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Broadband extenders and wifi extender

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StepOne
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Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#181898

Postby StepOne » November 21st, 2018, 11:57 am

Hi All,

I've got a couple of issues relating to home broadband - needing to attach a non-wifi enabled device to the network and also improve the wifi signal.

I have a pair of broadband extenders in use in the house, to connect the router to an xbox - the kind that plug into a socket and connect to a network cable. I now want to add another device - the BT Youview box which has been moved away from the router into a bedroom. Can I buy another single extender which will work with the ones I have, or are there compatibility issues to consider? (Is it even possible to buy a single extender - they seem to always be sold in pairs?).

Also, the wifi from our BT Homehub is not great in parts of the house. I'm going to get in touch with BT to see if there is an option to get a newer model which might improve things, but am also looking at wi-fi extenders. I see products like this; http://amzn.eu/d/b86tab7 which seem to connect to the existing Wi-Fi, then sound out an improved(?) wifi signal from where they are. I'm wondering if there is a version of these, which, like the extenders above, can take their input from the broadband signal coming through the socket, and broadcast that. I'm not sure if that's available, or worth considering. It strikes me that if the wifi signal downstairs is not great, then simply re-broadcasting it might not help that much.

Does anyone have any advice on the best options?

Thanks,
StepOne

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Re: Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#181903

Postby AllYourBase » November 21st, 2018, 12:30 pm

We've recently switched from Sky to Virgin Media, meaning that our router has moved from the centre of the house to the corner where the TV is. The VM router isn't great but WiFi signal is acceptable bar the bedroom at the far corner of the house. I did try a wireless extender placed roughly midway between the router and the bedroom but that offered no improvement.

In the end I opted for this https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/networking/powerline/tp-link-wpa4220-wifi-powerline-adapter-kit-av600-twin-pack-10153178-pdt.html

The broadcast unit uses a socket behind the TV and is connected to the router via ethernet. The WiFi unit is plugged into the far bedroom and gives a full WiFi signal at the back of the house now, so all in all I'm reasonably impressed. The main issue for us with the powerline solution is that we have limited wall sockets available (powerline doesn't work with multi-gang extensions apparently) so we've gone from 2 single sockets in the bedroom to one, and it's using one of the 2 available sockets behind the TV. So now we have 3 daisy-chained 4 gang extension leads plugged into a single socket behind the TV for powering VM kit, TV, Soundbar, Bluray player, Google Home, telephone, etc (not ideal). You can pay a premium for power line units which provide a pass-through so you can plug something else into the unit.

AYB.

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Re: Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#181914

Postby Infrasonic » November 21st, 2018, 12:59 pm

If you have coax cable runs around the house a good alternative to powerline is MoCA, which will achieve far better bandwidth than PL.
http://www.mocalliance.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhCaZqxVAJE

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... B0CESn9UVJ

StepOne
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Re: Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#181920

Postby StepOne » November 21st, 2018, 1:14 pm

AllYourBase - that product looks like the kind of thing I need, but I already have an adapter plugged in and connected to the router - I need to know if I can buy additional adapters that will work with the one I have. The one I have was supplied by BT years ago and is no longer available, it's just not clear to me if any of these adapters will work with my exsiting one. (Are they all called 'Powerline' by the way - is that a trade name, or is it just a description of the technology ?)

If they do, then I guess the thing you linked to will work for my second question about extending wifi.

Infrasonic - two rooms in the house have coax, but not the main living room where the phone point and router sit, so I don't think that's an option

Thanks,
StepOne

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Re: Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#181921

Postby Infrasonic » November 21st, 2018, 1:14 pm

Another good resource is...https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/

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Re: Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#181927

Postby Redmires » November 21st, 2018, 1:27 pm

I use a mixture of "TP-Link" and "7 Day Shop" homeplugs/powerlines and they work fine. The TP-Links are old and newer versions. No guarantee that a new one will work but you can always return it if it doesn't.
Last edited by Redmires on November 21st, 2018, 1:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Infrasonic
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Re: Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#181928

Postby Infrasonic » November 21st, 2018, 1:32 pm

On the PL compatibility issue it varies, even within the same brand. As a general rule if they are too far apart on gen/standards they will probably be incompatible. Most of the decent PL brands will state whether they are backwards compatible with previous models or not.

The BT one's are probably badged, so you'd need to find out who actually makes them, what gen/standard they are and do some digging.
Or just buy some new PL plugs and accept they may well not be compatible with the old ones.
Always go for far higher bandwidth specs than you need on PL. The bandwidth at best is going to be 25% of the headline rate, and probably even lower than that IRL.
Read the reviews. The best I've ever seen (over a 1m piece of OFC mains wire...) was 33% of headline rate, and that was for the latest all singing all dancing (ie expensive) ones.

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Re: Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#181934

Postby Infrasonic » November 21st, 2018, 1:48 pm


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Re: Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#181944

Postby AF62 » November 21st, 2018, 2:36 pm

StepOne wrote:Also, the wifi from our BT Homehub is not great in parts of the house. I'm going to get in touch with BT to see if there is an option to get a newer model which might improve things, but am also looking at wi-fi extenders.


