A Question for you tech heads! . . boost 3G WIFI signal in house

NewBeefFarmer

Hey all,

well, i use an O2 hotshot WiFi device for 2 yrs now, all in all, is been good. average download speed 2-3MB. .. and for €20 a month, im happy. eircom would only give my .8MB for that. ..

right to the problem. .

WiFi device is on upstairs window sill, plugged in.

works super with laptop. . it shows 3 bars on the pc WiFi screen,

my smart phone however not so good, in the living room where we use the lap top the WiFi signal isn't strong enough/or the phone isn't as good picking it up.
this is ok, as i dont use the phone much.

however,

i got a google nexus for x-mas. . and same thing as the phone, the tablet is hit and miss in the living room,. . but grand as i get closer to the device upstairs.

living room is directly under the room where the wifi unit is.

the unit cannot be moved, only get the signal up there.

question. .

a 3G router, will this do anything for me ?

i need to strengthen the WiFi signal in the house, . . .

what can do this for me?

please help

eirator

I don't like them but a plug in WiFi repeater might do the job for you, if you find a spot upstairs where it can pick up your current signal and rebroadcast so it works for your devices downstairs. In your case a WiFi repeater plugged in downstairs should do the job because they will pick up the signal from upstairs same as the PC. The PSU and WiFi are built into the plug in the units I'm thinking of, same units can also be used as part of a home plugs system.

For some really long distances to get a "signal in house" I use a 3G WiFi router which covers a decent area, a WiFi access point set up in client mode which is connected to home plugs which in turn are connected to another WiFi access point.

I prefer the 3G WiFi routers as they have a greater WiFi range and you have the fall back of the ethernet connections which can also be used with home plugs. To keep things tidy use a 4m (thats the max) USB cable for the dongle (I don't like units that have the 3G built into the router) then that gives you extra flexibility (and often height) to get the best 3G signal. I have the 3G dongle outside in a plastic bag.

NewBeefFarmer

what router are you using? brand/model

eirator

I'm using an Edimax 6200n atm but I'd recommend the TP-Link 3420 as a better router. Connecting to 3 using an unlocked E1752 from O2

As for dongle thats were you have to be a bit careful see what I mean here Meteor E3131 & TP-Link 3420 V2. Most of the older dongles work fine with with both routers its only the newer HiLink versions that are causing problems with 3G routers.

Check amazon.co.uk for the cheapest 3G routers, about 30quid and you get free P&P on stock that is fullfilled by amazon.

NewBeefFarmer

anyone know if TP-Link 3420 is compatible with O2 Huawei E5832S ?

its the WIFI hotshot device i have. and will use an USB cable to connect it to the mondem

-=al=-

You would probably have to take the sim out of the mifi and put it in a dongle and connect it to the tp link... don't think the mifi can connect to the router but I could be wrong on that one and not sure if it's not compatable

Is so, find the best deal for an unlocked compatible dongle with the tp-link and you will be in business

the router is about 40 and a dongle can be about a 10er that will sort the wifi out in the house and solve the signal issues

tiny timy

I have my meteor mifi downstairs sending a signal to a netgear repeater upstairs, that has also 4 ethernet outputs. all good

NewBeefFarmer

krikey, .. now i think all i need is a wifi repeater. . .

hmmm.

any pros cons with this!. ..

eirator

NewBeefFarmer wrote: »

krikey, .. now i think all i need is a wifi repeater. . .

hmmm.

any pros cons with this!. ..

Not really, but if you were connecting a load of computers TO EACH OTHER on an internal network say for streaming music you'd loose some speed across the repeater, but as MBB isn't that fast there should be no effect on the speed of the connection.

long_b

Have people found that adding one of those screw in aerials to the dongle have any benefits in terms of speed or signal strength?

eirator

long_b wrote: »

Have people found that adding one of those screw in aerials to the dongle have any benefits in terms of speed or signal strength?

Well worth the effort and expense of the longer higher gain antenna, I've tested with and without before and it can add at least an extra bar on the windows wireless monitor and extend range a good bit.

Edit> sorry misread your post and was posting in respect to the OP who is talking about boosting WiFi signal.

Some people have had good results with the antennas for dongles but you need to have a bit of common sense to get the best out of them. Start by finding out which mast you are connecting to and use a directional antenna.