Has anyone got a dedicated wireless repeater to work with Cisco 3925?

homer911

Yes, I am asking UPC..
http://www.boards.ie/ttfthread/2056938662

Has anyone got a dedicated wireless repeater (Netgear WN2000RPT in my case) to work with UPC's Cisco 3925?

This is a self-configuring box, which reported no errors, but wont let me onto the internet. I have enabled WDS on the cisco box and provided the mac address of the repeater.

srsly78

You really don't want to use the repeater/extender function, it is rubbish even when it works properly (adds latency, halves bandwidth etc).

Get a second router and connect it to the first via physical cable (either power line or lan cable). This will give much better results.

Note that you can use the repeater as a second router, most of them can work in different modes.

homer911

I know, I know, but when the repeater operates at far higher speeds than your band width, this isnt really an issue.

For practical reasons I am unable to run ethernet cable to where I would like to place the repeater

srsly78

Power line networking - solves your cable problem.

I had exactly the same problem as you, and I solved it by buying a pair of £30 powerline network thingies. I did try repeaters before that, and believe me it's not worth the grief...

This is what I bought: http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-PA411KIT-AV500-Powerline-Adapter/

homer911

Again, I have 2 powerline adapters that had been working fine with my old router, but for some reason were next to useless with this one..

I had tried all the usual "gotchas" with these things but couldnt get a remotely acceptable performance out of them..

srsly78

If it worked with the old one it will work with a new one. Get a buddy around that knows about networking. It's likely just something simple like turning off dhcp on new router.

Is a 5 minute job. The configuration involved for a repeater is a lot more complex.

Make sure your "new" router is setup for wifi N only - this gives the best performance, anything else is rubbish.

PogMoThoin

homer911 wrote: »

I know, I know, but when the repeater operates at far higher speeds than your band width, this isnt really an issue

Yes it does, it can make a working network painfully slow, just by being there. You do not want to repeat, ever.

who_me

Yeah, I'd second powerline adaptors, if you can get them to work. I use them (a "500Mbps" pair) for streaming music & videos to the TV/amp, and it's significantly faster and far, far more reliable than Wifi.

homer911

Ok, I've gone back to try my less than successful 85Mbps homeplugs/powerline adapters and pretty much given up on the idea of the repeater, which doesnt seem to work with the cisco router anyway

No matter where I plug in the receiver in my house, I'm getting a consistent 5.1/5.2 Mbps upload - very satisfactory.

The further away from the base station homeplug I get, there is a significant drop off in download speed ONLY. To the point where my download speed, at the place where I want to use it, is only 3-4Mbps, less than the upload speed at the same point. Is this normal?? Can I be sure that a faster set of homeplugs would resolve the problem?

srsly78

What speeds do you get when you are plugged directly into the upc router via LAN cable?

What class of wifi are you using? Use class N if you don't want it to be terrible (that means do not use b/g/n mixed mode unless you have fancy gear that does 2 in one properly).

If you have older devices that only work with class G then I would suggest running a seperate wifi network for the legacy stuff. Much better than dragging everyone down to snail speed.

who_me

homer911 wrote: »

Ok, I've gone back to try my less than successful 85Mbps homeplugs/powerline adapters and pretty much given up on the idea of the repeater, which doesnt seem to work with the cisco router anyway

No matter where I plug in the receiver in my house, I'm getting a consistent 5.1/5.2 Mbps upload - very satisfactory.

The further away from the base station homeplug I get, there is a significant drop off in download speed ONLY. To the point where my download speed, at the place where I want to use it, is only 3-4Mbps, less than the upload speed at the same point. Is this normal?? Can I be sure that a faster set of homeplugs would resolve the problem?

I guess it's dependent on the wiring infrastructure in your home (and I'm told the 'more direct' the connection the better, so try to avoid extension cables, power blocks etc.).

I have a 500Mbps pair, and get a pretty steady ~90Mbps on local transfers. That's slower than my broadband's listed speed, but to be honest I never get 90Mbps download speeds from any site so I'm not bothered. IME, it's a good bit faster and it's quite steady, in comparison with real-world Wifi speeds.

homer911

srsly78 wrote: »

What speeds do you get when you are plugged directly into the upc router via LAN cable?

What class of wifi are you using? Use class N if you don't want it to be terrible (that means do not use b/g/n mixed mode unless you have fancy gear that does 2 in one properly).

If you have older devices that only work with class G then I would suggest running a seperate wifi network for the legacy stuff. Much better than dragging everyone down to snail speed.

Thanks, thats an interesting suggestion - I do need b/g mode for some devices.

When I plug a laptop directly into the Cisco router I'm getting over 50Mbps, up to 55...

homer911

who_me wrote: »

I guess it's dependent on the wiring infrastructure in your home (and I'm told the 'more direct' the connection the better, so try to avoid extension cables, power blocks etc.).

I have a 500Mbps pair, and get a pretty steady ~90Mbps on local transfers. That's slower than my broadband's listed speed, but to be honest I never get 90Mbps download speeds from any site so I'm not bothered. IME, it's a good bit faster and it's quite steady, in comparison with real-world Wifi speeds.

Thanks again, I guess I'll have to try and borrow a pair and try them out, before making the investment.

Anyone want to buy a used netgear wireless router flashed with dd-wrt?

srsly78

The home plugs cost 30 quid for a pair.... Hardly a major investment.

DD-WRT is very fancy but it's throughput on certain models is lousy btw.