Jump to content

Wifi range extenders


Mojoe

Recommended Posts

So now the my butt has healed from 100MB being forced in service from Spectrum, I'm looking to improve the wifi signal on my out buildings. I Have a detached garage that is 60' from this router.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BUSDVBQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

In that garage, that is the half way point to my shop, I have this.

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-EX2700-100PAS-Wi-Fi-Range-Extender/dp/B00L0YLRUW/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1515753850&sr=1-3&keywords=wifi+booster

 

My shop is about 120' from the main router and 40' from the booster in the garage. Signal is weak at best in the shop and I would like to have good wifi in the shop. There is a plan to hard wire to the shop and have a router there, when I run better electric out there. But for now, I'm looking for something better than what I am running, which isn't helping the shop. I have had this booster in the shop too, hoping it would grab some signal from the house and boost it. But, I think there wasn't a strong enough signal for it to work with.

 

Any guidance is appreciated. Thanks CR.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is kinda what you need, but it would point you in the right direction.

 

https://www.amazon.com/EZ-Bridge-Lite-EZBR-0214-Outdoor-Wireless-System/dp/B002K683V0

 

These types of directional Wi-Fi bridges are great for passing through out building sheet metal as well since that type of metal is amazing at blocking 2.4-5GHz signals.

 

Right now with wired vs wireless it is much cheaper to go with a wireless system unless you know all your network gear, router ports, wiring, NIC cards are already Cat 6 compliant. If thats the case you can achieve around 1,000mbps with your network. If any routers or switches in that system are still Cat 5 or Cat 5e rated you'll be slowed down to 100mbps and in this case you could at least get the important data traveling at higher speeds using Wi-Fi where needed. Cat 6 stuff is still pretty expensive.

 

That said, if you need a closed system for a little more security and still need the speed in both the house and garage you'll need to upgrade to Cat 6.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Joe,

 

Get yourself two of these and be done...

 

Ubiquiti NanoStation locoM2 2.4GHz Indoor/Outdoor airMax 8dBi CPE https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DCNRTAG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ABmwAbXKXDTGC

 

The Ubiquiti stuff is great, the whole series really. I've had a pair of these bridging around a quarter mile across downtown Newark for a few years now no problem, and there are many accounts of people shooting these (and the M5 model) over a mile line of sight without issue. If you have line of sight you're golden, and a few trees are no issue. For your application a window mount on the house would be fine to transmit and a wall or pole mount on the outside wall of the garage to receive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Joe,

 

Get yourself two of these and be done...

 

Ubiquiti NanoStation locoM2 2.4GHz Indoor/Outdoor airMax 8dBi CPE https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DCNRTAG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ABmwAbXKXDTGC

 

The Ubiquiti stuff is great, the whole series really. I've had a pair of these bridging around a quarter mile across downtown Newark for a few years now no problem, and there are many accounts of people shooting these (and the M5 model) over a mile line of sight without issue. If you have line of sight you're golden, and a few trees are no issue. For your application a window mount on the house would be fine to transmit and a wall or pole mount on the outside wall of the garage to receive.

 

Could I just get one and have that hit my wifi router?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a powerline ethernet backed wifi network in my garage, had its own SSID "TorettosSpeedShop" lol

 

http://www.microcenter.com/product/431924/AV500_Powerline_Kit_with_WiFi_N_Extender_TPL-410APK_(v10R)

 

I had something like that. Every time the woman used the vacuum cleaner my connection upstairs would take a shit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got a shitty M/I cookie-cut house, so it's probably something like that. Also I was using Sling hardware.. not exactly the latest and greatest. It's a solid idea for Joe though, assuming his house and garage are connected on an applicable circuit.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heard stories about this in apartment type applications. Never had a problem personally at my house. Low latency even.

 

Your not really supposed to run ethernet parallel to electric lines or near other EM sources, ie florescent lighting, electric motors. If you run really good shielded cable, have everything grounded right, then it can work pretty well.

