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help with installing range extender please
Hi there. I was hoping to receive some help on the following:
I have just received my Belkin range extender. I was hoping to get better network coverage in my workshop which is located about 10 metres from my house. After a bit of hassle I got the thing to recognise the router but now I only get connected in the workshop if I locate the extender outside the door of the house (I was walking around the place with the thing plugged into an extension lead). I have placed it in front of the window but it makes no difference to the signal strenght in the workshop. Any suggestions what would be a good location. I really thought that this was going to work as the distances are not that big?!?
Any help appreciated
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18 Replies
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hmm. keep the receipt 😉 😉
anyway… N technology is all the rage for getting through walls, however not many people except BT are offering as part of the Internet Bundle deal… the G wireless technology is limited a bit for distance and has been around for ages but laptops only do G and so forth.
N is new, its brilliant, so each computer would need a N-type wireless card/usb stick.
What rocks are your walls, how thick and how many in the wireless path?
i know G wont go thru 10inches of granite, it just makes the signal dead
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quote Phill:Been there, done that… I tried the cheap ‘blue peter’-options, but I thought the repeater was the way to go.
I just tried by plugging the thing in in the workshop: bit of result. Good signal strength and I can access the network fine, but internet is still a problem………………….bizarre!!
I think I have just reached my limit of messing about with computer stuff…. I will try again tomorrow………. -
hey? internet and network more or less is the same thing.
are u getting 404 errors ? what u getting with tinternet?
that coke can antenna isn’t as daft as it looks, i give it some meret as im sure it will reflect some signal.
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You just cant beat hard wired. Got my desk top in the workshop hard wired to the router.
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the other way is using ur electric mains as a network
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I can access files on the other computer. Internet is working but incredibly slow (can’t really work with it like that). But what I find strange is that when the repeater is halfway between the router and the workshop the computer in the workshop won’t pick up a signal, yet when it is in the workshop 10 metres or so away from the router it IS!?!?
The walls of the house and workshop are thick: cavity walls with insulation between (+insulated plasterboard on the internal walls), but I have placed both the repeater and the network adapter in front of the windows. Between the 2 buildings there is nothing to obstruct the signal, it’s just open space.Dave: what do you mean with using electric mains as a network?!
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I have an ordinary G wireless system, the furthest computer is at least 10m away in my shed at the bottom the garden but I did change the areals from the puny lettle things that came with router & cards (Belkin) for a higher gain one
http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetai … pGroupID=3
Alan D -
Me being a bit skeptical I eventually got a Devolo dlan 200 to go through the mains as you have power already I can recommend it works really well for me as wireless was useless for me too. Sets up a network for transferring files which can be encrypted with a button on the plugs. The software does most of it for you really simple
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yeah i got directional antennas on mine… just cant get thru the granite… i have a wifi finder and it goes from full signal at the door way and then 1 at the wall
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Just to throw caution to the network across a mains wiring system (before you spend any money anyway) I would imagine you would need to be connecting into the same electrical ring or circuit.
What I am trying to say is; if you have a separate electrical supply to your workshop from that of the house this may not be an option either as you do not have a direct connection between both premises.
I think the power meter acts as a barrier so if you have one in the garage and on in the house you wont get any communications between the two premises.
This is probably not the case but check it out before you spend any money.
Ruairi
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You’re spot on there Ruairi. Although fed from the same main circuit board, my workshop and house are on separate circuits and the mains network thingies don’t work.
My experience of wifi is that it either works, or it doesn’t. And if it doesn’t, then no amount of directional aerials or re-positioning will make any difference worth a damn.
My solution was two wifi boxes. One in the workshop, and out of frustration, I ran a cable into the house and put another wifi box on the end of that. Now I’ve got good coverage everywhere.
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I am getting pretty fed up with this repeater. It seems to pick up the signal from our wireless music system (philips WAC streamium) rather than the router from the computer….
I thinking of be putting in a cable from the house to the workshop. Any reason why I shouldn’t? I’ll just bury it under the grass and see how long it will last without any protection around it………… -
I’m sure the local plumbing supplies have some relatively cheap plastic pipe, put your cable in that.
Alan D -
As I understand it – the repeater amplifies the signal from the router and re-transmits it in order to cover a wider area.
Can you not run an ethernet cable from your router to the repeater to ensure it is amplifying a maximum strength signal in the first place? Then when it is re-transmitted it should be a stronger signal giving the receiving computer more of a chance?
But at least you’re up to date – we’re still using an old fashioned phone system 😕
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That’s what I was thinking… I take a cable from the router to the workshop and then put the repeater there. I don’t fancy running the cables trough the house (location of the router makes it a bit tricky). Does the length of cable infuence the speed of the connection?
But I think there is something fishy about the repeater: I have been trying in the house: When I do auto connect and it has found the router I move it around the place on an extension lead. Then it works. But when I unplug it into another socket it keeps searching and seems unable to find the router again………. stupid thing!!! -
I’ve had a few of these Belkin range extenders and they can be a bit funny to set up and don’t seem to work consistently.
Eithernet cable it the reliable way to create a network but failing that try to run a network cable from the router to the extender and place the extender in a high place with direct line of site view of the shed.
N+ is very good, much better range.
Steve
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distance is not really limited, but give us a distance measurement and i tell ya.
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