Need a good WiFi extender

[Mike Henderson]

I need to extend my WiFi signal to my shop. I bought a Netgear WN3000RP (http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-Universal-WN3000RP-Wi-Fi-Extender/dp/B004YAYM06/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359569560&sr=1-1&keywords=wifi+extender) and it does what I want - extend my WiFi and provide a Ethernet port that I can hook my TV to - but the unit wouldn't stay connected. After about an hour, the unit would lose connectivity and I'd have to reset it. So I returned it.

Anyone use a WiFi extender that also has an Ethernet port and can recommend it?

Mike

[Matt Meiser]

A $25 Linksys WRT54G off Craigslist and DDWRT firmware running in bridge mode will do it, possibly also requiring better antennas. I did this between the house and shop for several years until I was able to run conduit. That said, wire or fiber (if between buildings) is the most reliable method, especially streaming.

[Larry Browning]

Mike,
If you are the tinkering type, look into DD-WRT as a replacement firmware to just about any wireless router. I have an old Linksys WRT160N that a flashed with DD-WRT to make a wireless access point for my shop. It has worked flawlessly for over a year. I cannot think of a single time when it has dropped connectivity. I am pretty certain that it can also be configured as a WiFi extender as well.

[Dan Hintz]

Mike,

I recently picked up a Tenda from NewEgg for $22 shipped. It has a bridge / extender mode, so that would likely work for you. It has an RJ-45 connection on the back for net and a mini-USB for power (with a USB-to-wall socket adaptor). I picked it up to connect a color laser printer I gave to my wife, but since it's now wireless I can use it, too. It works like a champ so far. The size is a real boon, being roughly the size of a pack of cigarettes, but half as thick.

[Matt Meiser]

just about any

Some, not just about any.

[Charles Wiggins]

A $25 Linksys WRT54G off Craigslist and DDWRT firmware running in bridge mode will do it, possibly also requiring better antennas. I did this between the house and shop for several years until I was able to run conduit. That said, wire or fiber (if between buildings) is the most reliable method, especially streaming.

I think we have one of those just sitting around, and we need to extend our signal as well. It was our old router which we replaced with a Cisco. What does it take other than the firmware to set it up? Do you have to hook it to a computer long enough to configure it? Will it handle Wireless-N?

[Larry Browning]

Some, not just about any.

Well, just about all that have any kind of quality. And the list keeps getting longer.

[Larry Browning]

I think we have one of those just sitting around, and we need to extend our signal as well. It was our old router which we replaced with a Cisco. What does it take other than the firmware to set it up? Do you have to hook it to a computer long enough to configure it? Will it handle Wireless-N?

Charles, go to their website, they have lots of documentation and how-tos with step-by-step directions on their site. It will take so studying on your part to get up to speed on it all, but it is worth it. It really is possible to turn an old outdated router into a top quality one. It can be a bit scary flashing the firmware, because it is possible to completely destroy the router (called bricking it) if you don't do it right. But using a router that is not being used anyway lessens the anxiety.
BTW:I think Wireless G/N is a hardware thing so you can't turn a G router into an N router with firmware.

[Matt Meiser]

Well, just about all that have any kind of quality. And the list keeps getting longer.

No, it can only run on routers that have certain chipsets. There are a lot of good quality units that don't. Even WRT54G's won't all run it.

[Larry Browning]

No, it can only run on routers that have certain chipsets. There are a lot of good quality units that don't. Even WRT54G's won't all run it.
Well, we may just have to agree to disagree on this one.
I won't buy a router that can't be upgraded to DD-WRT.

[Matt Meiser]

Your preference to only buy routers that can have DD-WRT installed doesn't make them bad--Asus's current flagship RTN56U for example is not supported and by basically every review I read that's a great router. Nol current production Linksys product is supported. Less than 1/2 of Netgear's current product line is supported. I spot checked 5-6 current production D-Link and didn't find one on the list.

My point was that there are a lot of unsupported routers and its definitely not a safe assumption that you can load a router with DD-WRT. Even some versions of the WRT54G can't be loaded.

[Larry Browning]

ok, you win. But the list is very long of the routers it does support.

