Wifi Signal

Mirno

Before you buy anything - as you mention you're in a flat, check if the channel(s) you're using are congested.

Wifi is radio, and if there are lots of broadcasters nearby all using the same channel they interfere with each other and can give the appearance of very poor signal quality. I say appearance - it is poor signal quality, but not because of the strength of the wifi!

If you've got a PC download InSSIDer and see. If it's a laptop wander around the flat, and check each room - the graph is pretty obvious!

If you do see that you're fighting for broadcast bandwidth with your neighbours pick a channel where there isn't anyone else (or they are all much weaker).

Only when this doesn't work should you think about splashing the cash!


Mirno

closed

the effect of an iplate can be achieved by removing the bell wire from the master socket, but it won't make any difference to wireless, just improve the connection speed if you have extensions

As already mentioned, do a little diagnosis before spending anything, homeplugs will mean you will need to be tethered to a wire, rather than use the laptop wirelessly as designed, and they use electricity so add to running costs.

if you haven't had a new router for a while, a little haggling should get you a newer one from sky for free, which could improve things, but the older style with an external aerial tend to work better.

neilwoods

As it is stone walls, save your money and dont buy any range extender, just be wasting it. Other things to consider is mirrors, radiators and fish tanks.

As suggested above, best option would be homeplugs ( as long as you only have the one mains consumer board within flat), they use the mains electrical as a network.

Could have a physical connection for the xbox and a wifi plug for the laptop. Some of the homeplugs can also be wifi so no need to have a cable attached, as for using eleccie, yes they do, be like having a 20 watt light bulb switched on.

But as also said, try moving the router about a bit

oxygen_thief

iPlate or cutting bell wires wont make a jot of difference, the issue is wireless not the performance of the phone line.

Home plugs are the obvious solution and are an excellent choice. Also consider just running an ethernet cable from the router to wherever you want it, whilst thats not always the best solution due to aesthetics and access it is worth considering due to the significantly lower cost than plugs. :-)

From experience with wifi issues in stone buildings I wouldn't bother trying to use range extenders or access points, they can be pricey, difficult to setup and no guarantee its going to work.