool: That he shouldnt have listen to you?:biggrin:
8000 post and counting and none of it usefull.. lol...
Click to expand...

listen I'm leaving you alone,as I said I would I have not bothered to "help" you in your home theater thread, you got tons of help.I cringed when you started off telling everyone you had no budget, money no object..after you get many helpful replies you come back..with a budget of 1700-2000$ big difference..so then everyone helping you had to readjust thier suggestions....just sayin.....but I do have alot of posts:wink:
 
First of whats that go to do with this.:confused: Second, Your right do have alot of useless posts:wink:. I been on prime for 5 years and never Once have you had the right answer or helpfull answer for anyone but yet 8000 posts since than. Im... just Sayin...:smile:
Third, my budget for just the Surround sound is $1500-2000, Not the TV and ALL the other equipment, if you read it more carefully and stop cringing you would of got that. Just Sayin....
By the way how would have Helped anyway LMAOL By telling me to call a profesional and pay him $100-200 :biggrin:
Cmon Doc. People ask questions, either answer them or move on.



docjohn said:
listen I'm leaving you alone,as I said I would I have not bothered to "help" you in your home theater thread, you got tons of help.I cringed when you started off telling everyone you had no budget, money no object..after you get many helpful replies you come back..with a budget of 1700-2000$ big difference..so then everyone helping you had to readjust thier suggestions....just sayin.....but I do have alot of posts:wink:
Click to expand...
 

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