[Mike Henderson]

What I decided to do is use a couple of HomePlug units (power line communications) and then connect a WiFi router to the one in the shop. I already have HomePlug in my home so I only have to buy one more unit.

That will create a different WiFi network, but since I didn't get any service in my shop from my existing WiFi network, my computer and phone will just automatically switch to the new network when I go there.

Mike

[Matt Meiser]

Is your shop a separate building?

[glenn bradley]

TP-Link products seem to get some good reviews: http://www.tp-link.com/us/products/?categoryid=1247

[Mike Henderson]

Is your shop a separate building?
No, but the house is old and has plaster walls, which means there's a metal mesh behind the plaster which greatly attenuates the WiFi signal. I do have a sub panel in the shop but I tested the HomePlug devices I have and they provide connectivity to the outlets in the shop. The HomePlug units I have are the older 200Mbs units (the new ones are much faster, and the 200Mbps doesn't really give you 200Mbps) but that's fast enough for what I want to do in the shop.

Mike

[Curt Harms]

<snip>
My point was that there are a lot of unsupported routers and its definitely not a safe assumption that you can load a router with DD-WRT. Even some versions of the WRT54G can't be loaded.

Right. Chipset, amount of NVRAM and SDRAM in the router all enter into it. I know Linksys went away from using Linux to using VxWorks as an O.S. on at least some of their newer routers. I believe VxWorks has lower hardware requirements. It's also not open source so difficult or impossible to add functionality which may be seen as in Cisco's best interests;).

[Mike Henderson]

I bought another HomePlug unit and got it installed on my HomePlug network. The signal is strong in the shop (compared to at my TV). Then I bought an inexpensive 802.11n router and hooked it to the HomePlug unit. Works great. It's a different network name compared to the one in the rest of the house, but my phone automatically connects to it when I go into the shop. I ran a speed test on it and the HomePlug is a lot faster than my DSL connection.

So, all in all, I'm satisfied.

Mike

[Matt Meiser]

I ran a speed test on it and the HomePlug is a lot faster than my DSL connection.

Wait, what? Are you saying the network speed from point A within your house to point B within your house is a lot faster than your DSL?

[glenn bradley]

Wait, what? Are you saying the network speed from point A within your house to point B within your house is a lot faster than your DSL?

It certainly should be. Even at 10Mbps, most short-haul ethernet devices would exceed your DSL speeds when simply running between each other ;-) Or did I misunderstand? :o

[Matt Meiser]

That's what I'm thinking he meant? Because it shouldn't test faster than the DSL line on an Internet speed test.

[Mike Henderson]

Wait, what? Are you saying the network speed from point A within your house to point B within your house is a lot faster than your DSL?
Yep, the HomePlug is about 60-70Mbps, while my DSL connection is maybe 16Mbps.

WiFi is a lot faster than my (or almost anyone's) DSL connection.

One way to know if your internal connection is a lot faster than your DSL connection is to run a DSL test with your computer connected to your DSL modem. This will give you the real speed of your DSL connection. Then run a speed test across your network. If your network is not a LOT faster than your DSL connection, the speed test will give you a slower speed than you got in the first test. This test is more sensitive to contention networks (such as multi-drop Ethernet or WiFi) than if you have a point-to-point Ethernet connection.

Mike

[Matt Meiser]

What are you using to do a LAN speed test?

[Mike Henderson]

What are you using to do a LAN speed test?
I didn't run a specific LAN speed test. See my post above for my reasoning about the LAN speed.

Mike

[Dan Hintz]

I'm confused about your testing methodology... if I'm reading that right, I'm not so sure you're testing what you think your testing...

[Mike Henderson]

I'm confused about your testing methodology... if I'm reading that right, I'm not so sure you're testing what you think your testing...
Yeah, you're probably right. I was thinking that with a contention based link, such as WiFi or HomePlug, you would have times when you would be delayed in sending a packet, and that delay would result in some "missed" bits on the slow portion of the link (the DSL link). However, in doing a speed test, the data is buffered before it is presented to the slow portion of the link. So unless the delay in the contention portion is significant, the slow portion will just continue to send data from the buffers.

So my thinking was wrong. To see a slower speed test, the in house link would have to be pretty slow compared to the DSL link, and that's really unlikely.

Mike