Wireless advice[long post]

syklops

Hi,

long post, so bear with me.

Looking for some advice from veteran wireless users. I live in a house with a small amount of floor space, but is spread over 3 floors, ground, 1st, and a converted attic which is now a bedroom. The only 3 working phone sockets are inside the front door, in a bedroom upstairs, and in a bedroom in the attic/bedroom.

As it stands the DSL/wifi router is on the ground floor. We can get signal on the first floor, but none in the attic. We did have it on the 1st floor for a while, but it is rented accomodation with 2 other people, and when the occupants of the other rooms go away they like to lock their doors, which means if the router needs a reboot, I can not get access. I recently moved it from the upstairs bedroom because I had no internet for three days for this reason(In the end I turned all my equipment off, and used the fuse board to reboot it, something I would like to avoid doing).

I recently bought a Linksys WAG200g for downstairs, and set up a wireless router and wireless to ethernet bridge as a repeater. The setup is fine except the WAG200g is a POS and does not work, it keeps dropping the internet connection every 5 mins. I will send it back but after spending nigh on 140 yoyo's on this setup, I am at my wits end to find it is not working. I know this setup would work if it werent for the DSL modem, but I was wondering how other people deal with strange house layouts and internet. Has anyone any ideas?

I have been in this house for 2 years, and spend an average of 8 hours a day online however, I seem to have spent hours and hours and hours configuring and reconfiguring wireless solutions in this house, and im fed up of it. Hints, comments etc will be very welcome.

AlmightyCushion

A wireless N router and a wireless N usb adapter for your computer should work. It would be expensive but it should more than cover the distance.

bushy...

Few ideas:
Suss if the second floor is on its own breaker at the fuse board , if it needs a reboot ( shouldn't need one that often) you can just turn off that breaker ..cheapest way.

AlmightyCushion

There's a thing you can get that lets you use the wiring in your house as a network. I can't remember the name but you basically get 2 plug like things that have an ethernet port on them. You could plug one downstairs and connect your modem into it and then put another one upstairs and connect your laptop to it when you are upstairs. I'm not sure if they're any good though.

bushy...

Homeplug is the stuff you're thinking of : http://www.expansys.ie/p.aspx?i=131409
Some have a built-in Access Point in the remote unit.
http://computers.pricegrabber.com/wireless-networking/m/53321255/

Snaga

Home Plug AV units - several manufacturers make them, netgear, devolo are two.

If all floors are off the same fuseboard - you could use a pair of those to bridge the floors.

You can even use encryption on them so the folks on the middle floor can't listen in should they have their own units by some coincidence


<edit - Bushy types so fast!! >

AlmightyCushion

bushy... wrote: »

Homeplug is the stuff you're thinking of : http://www.expansys.ie/p.aspx?i=131409
Some have a built-in Access Point in the remote unit.
http://computers.pricegrabber.com/wireless-networking/m/53321255/

That's the one. They're expensive enough all right.

syklops

I had seen those homeplug things, but a guy I know said they did not work. He is not a techie so maybe it was a (l)user error.

No one else in the house is tech savvy so I doubt they will be sniffing in anywhere. Has anyone used a hotplug thingy? I know Irish Broadband was pushing them at some point in case their broadband in a box did not work in the same place where the PC was. Speed is not a major issue, though I assume it can get at least 2Mbps from point to point?

Any one have any reviews?

Also, will it work with a switch?

Cabaal

moving from Broadband to wireless