 

Now that I'm in business for myself and I take a lot of network connectivity jobs I see all kinds of crappy installs and have to go out and run new cable to access points all the time. Its one of my main service calls. I had no idea the wiring just running along the metal roof structure of a walmart would just go bad hanging there, but it does if its cheap and installed wrong.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Range extenders boost the signal but cut the speed in half. Fyi.

 

I’m ok with that. I just got forced to 100MB. I just need to surf the web, load YouTube and play pandora.

 

Why not run an Ethernet cable out there and call it a day? 300 feet maximum run so you should be good.

 

I said there is a plan for that. I don’t want to do the same work twice.

 

If you have an old asus router it can be converted to do mesh networking

 

This is what I use on the far side of the house, and into the roku for watching tv.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is kinda what you need, but it would point you in the right direction.

 

https://www.amazon.com/EZ-Bridge-Lite-EZBR-0214-Outdoor-Wireless-System/dp/B002K683V0

 

These types of directional Wi-Fi bridges are great for passing through out building sheet metal as well since that type of metal is amazing at blocking 2.4-5GHz signals.

 

Right now with wired vs wireless it is much cheaper to go with a wireless system unless you know all your network gear, router ports, wiring, NIC cards are already Cat 6 compliant. If thats the case you can achieve around 1,000mbps with your network. If any routers or switches in that system are still Cat 5 or Cat 5e rated you'll be slowed down to 100mbps and in this case you could at least get the important data traveling at higher speeds using Wi-Fi where needed. Cat 6 stuff is still pretty expensive.

 

That said, if you need a closed system for a little more security and still need the speed in both the house and garage you'll need to upgrade to Cat 6.

 

I’ll have to look into this more. I have a switch in the middle of the house, and that is what I plan to link into when I do hard wire out there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Joe,

 

Get yourself two of these and be done...

 

Ubiquiti NanoStation locoM2 2.4GHz Indoor/Outdoor airMax 8dBi CPE https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DCNRTAG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ABmwAbXKXDTGC

 

The Ubiquiti stuff is great, the whole series really. I've had a pair of these bridging around a quarter mile across downtown Newark for a few years now no problem, and there are many accounts of people shooting these (and the M5 model) over a mile line of sight without issue. If you have line of sight you're golden, and a few trees are no issue. For your application a window mount on the house would be fine to transmit and a wall or pole mount on the outside wall of the garage to receive.

 

I certainly like the price point. Thanks for posting. I’ll check these out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your not really supposed to run ethernet parallel to electric lines or near other EM sources, ie florescent lighting, electric motors. If you run really good shielded cable, have everything grounded right, then it can work pretty well.

 

Now that I'm in business for myself and I take a lot of network connectivity jobs I see all kinds of crappy installs and have to go out and run new cable to access points all the time. Its one of my main service calls. I had no idea the wiring just running along the metal roof structure of a walmart would just go bad hanging there, but it does if its cheap and installed wrong.

 

Not sure what this has to do with Powerline Ethernet....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ok man, here's what you do, I have this in my building 600 feet from my house and I'm getting consistant 30mbit download inside a steel building...

 

get yourself an outdoor directional antenna

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008Z4I7WQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

you'll need a post to mount it on

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LMAJHAU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

extension cable to reach your wifi extender

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005HIJCB8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

and then the range extender..

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UBNGY6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

Not needed, but you could also purchase yourself a 9db antenna to replace the 2nd 5db antenna the unit comes with

https://www.amazon.com/TECHTOO-Antenna-Connector-Wireless-Extender/dp/B00NVG5YZG/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1516426705&sr=1-5&keywords=9dbi+wifi+antenna

 

I ended up getting myself a power timer so it reset itself every day because the cheap extenders seem to be like Linksys routers and need rebooted all the time. I highly recommend this extender though because the higher priced name brand ones didn't seem to work nearly as well.. But here you are, under 100 bucks and you'll love it. Fast internet and no cables.

 

/thread

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Sorry to bump an old thread- but Im looking to boost signal in both my finished basement and upstairs rooms. Current issues

 

1) Work from home and use a a VOIP phone so speed is already a commodity.

