wireless repeater - is this just a router?

ukjoel

Hi - have moved house and wireless broadband seems to struggle with a distance of 6 metres and one wall.

I have ordered some of those nifty plug sockets that send the signal between them.

My brother says he uses a wireless repeater connected to the receiving one of those to then have wireless in that room as well.

All sounds good so far but my question is can any old wireless router do the same job ie could I use my old O2 router connected to the receiving plug to broadcast wireless to that room or do I need a new piece of kit.

Many thanks

steve1980

In theory yes.

Hammyman

In reality, no. Not many wifi routers have repeater capability in them and when they do, it tends to be a right PITA to get going, even between the same manufacturer.

ukjoel

Lol - Thats sort of the answer I espected - a theoretical yes but a practical pain in the backside to do. Looks like a repeater is the best way forward.

Cheers

spannerzone

I used a spare netgear dg834g v3 adsl wireless modem/router to act as a wireless and wired repeater alongside another identical one (both ex Sky reflashed to standard netgear software) and it works well, took about 10 mins to configure. However one minor adjustment and it all stopped working! - luckily I saved a backup config before tinkering and reloaded it into the dg834 and it all worked again. The only benefit I can see is that it cost me nothing as I had one spare but if you're having to by equipment then buy the proper thing for ease of setup.

Here's where I got the info
http://www.unix.ms/netgear/index2.html

I did this so I can use my Sony blu ray player that has an iPlayer built into it.... I have the second dg834 strapped to the back of the LCD tv with network cable going into the blu ray player (I don't actually use the repeater for wireless at all other than that's the way it connects to the main adsl modem)

I'd agree that homeplugs might well be the better, simpler and more reliable way to go.

ukjoel

hc25036 wrote: »

There are other options:

1. Homeplugs (just google it). I switched to using these for a PC in a distant room and never looked back

2. A high-power USB wireless adapter like the Janus (http://speednets.co.uk/buy/)

.

Cheers All - Sorry but my non tech terminology of 'nifty plug sockets that send the signal between them' should have been homeplugs .

I have 4 on the way courtesy of a hotukdeals post yesterday. Reason for trying to boost them is that in one particular room I have 3 computers (2 work and one play) that all need to be connected at the same time. Hence the wireless repeater....

I take all points about the complexity of the machines - they are cheap enough but the amazon reviews suggest they dont work out the box.

May seem a stupid question but if I have a homeplug socket receiver a metre away from all three PCs I need to connect to can I run an ethernet cable to both from that by using a splitter.

I notice my old router has one input and 4 lan outputs so would that do the job.


In the past wireless has been so easy that I have been blissfully ignorant of these networking fun and games. I curse BT and whoever in Tunisia made that thing they called a router.

esuhl

Hammyman wrote: »

In reality, no. Not many wifi routers have repeater capability in them and when they do, it tends to be a right PITA to get going, even between the same manufacturer.

But, by connecting the "routers" via poweline network adapters, it sounds like the OP isn't using the second "router" as a repeater, but as a switch/hub and access point.

I have done this (although just using CAT5e cable instead of powerline adapters) with a spare router I had. It was very easy and works reliably. Essentially the steps I took were:

1. Get first router set up, connected to the Internet, etc.
2. Temporarily disconnect a PC from the 1st router, and connect it to the 2nd "router" instead so it can be configured.
3. Go into the web interface of 2nd "router" and:
3a. Disable the WAN adapter.
3b. Disable DHCP.
3c. Set the gateway address as the IP address of the 1st router.
3d. Assign the router a valid IP address (which you may also need to set later on the 1st router).
3e. Ensure the 2nd "router" is using the same subnet as the 1st router.
3d. Set up the wireless adapter as appropriate. If you use the same ESSID as on the first router, wireless devices should automatically connect to whichever router's wireless signal is strongest.
4. Disconnect the 2nd router from the PC and reconnect the PC to the 1st router.
5. Connect the two routers using one of the LAN ports - either using standard CAT5 cable, or via powerline adapters, etc.

Hope this helps...

hc25036

May seem a stupid question but if I have a homeplug socket receiver a metre away from all three PCs I need to connect to can I run an ethernet cable to both from that by using a splitter.

I notice my old router has one input and 4 lan outputs so would that do the job.

Yes and yes. Plug a cable from the homeplug into one of the 4 LAN ports (not the cable in port) and then the PCs into the other ports,

ukjoel

Brilliant - Thanks - will do that then - can pick up a router for a fiver at the boot sale tomorrow and have enough cables sitting about.

Cheers everyone.