So I am really not sure what the name of this device is as I have been trying to find out for some time now, basically in my home I have terrible connect in my room to my router and would like to get a wifi repeater similar to the kind we use at work or whole different brand, either way what I do need is a repeater that 1) extends the wifi signal (usually takes internet in through an ethernet cable) and 2) allows me to plug a second ethernet cable in to use as the cable for my desktop. My desktop has no wifi card but my phone and laptops would need the wifi. Is there a device that will extend my signal but also allow me to still run a cable to my computer. I am thinkg of something as that works the following way. Router -> Repeater -> computer otherwise the only other option I could think of would be getting a cheap 4 port gig switch and running my single cable into that and then 1 into my desktop and 1 into the repater and having 2 extra ports. Ideas? I could use the ports for my laptop but then my phone and tablet suffer. In short, I need a repeater but also need a way of running a ethernet cable to my desktop. I'd perfer to use 1 wire instead of doing 1 to the repeater and 1 to the computer seperately (ran side by side) I just want 1 wire into the repeater and then 1 wire out of the repeater carrying internet that goes into my desktop (I know that is 2 but I don't know how to phrase it, I don't want two 100 foot wires side by side when I could do 1 long one and then a 10-25 foot wire or so instead of 2 super long wires. I am so sorry that I probably make little sense but I am hoping you can get enough information to help me out.
I got a wifi repeater a long time ago. Worked pretty good. Don't use it any more. What we do now is to have two access points and one router. The router has one access point, and the other which also acts as a switch for direct connections, is connected to the router via a power-line ethernet adapter. IE, there is a wall plug in my office where the router is (and the access point for the front part of the house) that is connected to one of the router's ethernet ports. In my wife's office there is another wall plug that her access point/switch is connected to. Works great. The only downside is that when I'm in the bedroom in the back of the house, I have to switch SSID's on my phone if the connection is too iffy. Usually that isn't a problem.
We are both heavy computer users (desktops, laptops, iPads, ebook readers, phones, etc) and this has worked very well for us. My wife only complains when I suck up too much bandwidth on our internet connection (25+mbps) and she is trying to work from home in the evening! :-)
So would something like the NETGEAR AC1200 High Power 700mW Dual Band Wi-Fi Range Extender work? It has 5 ports so it works almost like a switch it would seem, I would do one wire from my router into that extender and then I could run a wire out into my desktop correct? Is that look like a good investment or is there something else you'd recommend. The real problem with my house is the room I live in is part of the original home, but there was an addition put on and the router lays in the new addition which means since I am in the basement the signal has to travel through the cement and rebar foundation wall which really destroys the signal, the signal goes up find as it is only wood but does not travel through the basement well. Everyone living upstairs has fairly good connections but I picked the bigger room but it does have its drawbacks it seems.
That may work, but I'd still go with the multiple WAP approach, one WAP for each major area of the house/apt. You are correct in that concrete walls with a lot of rebar are bad for WiFi signals, and a high power range extender may not get you the results you want. Using an ethernet-over-powerline approach (wall plugs) elminates the need to run physical cable between the areas, and still provides good throughput. We have an ssid for each WAP, but use the same password (simpler to remember). Once you have connected with one, your computer/ipad/phone will remember the connection information, and can switch between them when connections become unstable.
FWIW, I've been using the ethernet-over-powerline wall plug approach for almost 10 years. Absolutely (knock on wood) reliable. It provides 50-100mbps which is 2-4x faster than my internet connection.
You can use a wireless bridge. You can get third party firmware for most old wireless routers (with built in 4 port switches) which will give them bridge capability. In this case, if you have an old wireless router sitting around, then you won't have to buy anything new.
Here is how it will connect:
[PC without wireless card]-----(UTP cable)--->[Wireless Router w/ 4 port switch in bridge mode]-------(wireless)------->[Wireless Router in normal mode] ---(UTP cable)----> [Internet service device/cable modem]
This will let you extend your wireless network and connect devices which do not have a wireless network card.
+1 for using a powerline adapter to get a device to other side of the house without running cable. So long as your outlets are on the same panel, you should be ok.
The best way to extend wifi is to use a 2nd access point as noted above. Cable comes out of powerline eth, into new AP eth, and you can plug in 3 more devices and have wifi from same AP.
If powerline is not available, the Mac Airports allow you to extend the wifi signal. So if you have 1 AP acting as router.... you can place another airport somewhere in the house. It will 'extend' the existing wifi signal and give you some better range without cabling. The big downside to this is that on every wifi AP 'hop' you lose 50% of your bandwidth. So if you have a 40 Mbps signal from main AP to the extending AP, any clients connected to the extended AP would max at 20 Mbps. Add another AP further down the chain and now you are at 10 Mbps max per client. The big PRO to this is that you only need 1 SSID that is shared between Airports.
I've used this type of solution in a pinch with Airports and NetGears worrking in conjunction.
Cabling up a new AP somewhere is the house is still the best method.
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