WIFI Range extenders

[CaberTosser]

I thought I'd pose a question to those more electronically inclined than myself. I'm looking to get a WIFI booster that I can plug into a Cat5 plug on the main floor and hook it up to the router in the basement, it can hook to 120v as well but I'm only considering one that hard wires. The reason for this is that our main floor WIFI is weak due to the double layer foil bubble-wrap lining my floor joists as part of my in-floor heat system, its creating a bit of a Faraday cage / shielding layer between the upstairs & downstairs. I have Cat5E hard wired to every room in the house so I already have all manner of spots to plug one in, many rooms have two ports in alternate locations as I custom built and went heavy on wiring. Just seeing if anyone has advice on a good unit.

[plmnnkoqaz]

Most routers will work as a wireless bridge or range extender. It’s simplest to just plug the range extender into 120v and Cat5, but there is a way to send “Power over the Ethernet” cable. Look for one of these PoE range extender and the related PoE hardware to send power and you should be good to go.

[Hunt4Ever]

I have a similar problem with my Wi-Fi, so I purchased an extender and the setup for this brand was extremely easy. Basically plug in the extender in whichever room you want and then push the WPS button on the main router and then push the WPS button on the extender, that’s it. The extender will have the same password as your main router with “_EXT” added to your current Wi-Fi name.
https://www.ampedwireless.com/rec44m.html

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by Hunt4Ever

I have a similar problem with my Wi-Fi, so I purchased an extender and the setup for this brand was extremely easy. Basically plug in the extender in whichever room you want and then push the WPS button on the main router and then push the WPS button on the extender, that’s it. The extender will have the same password as your main router with “_EXT” added to your current Wi-Fi name.
https://www.ampedwireless.com/rec44m.html

Due to the aluminum bubble wrap acting as shielding in my floor I'm only considering ones that plug into an Ethernet port and hardwire back to my router.

[Hunt4Ever]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Due to the aluminum bubble wrap acting as shielding in my floor I'm only considering ones that plug into an Ethernet port and hardwire back to my router.

You can configure this router to do that too.
Down load the manual and see if this meets your needs.

[FCLightning]

One of these should do the trick for you
https://www.amazon.ca/Ubiquiti-Netwo...YCCG1PQ19E4J12

[midgetwaiter]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Due to the aluminum bubble wrap acting as shielding in my floor I'm only considering ones that plug into an Ethernet port and hardwire back to my router.

What you’re looking for is properly called a wireless access point, the term extender generally is used to refer to a device that uses wifi for the backhaul rather than Ethernet. You are definitely on the right track, unless you use a dedicated seperate network for that wireless backhaul they suck bad. Here’s one that can work in either deployment scenario.

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX58278

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by midgetwaiter

What you’re looking for is properly called a wireless access point, the term extender generally is used to refer to a device that uses wifi for the backhaul rather than Ethernet. You are definitely on the right track, unless you use a dedicated seperate network for that wireless backhaul they suck bad. Here’s one that can work in either deployment scenario.

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX58278

That's the ticket, I was even looking at Memory Express's website prior to starting the thread, but there's so much to weed through.

[dodger]

https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product...10748971.aspx?

I have one of these that you can have. It also works as an access point that can be controlled with their app.

Dodger.

[Au revoir, Gopher]

Originally Posted by midgetwaiter

What you’re looking for is properly called a wireless access point, the term extender generally is used to refer to a device that uses wifi for the backhaul rather than Ethernet. You are definitely on the right track, unless you use a dedicated seperate network for that wireless backhaul they suck bad. Here’s one that can work in either deployment scenario.

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX58278

People don't realise what those extenders do to throughput. Definitely use wires if you can.

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

That's the ticket, I was even looking at Memory Express's website prior to starting the thread, but there's so much to weed through.

I assume that you still want to have WiFi in the basement, so you will want the router in the basement and the AP on the main floor to play nice together.

Configure the router and the AP so they have the same SSID and authentication info, that way your devices can roam between the router and the AP. You also need to configure things so that the router and the AP are on channels that don't overlap. The simplest way to do that in a 2.4GHz network is to only use channels 1, 6 and 11. Pick 2 and assign one to the router and the other to the AP.

ARG

[ColdFlame]

And make sure you only have DHCP enabled on your main router.

[CaberTosser]

I'll pass that info to my IT person known as Mrs Caber because its Greek to me! Memory Express will be among todays stops.