Very easy and very cheap way to extend WiFi range.

[emanymton]

Just wondering if there are any suggestions of ways to extend the range of my WiFi that are cheap, easy and reliable.

I have a 2 bedroom flat and the WiFi router is in the living room, my bedroom is the room furthest aways and I find the WiFi connection can be a spotty in there so normally end up using the 4g on my phone, but that is not the best signal either.

It is not a huge issue as I don't use my phone much in there (normally just the mornings I can't be arsed getting out of bed) and everything else that needs WiFi is in the living room or 2nd bedroom where the signal is fine. Hence any fix will need to be cheap and easy or it will not be worth it. Also why I don't want to buy some random thing of the Internet as if I go too cheap it will probably be crap and not worth it.

 

[story]

My provider sent me a free booster. Might be worth phoning to make a complaint?

 

[cesare]

Does your provider supply WiFi boosters?

 

[cesare]

Snap!

 

[emanymton]

My provider sent me a free booster. Might be worth phoning to make a complaint?

Hadn't thought of that can give it a go.

 

[Supine]

As said, a booster is best.

Is there any scope to move the box in the main room. You might get some more signal out the door with a little change.

 

[emanymton]

As said, a booster is best.

Is there any scope to move the box in the main room. You might get some more signal out the door with a little change.

Not really no the layout of the room means it cannot really go anywhere else, and it is probably in the best spot to reach the whole flat anyway.

 

[danny la rouge]

I have a modest three bedroom flat with the router in the living room and need a plug in booster for the signal to reach the bedrooms. It was inexpensive, but it does the job. I’ll see what brand it is, but it’s three years old now so there may be more up-to-date models.

 

[StoneRoad]

Similar problem here, probably because this house has random bits of ironwork within the structure.

We have had a belkin booster that was OK but died as the power cable got "pinched / crushed" at some point.

The location furthest away now has a wired connection - the PC at the other end needs a stable connection as it does HMRC returns for VAT & PAYE.
That leaves the rest of us sharing the actual WiFi signal.

e2a - we have moved the router slightly several times, but it is somewhat fixed by needing to be close to the incoming connection.

 

[danny la rouge]

Mine is a tp-link A600.

 

[MickiQ]

We have a Wavlink wifi extender, you log it onto your existing routers WiFi network and it boosts the signal range. The one we have doesn't seem to be available any more but there are plenty of cheap alternatives on the Empire of Evil website.
Ours wasn't that expensive. During summer I plug it into the wall socket next to the french doors and it extends the wifi from the main router in the lounge all the way to the bottom of the garden. Without it the signal there was very patchy but with it, it is strong enough for Mrs Q to sit there at the patio table a good 60ft from the house and still work on her laptop.

 

[petee]

a modest three bedroom flat

 

[danny la rouge]

What?

 

[marty21]

My provider sent me a free booster. Might be worth phoning to make a complaint?

I got one from my provider too.

 

[mwgdrwg]

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/5585575?clickSR=slp:term:powerline:2:5:1

 

[Spymaster]

I have a modest three bedroom flat ...

3 bedrooms and a great dining room.

 

[danny la rouge]

Yeah, my point was directly related to the wifi range: the bedrooms aren’t a long way off. Was what I was saying.

 

[ska invita]

TPLINK is the bane of my life - had contact with a few of these, always continuously drop out

 

[smmudge]

I bought a "Kosiy 2.4ghz 300mbps WiFi extender" for £30, plug it in at the edge of the router range and easy to set up. It's own range is loads better than the router itself, now we can get WiFi anywhere in the house, 10/10 would recommend.

 

[danny la rouge]

TPLINK is the bane of my life - had contact with a few of these, always continuously drop out

I have the opposite problem, if anything: it connects to my phone when I’m in the living room and the router should be the strongest signal.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I have the opposite problem, if anything: it connects to my phone when I’m in the living room and the router should be the strongest signal.

I'm not familiar with that model, but it should have an option to decrease its broadcasting power. I've got three access points in my house and had to a bit of fine tuning to ensure they use the closest.

Do they share the same SSID (WiFi name)? If they do then your phone may also be defaulting to the last one that you connected to as I'd imagine you system doesn't have a way to hand over.

 

[Spymaster]

My provider sent me a free booster. Might be worth phoning to make a complaint?

Yep. We had the same issue. Had a moan to the supplier (Hyperoptic) and they sent us a free TP Link extender which solved the problem.

 

[emanymton]

Yep. We had the same issue. Had a moan to the supplier (Hyperoptic) and they sent us a free TP Link extender which solved the problem.

I am going to try this once the holiday period is over. If that is a no go I will look at some of the other suggestions. But not going to pay if I can get it sorted for free.

 

[gentlegreen]

some friendly soul may have an old router they don't need that you could hang off on a cheap CAT5.
In my csae the Virgin WIFI has now actually died so the old one is all I have - it was always a far better signal in any case ...

