broadband powerline adapters - attach a 2nd wifi access point?

gambler12

I am using a powerline adaptor kit which work great to use the broadband in another room by connecting my laptop to the second adaptor via an ethernet cable. But I would like to connect my phone to the second adaptor wirelessly. Would it work to connect a wireless access point to the 2nd powerline adaptor?

TheChizler

There's no reason that wouldn't work, but does your broadband box not have WiFi already? If not then why not connect the access point to it directly? Signal not strong enough in the other room?

Metric Tensor

I have exactly this set up. Used an old router as an access point at the far end of the house connected to a powerline adapter.

I have given in the same SSID (but a different channel) so that you can walk seamlessly from one to the other.

gambler12

TheChizler wrote: »

There's no reason that wouldn't work, but doesnt your broadband box not have wifi already? If not then why not connect the access point to it directly? Signal not strong enough in the other room?

Yea the wifi signal in the other room is terrible. Powerline adaptor works great but it can only be used via ethernet cable at the moment.

gambler12

Metric Tensor wrote: »

I have exactly this set up. Used an old router as an access point at the far end of the house connected to a powerline adapter.

I have given in the same SSID (but a different channel) so that you can walk seamlessly from one to the other.

Good stuff. I'm using TP-Link powerline adaptors at the moment. Is there any particular wifi access point that you would recommend to get to plug in at the other end, or would any basic model do?
Also, you say that you have given in the same SSID (but a different channel).
Can you explain a bit more how to set that up? (sorry I'm new to this!)

TheChizler

gambler12 wrote: »

Good stuff. I'm using TP-Link powerline adaptors at the moment. Is there any particular wifi access point that you would recommend to get to plug in at the other end, or would any basic model do?

Have you got an old broadband router with WiFi? You could probably use that as a first pass.

Metric Tensor

That's exactly what I've done. I had an old Vodafone router hanging around that I used. The only issue is that I had to flash it with a different firmware to allow it to act as an access point in the manner I needed. If you're not too confident then a new purpose build access point might be easier - they are not expensive. I have no particular recommendations regarding brand - most of my other stuff is Netgear because I've found them to work well but my powerline plugs are TP Link like yours OP.

Giving the access point the same SSID is very simple. When you log in to it to set it up you just give it the same name, password and type of security as your current router - this allows wireless devices to see it as part of the same system as your existing router.

I was concerned about interference which is why I set the channels but I have no idea if this is necessary. The access points and wireless routers have a setting where you can select what "channel" they broadcast on. It's usually set to auto but I manually set mine to two different channels. There is a good app you can download called "WiFi Analyser" that shows you what channels are being used in your location.

Dardania

Metric Tensor wrote: »

That's exactly what I've done. I had an old Vodafone router hanging around that I used. The only issue is that I had to flash it with a different firmware to allow it to act as an access point in the manner I needed. If you're not too confident then a new purpose build access point might be easier - they are not expensive. I have no particular recommendations regarding brand - most of my other stuff is Netgear because I've found them to work well but my powerline plugs are TP Link like yours OP.

Giving the access point the same SSID is very simple. When you log in to it to set it up you just give it the same name, password and type of security as your current router - this allows wireless devices to see it as part of the same system as your existing router.

I was concerned about interference which is why I set the channels but I have no idea if this is necessary. The access points and wireless routers have a setting where you can select what "channel" they broadcast on. It's usually set to auto but I manually set mine to two different channels. There is a good app you can download called "WiFi Analyser" that shows you what channels are being used in your location.

You should aim to have channels at least 5 apart, to avoid interference:

gambler12

Metric Tensor wrote: »

That's exactly what I've done. I had an old Vodafone router hanging around that I used. The only issue is that I had to flash it with a different firmware to allow it to act as an access point in the manner I needed. If you're not too confident then a new purpose build access point might be easier - they are not expensive. I have no particular recommendations regarding brand - most of my other stuff is Netgear because I've found them to work well but my powerline plugs are TP Link like yours OP.

Giving the access point the same SSID is very simple. When you log in to it to set it up you just give it the same name, password and type of security as your current router - this allows wireless devices to see it as part of the same system as your existing router.

I was concerned about interference which is why I set the channels but I have no idea if this is necessary. The access points and wireless routers have a setting where you can select what "channel" they broadcast on. It's usually set to auto but I manually set mine to two different channels. There is a good app you can download called "WiFi Analyser" that shows you what channels are being used in your location.

Thanks I'll give this a go. I think I threw out my old routers so I'll pick up a new access point and follow the same steps. Cheers!

Dardania

just be careful to switch off routing functions & DHCP on any device you buy - you don't want ti conflicting with your main router