The newer versions of the BT Homehub are better - I have the latest BT Smarthub (http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/deta ... bt-hubs%3F) and it is OK, but still not great.

WiFi extenders are a bit meh because from the way they work they reduce the bandwith significantly, so if you are trying to stream something like HD TV you will struggle.

A better solution are the mesh networks which you can add to an existing router such as your BT Homehub. You plug in one into the router, and then place others around the house; an example of which is the BT Whole Home WiFi. These are designed so you don't lose the bandwidth you do with extenders, and the BT Whole Home WiFi have an ethernet socket so you can plug in non-WiFi kit (or a switch) into it.

Amazon dropped the price of the twin packs of the BT Whole Home WiFi this morning, down from its usual £125 to £85, but no idea how long it will stay at that price - https://www.amazon.co.uk/BT-seamless-co ... +home+wifi

I have been using a BT Whole Home WiFi twin pack for six months and it removed the WiFI black holes in my house. Although BT suggests a twin pack is only good for a small house or flat, I think they are being pessimistic as it works fine for me in a much larger house.

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Re: Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#182221

Postby StepOne » November 22nd, 2018, 9:33 am

AF62 wrote:A better solution are the mesh networks which you can add to an existing router such as your BT Homehub. You plug in one into the router, and then place others around the house; an example of which is the BT Whole Home WiFi. These are designed so you don't lose the bandwidth you do with extenders, and the BT Whole Home WiFi have an ethernet socket so you can plug in non-WiFi kit (or a switch) into it.


Thanks for that AF62. It looks interesting. Does that extend the exisiting Wi-fi - i.e. you don't need to switch from one network to another when you go upstairs - the SSID is the same? Also does the second unit just plug into a power socket?

Thanks,
StepOne

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Re: Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#182236

Postby AllYourBase » November 22nd, 2018, 10:21 am


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Re: Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#182390

Postby AF62 » November 22nd, 2018, 7:51 pm

StepOne wrote:Thanks for that AF62. It looks interesting. Does that extend the exisiting Wi-fi - i.e. you don't need to switch from one network to another when you go upstairs - the SSID is the same? Also does the second unit just plug into a power socket?


Yes and yes.

They are designed to 'hand over' the device as you move around and stop the device hanging on to a distant connection for too long, and my experience is that is what is does.

The second unit plugs into a power socket, but you need to use an app which you install to a phone or tablet to set it up and it helps you position it so it is not too close to the other unit or too far away.

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Re: Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#182401

Postby scrumpyjack » November 22nd, 2018, 8:56 pm

I have had the BT Home Hub flying saucers for some time and they work well. As you move around your devices are seamlessly moved from one to another and the app lets you see this. I have found it self optimises when you move the units.

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Re: Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#182496

Postby StepOne » November 23rd, 2018, 11:30 am

AF62 wrote:Amazon dropped the price of the twin packs of the BT Whole Home WiFi this morning, down from its usual £125 to £85, but no idea how long it will stay at that price - https://www.amazon.co.uk/BT-seamless-co ... +home+wifi


Just to confirm that these units were £85 when you posted on Wednesday, AF62. But today (Black Friday) they have gone up to £95! A cynic might imagine this is not the only product to have increased in price today.

Cheers,
StepOne

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Re: Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#182581

Postby Infrasonic » November 23rd, 2018, 4:46 pm

StepOne wrote:
AF62 wrote:Amazon dropped the price of the twin packs of the BT Whole Home WiFi this morning, down from its usual £125 to £85, but no idea how long it will stay at that price - https://www.amazon.co.uk/BT-seamless-co ... +home+wifi


Just to confirm that these units were £85 when you posted on Wednesday, AF62. But today (Black Friday) they have gone up to £95! A cynic might imagine this is not the only product to have increased in price today.

Cheers,
StepOne


Over on HUKD https://www.hotukdeals.com/ there's been a lot of discussion about whether to hang on for Black Friday or pull the virtual trigger as deals come up, the pattern this year seems to have been more really good deals in the run up, so the suspicion was prices might actually go up.

Posters who are also electrical retailers were suggesting it is deliberate to alleviate the mad rush of everything being on one day which tended to swamp the bricks and mortar outlets. My visit to my local PC World yesterday evening to pick up my reserved Logitech C920 webcam for £24 would seem to confirm this, pretty chaotic even at 7pm, I dread to think what it was like today.

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Re: Broadband extenders and wifi extender

#182768

Postby AF62 » November 24th, 2018, 10:02 pm

StepOne wrote:
AF62 wrote:Amazon dropped the price of the twin packs of the BT Whole Home WiFi this morning, down from its usual £125 to £85, but no idea how long it will stay at that price - https://www.amazon.co.uk/BT-seamless-co ... +home+wifi


Just to confirm that these units were £85 when you posted on Wednesday, AF62. But today (Black Friday) they have gone up to £95! A cynic might imagine this is not the only product to have increased in price today.


Who knows with Amazon as the prices wander around so much.

I only found out as I had a CamelCamelCamel alert set - https://uk.camelcamelcamel.com/BT-seaml ... B07643DVCT


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