 

[Chz]

TPLINK is the bane of my life - had contact with a few of these, always continuously drop out

Replaced it with a Netgear that was much better.

Repeaters work, but they're an imperfect solution. Handoff is poor, bandwidth is shite. Mesh systems are loads better, but many times as expensive. I'm actually moving to a mesh system that has less theoretical bandwidth than what it's replacing, but I expect things to run a lot smoother. In this case, cost offset by the first mesh router coming with the FttP service and extra nodes being dirt cheap from other people on the same service who didn't want them.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Replaced it with a Netgear that was much better.

Repeaters work, but they're an imperfect solution. Handoff is poor, bandwidth is shite. Mesh systems are loads better, but many times as expensive. I'm actually moving to a mesh system that has less theoretical bandwidth than what it's replacing, but I expect things to run a lot smoother. In this case, cost offset by the first mesh router coming with the FttP service and extra nodes being dirt cheap from other people on the same service who didn't want them.

I paid a guy of Facebook to drill holes in my house and run ethernet externaly. Wasn't that bad.

 

[abe11825]

As others have said, try your provider first, to see if they offer any extenders / boosters. It seems like some companies are willing to add that as an extra feature (sometimes for an extra cost, or build it in to the entire service).

My community just got rid of Comcast and is currently having Hotwire installed, so come the middle of January, the entire complex should be up and running with the new services. Hotwire is so new, there's very little information about it online. However, the deal the board made with Hotwire, was that every unit / house gets 2 Eero mesh boosters with the (Nokia) (modem router thing) main internet connector. Typically, Hotwire only provides one Eero box, but since the community is a mix of houses (large and small) and condos, everyone gets 2 with their Internet service.

I know we will probably pay for the boxes in the long run, but for now, it's part of the overall package. The Eeros aren't cheap to begin with - it's an Amazon product which you don't need an Amazon profile, but you have to make something for the Eeros, so I'm told. There's an app you're supposed to download to be able to install everything correctly and make sure things are connecting the way they should.

I don't know much about it, as I wasn't home when the Hotwire technicians were here to do everything and they didn't tell my mother to download anything extra. From what she's been hearing from neighbors, it's all currently speculation. This whole process is new to me.

But again, it wouldn't hurt to ask your Internet provider what they offer with the service you're getting. Otherwise I hear the mesh systems are the way of the future (like someone else said). Just an extender or booster might be limiting? It might depend on far your bedroom is for the extra signal to reach. I know the Eeros are reliant on being plugged into an Ethernet cable, oddly enough, as every tech that has come in to my house to check things since the install, has re-plugged the Ethernet cable back into the box.

 

[Chz]

Replaced it with a Netgear that was much better.

Repeaters work, but they're an imperfect solution. Handoff is poor, bandwidth is shite. Mesh systems are loads better, but many times as expensive. I'm actually moving to a mesh system that has less theoretical bandwidth than what it's replacing, but I expect things to run a lot smoother. In this case, cost offset by the first mesh router coming with the FttP service and extra nodes being dirt cheap from other people on the same service who didn't want them.

Just to add for anyone who manages to get Community Fibre - never pay them monthly for the guaranteed home wifi. Surplus CF routers are available on Ebay for very little, and I've added them to my mesh with no trouble.

 

[chandlerp]

Mesh network is far better than extenders. I bought a 3-pack. One plugs into your router, one halfway through the house and one at the other end. Sets up a network that covers the whole house and you can add as many as you like. I've got this one:

Deco M4

 

[RiderOnTheStorm]

Replaced it with a Netgear that was much better.

Repeaters work, but they're an imperfect solution. Handoff is poor, bandwidth is shite. Mesh systems are loads better, but many times as expensive. I'm actually moving to a mesh system that has less theoretical bandwidth than what it's replacing, but I expect things to run a lot smoother. In this case, cost offset by the first mesh router coming with the FttP service and extra nodes being dirt cheap from other people on the same service who didn't want them.

How did the mesh work for you C?

I am in sim situ as OP (good broadband - bad wifi). House square footage is average, but its split over 3 floors and the Virgin box is at the top of the house. The numbers for a speed test are great (when it works...sometimes its so slow the speed-test fails) but I get the 'feeling' that the boxes own wifi is poor. Sometimes cant get decent signal in room beside the box! I cant get the box any closer to the rooms that its needed in, and I only recently discovered Mesh. I think its what I need, so would be interested to see how you got on C.

PS the mesh sets (that I see on amazon) seem to come in sets of 2 or 3. My understanding of setup is that one connects (via cable) to the box and the others are placed around the house to extend / boost range. Is there a difference between the one thats cable connected and the boosters? Or can any of the 3 be cable connected? If I want a 4th to get into poor areas, can I just buy 1 of same make as the 3 and plug n play?

thanks in advance