Wireless Access Point

tekton23

Hi,

We are with Plusnet on fibre broadband and have their new route located in our bedroom. Unfortunately the living room has weak wifi and I have tried using TP-Link powerline adaptors and also wifi boosters to improve the connection. They work to improve the connection, but then cause issues with any networked hardware, i.e. the Bose soundsystem or the network printer/scanner, as they effectively think there are two wifi networks, instead of one.

Should I be using a Wireless Access Point? i.e. run an ethernet cable to the living room then connect one? Would this cause similar issues with two networks, or can they be set-up as a single seamless IP network?

Any suggestions of a make and model, and whether this would be a good solution?

Thanks,

T23

Norman_Castle

Try moving the router. http://www.cnet.com/uk/how-to/home-networking-explained-part-2-optimizing-your-wi-fi-network/

tekton23

Thanks - Tried that, but then the bedroom has a weak spot. I need a booster or access point that does not create an IP conflict.

davidsuffolk

An access point is the best answer as it will work seamlessly with your existing router and does not reduce bandwidth like an extender. I put in a Ubiquiti Long Range (from @£70) dual band on the advice of an IT friend who fits them frequently and found it 100% though I'm sure many others are just as good.

You do need to run an ethernet cable to it (power comes from a POE connection and the necessary injector is normally included) and once done all you see is just a stronger wi-fi signal. Password remains same across the network.

tekton23

Great - the Ubiquiti does look good, thanks for the suggestion. It seems a lot of the other reviews say the same as you.

stockton_2

Have you looked at an Ethernet switch? I have a Netgear 5 port Fast Ethernet Switch (FS605) that I bought off ebay (new) for just over £12 last week. You can also get 7 port switches.

They work like an access point but you don't have to do any work to configure them. You just put an ethernet cable from your router into the switch and it works seamlessly with the router. No conflicts. There is also a power plug so you need to place it within reach of a power socket.

I also have had a 7 port switch for some months now and it also works perfectly for me.