 

2) Signal is to week on far wall of basement for Smart TV to pickup signal and use Netflix for example

 

3) Signal up stairs is too weak for similar function. **Having it strong enough to WORK in a bonus room Id like to have a computer/workstation in is a plus**

 

4) Limited Cable outlets so moving the cable companies rented router is not a viable option

 

I am getting a bit confused on AP vs Relay vs Router functions. Here are my questions-

 

1) Should I just buy a great router that will fix all these issues and send the rented one back to the cable company? Or is this not the solution?

 

2) If I want to boost a signal next to a device far from the router- do I need a RELAY device?

 

3) What would CR do?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry to bump an old thread- but Im looking to boost signal in both my finished basement and upstairs rooms. Current issues

 

1) Work from home and use a a VOIP phone so speed is already a commodity.

 

2) Signal is to week on far wall of basement for Smart TV to pickup signal and use Netflix for example

 

3) Signal up stairs is too weak for similar function. **Having it strong enough to WORK in a bonus room Id like to have a computer/workstation in is a plus**

 

4) Limited Cable outlets so moving the cable companies rented router is not a viable option

 

I am getting a bit confused on AP vs Relay vs Router functions. Here are my questions-

 

1) Should I just buy a great router that will fix all these issues and send the rented one back to the cable company? Or is this not the solution?

 

2) If I want to boost a signal next to a device far from the router- do I need a RELAY device?

 

3) What would CR do?!

Wifi? Or do you need a cable? I run the Netgear PL1000 to my shop 200' away and works very well, Internet over powerline. Sender in the house and the receiver in the shop broadcasts wifi out but also has a port on the side of it so you can run an ethernet cable from.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wifi? Or do you need a cable? I run the Netgear PL1000 to my shop 200' away and works very well, Internet over powerline. Sender in the house and the receiver in the shop broadcasts wifi out but also has a port on the side of it so you can run an ethernet cable from.

 

WIFI.

 

Its all in the house- no shop. Need better WiFi in the house only

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right now with wired vs wireless it is much cheaper to go with a wireless system unless you know all your network gear, router ports, wiring, NIC cards are already Cat 6 compliant. If thats the case you can achieve around 1,000mbps with your network. If any routers or switches in that system are still Cat 5 or Cat 5e rated you'll be slowed down to 100mbps and in this case you could at least get the important data traveling at higher speeds using Wi-Fi where needed. Cat 6 stuff is still pretty expensive.

Dafuq you smoking? I don't normally shit on other people's posts, but this was pretty damned clueless. Pushing gigabit (1000mbps) over CAT5e isn't particularly hard for most chips as long as the person doing the terminations isn't an idiot (and even then, they're pretty forgiving). The cost differential in wire between 5/5e/6 is is negligible (hell, I just did my house in shielded 6A for 10-gig compatibility, and even that wasn't much of a jump). Gig switches and network cards are about all you can buy anymore without intentionally looking for the downgrade. Even saw an Asus 10-gig card for half (from $250 to $100 @Microcenter) what it ran last summer. Gigabit over wifi?? Maybe in a lab. Inside a Faraday cage. On a sunspot-free day. With transmitter and receiver about ten feet away from each other. Maybe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dafuq you smoking? I don't normally shit on other people's posts, but this was pretty damned clueless. Pushing gigabit (1000mbps) over CAT5e isn't particularly hard for most chips as long as the person doing the terminations isn't an idiot (and even then, they're pretty forgiving). The cost differential in wire between 5/5e/6 is is negligible (hell, I just did my house in shielded 6A for 10-gig compatibility, and even that wasn't much of a jump). Gig switches and network cards are about all you can buy anymore without intentionally looking for the downgrade. Even saw an Asus 10-gig card for half (from $250 to $100 @Microcenter) what it ran last summer. Gigabit over wifi?? Maybe in a lab. Inside a Faraday cage. On a sunspot-free day. With transmitter and receiver about ten feet away from each other. Maybe.

 

I'll add that wireless is shared bandwidth between all devices while ethernet is dedicated per device. (unless you specifically hunt for a hub instead of a switch)

 

Wireless is also never as reliable as wired.*

 

* Source: I manage both the wired and wireless networks for a hospital.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...