Recommend the best way to extend my wi-fi please

Chorus_suck

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Cuddlesworth

Homeplugs tend to be the best option considering cost/performance.

ItHurtsWhenIP

You're on boards long enough to know not to spam multiple forums. :rolleyes:

ssmith6287

http://www.harveynorman.ie/computing/networking-and-connectivity/internet-extenders/tp-link-powerline-wi-fi-extender-av500.html

Chorus_suck

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gctest50

Drop down an ethernet cable,

fastest, cheapest no ?

srsly78

Yes ethernet cable connected to second wifi hotspot is best solution. Only use homeplugs if it's impossible to run ethernet.

Cuddlesworth

Chorus_suck wrote: »

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Linked above your post is pretty good, it will let you hard wire the TV and extend the wireless if you give it the same SSID and password.

gctest50 wrote: »

Drop down an ethernet cable,

fastest, cheapest no ?

No

srsly78 wrote: »

Yes ethernet cable connected to second wifi hotspot is best solution. Only use homeplugs if it's impossible to run ethernet.

Only use homeplugs if its impossible to run ethernet?

Your both nuts if you think its a great idea to install structured cabling over home plugs for the average person.

Chorus_suck

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Johnboy1951

Running an ethernet cable and properly terminating it would provide the best connection of all the options mentioned.

The ability to route, without damage, the cable, and to properly terminate it, might not be within the ability of a lot of home owners, so the cost of paying someone competent to do it would most likely exceed the cost of homeplugs.

Nevertheless, the ethernet cable would be the better option from a connection/technical point of view.

Bear in mind also, that homeplugs will not necessarily work well in all homes, and not at all in some, due to various factors related to the wiring.

If not physically impossible or involves huge cost, I would recommend running ethernet cable ..... Cat6 or even Cat5e cable. The cable itself is cheap.

Cuddlesworth

Lets be clear about this, the OP's circumstances are.

He is on 4G broadband, looks like he gets around 40mbps.
His modem is located in the upstairs bedroom.
He gets bad wifi signal in his sitting room, assuming downstairs.

His requirements are,

He wants to stream video services to his TV.
^You can assume that the wifi is a bit crap in the sitting room, plus you know, 4G.


The home plugs linked above would give the sitting room an average of 100mbps, would provide a additional access point to his house extending his wireless range in the sitting room and would take 10-15 minutes to set up for 70 quid and a trip to the shops. If he changes location in future or needs another TV wired up, he can add another homeplug. Considering the circumstances in which homeplugs don't work are quite rare these days, its clearly the best option in terms of price/performance and well worth spending the money on.

So why does the OP's need a 1gig copper cable to pull down a 4-30Mbps netflix stream and the cost/hassle of installing it? Why does the average house need any more then 100Mbps, which homeplugs can happily provide. Running a cable in nearly all cases will involve knocking holes in walls, pulling floorboards/skirting boards and in no way will cost under 100 for the cable, faceplates and the time(if it does, something is wrong).

Not only that, but if/when the OP actually gets a proper broadband line in, there is a good chance the cable could end up useless or awkward, with it going from the sitting room to only the master bedroom. Structured cable tends to not work when it was not centralised, eg not planned.

Running a network cable in this instance is a waste of money. Christ I live in a bungalow, have a cable to my PC but have a home-plug sitting on my media PC. Why? Because it would have been a waste of my time running a cable.

srsly78

Because homeplugs don't always work as advertised, very dependent on house wiring. Sure you might get 100mbit, but also infrequent dropouts and other downsides. Bandwidth is shared between all clients, so doesn't really scale.

Cuddlesworth

srsly78 wrote: »

Because homeplugs don't always work as advertised, very dependent on house wiring. Sure you might get 100mbit, but also infrequent dropouts and other downsides. Bandwidth is shared between all clients, so doesn't really scale.

Couple of counter points.
You can get more then 100mbps out of them easily.
Most homes don't need more then 100Mbps, they don't use it. Most traffic burst of data, not continuous UDP streams.
Even if there was congestion, bandwidth is shared between all clients on a 40mb 4G link.
They don't suffer from dropouts from any of my experiences with them over the generations and lifetime of the product, if they do you can hand them back and get a refund.
Feel free to list the other vauge downsides.

ssmith6287

I have that tp link home plug. 1 sender, 3 receivers including 1 in the shed, and 1 passing through an extension lead. Like Wifi they have come along way from when turning on the microwave and having baby monitors had a big influence on your signal. Wiring in the house only really comes into play if you have built a big extension with a separate power supply

Glebee

Don't want to start a new thread on this but its related to home plugs. Been using TP links plugs for the last few years and over that period two have broken and I cant get them working again so ive had to replace. Do home plugs have a life expectancy or am I just been unlucky..?

ThisRegard

I think they might be temperamental to power surges. I've had two Devolo ones die over the years but they have a 3 year warranty or something like that so I got them replaces free of charge. Did you replace your TP Links out of your own pocket?

Glebee

ThisRegard wrote: »

I think they might be temperamental to power surges. I've had two Devolo ones die over the years but they have a 3 year warranty or something like that so I got them replaces free of charge. Did you replace your TP Links out of your own pocket?

I did the last two, never think about the warrenty. I have two more on the way from amazon, Will keep note of warrenty from now on.