UPC bb and extending the wireless

elderlemon

Hi all,
Just got a letter from UPC saying that I can now get broadband. I am thinking of the 30mb deal but want to know if I can replace the UPC supplied cisco box with something else that would give me better wireless performance - assuming I can change the box then does anyone have any recommendations on a good alternative. I have an old house with think walls and getting a good signal with my current netgear box is a bitch.

On the same subject is it possible to add wireless repeaters to boost the signal?

thanks.

lambchops

you can't replace the cisco modem but you can turn off the wireless and use your own wireless router. i've heard it can be a bit of a pain to set up.

you can buy reapters and add them to your wireless setup to extend the range and give it a boost to get a signal through thick walls. you propably won't be able to pick those up handily so you'll need to get those online most likely.

you could try the plugs that use your homes internal electrical wiring to create ethernet points for the rooms you'll most likely be using the internet. i don't have any experience with these so couldn't tell you if they'll be much use.

raymix

it's a shame to waste such nice speeds on wireless, if i were you i'd get router with super fast processor, or make my own one from a small p4 linux box and run the cable along walls where needed ..

dub45

This article may be of interest to you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Distribution_System

Also you could try the powerline adapter solution - http://netgear.co.uk/powerline_wallplugged_extenders.php

elderlemon

Thanks for the replies. I am only going wireless because of the house - with walls of granite .6M thick you can't go through them. Using the skirting boards and going the long way around is an option in limited cases.

thanks

Feidhlim

elderlemon wrote: »

Hi all,
Just got a letter from UPC saying that I can now get broadband. I am thinking of the 30mb deal but want to know if I can replace the UPC supplied cisco box with something else that would give me better wireless performance - assuming I can change the box then does anyone have any recommendations on a good alternative. I have an old house with think walls and getting a good signal with my current netgear box is a bitch.

On the same subject is it possible to add wireless repeaters to boost the signal?

thanks.

Whats your location?

vibe666

elderlemon wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I am only going wireless because of the house - with walls of granite .6M thick you can't go through them.

possibly silly question, but if you can't drill through your walls, what makes you think wifi will work through them?

if i were you, i'd try and borrow a router from a friend for the afternoon and just put it where you plan on having your own one and see how far you get wirelessly with a laptop. you'll probably find the answer is "not very far" if you have granite walls everywhere.

another alternative would be to set up one laptop as a wireless ad-hoc network connection and check the signal strength from another laptop or wifi enabled mobile phone. a router will usually have a better signal than that, but it will give you some idea of what to expect.

you may find that either drilling holes in your big thick granite walls (diamond bit anyone?) or homeplugs is your only realistic option. just do yourself a favour and skip the 80mbps homeplugs and go straight for the 200mbps ones, the advertised speeds versus real world speeds are even more creatively spouted than wireless speeds and you won't get anywhere near what's advertised on them.

kamin99

I'm also waiting to move from Eircom to the 30mb UPC and in preparation I bought htis superfast router RANGEMAX™ DUAL BAND WIRELESS-N GIGABIT ROUTER WNDR3700 and will be requesting a modem only instalation on Monday:D

elderlemon

I already have Eircom broadband and wifi but I've found that the current netgear router is a lot poorer than my previous linksys wrt54G at getting the signal around the house. Before I go an get another router I am looking for suggestions based on peoples experience of various models. If I can get something that supports repeaters then I would install these on different floors and get the signal strength I need.

thanks

vibe666 wrote: »

possibly silly question, but if you can't drill through your walls, what makes you think wifi will work through them?

if i were you, i'd try and borrow a router from a friend for the afternoon and just put it where you plan on having your own one and see how far you get wirelessly with a laptop. you'll probably find the answer is "not very far" if you have granite walls everywhere.

another alternative would be to set up one laptop as a wireless ad-hoc network connection and check the signal strength from another laptop or wifi enabled mobile phone. a router will usually have a better signal than that, but it will give you some idea of what to expect.

you may find that either drilling holes in your big thick granite walls (diamond bit anyone?) or homeplugs is your only realistic option. just do yourself a favour and skip the 80mbps homeplugs and go straight for the 200mbps ones, the advertised speeds versus real world speeds are even more creatively spouted than wireless speeds and you won't get anywhere near what's advertised on them.

elderlemon

Dun Laoghaire.

Feidhlim wrote: »

Whats your location?

Johnboy1951

I would use a fast homeplug system to get an outlet on each floor, and connect a router to each ...... just set them up so they do not interfere with each other.

vibe666

elderlemon wrote: »

I already have Eircom broadband and wifi but I've found that the current netgear router is a lot poorer than my previous linksys wrt54G at getting the signal around the house. Before I go an get another router I am looking for suggestions based on peoples experience of various models. If I can get something that supports repeaters then I would install these on different floors and get the signal strength I need.

ditto on the wrt54g's, best routers I've ever owned (with 3rd party firmware installed of course).

unfortunately though, i've read that the WAN port on them tops out around 35mbps, so it's pretty close to time to move on for me.

my next router is going to be something compatible with DD-WRT or similar 3rd party firmwares, I was thinking the Asus RT-N16 which currently has experimental support in one of the DD-WRT builds, but i have a feeling there may be other options on the horizon pretty soon.

i hate to be picky, but I want it all.

if it's going to work for me, it'll need to work with wireless N as well as G on the 2.4ghz AND 5ghz frequencies with gigabit LAN & WAN ports and a beefy enough processor and plenty of memory to handle the extra speeds we're going to have pretty soon.

the RT-N16 ticks almost all the boxes and is very powerful compared to the competition, but i've got my fingers crossed that the other router mfg's have a trick or two up their sleeves still.