Help with extending wireless range of eir fibre

IrishPhoenix

I just got eir fibre [up to 150mb] in with their F2000 router. Due to the fact that we're in a rural location, they had to run the cable in awkwardly rather than placing it in the centre of the house as I originally wanted. So the router is at one end of a dormer house and the wi-fi signal through the rest of the house is now very bad. I'm getting 142mb in the room with the router but no signal at the other end of the house and it dips to 60mb in the middle.

I had Tp-link AV200 300mbps homeplugs that I was using with the DSL broadband I had previously so I hooked those up with the new router to see could I use wi-fi extender homeplugs to help boost the signal but they are only giving me between 12-17mb so I'm losing a ton of speed. I tried connecting some boxes via homeplug direct with ethernet cables and devices wouldn't even recognise them - they said 'connected - no internet access' or 'unidentified network'.

While I'm savvy enough tech, I'm useless at anything involving networking and was wondering if anyone could explain to me the best and easiest way of extending wi-fi coverage to the other half of the house? Would upgraded homeplugs work or do I need wi-fi extenders or something else I haven't even thought of yet?

Hoagy

Can you move the router to a better spot?

The cable between the ONT box and the router is a standard ethernet cable, if you buy a 20 or 30 meter CAT5E or CAT6 lead with the plugs attached could you run it through the roof space to a more central location, all you would need is a local power socket for the router.

IrishPhoenix

Hoagy wrote: »

Can you move the router to a better spot?

The cable between the ONT box and the router is a standard ethernet cable, if you buy a 20 or 30 meter CAT5E or CAT6 lead with the plugs attached could you run it through the roof space to a more central location, all you would need is a local power socket for the router.

The engineer has 2 boxes on the wall besides the router. Can they both be left where they are if you move the box? Also, it's a dormer house and the router is on the bottom floor; going through the attic is not really an option.

swoofer

you have 2 channels on that router 2.4 and 5. are you trying both or just the 5? and how about drilling a hole in wall and running cable on outside then back in to central point? you can leave those boxes just move router.

IrishPhoenix

swoofer wrote:

you have 2 channels on that router 2.4 and 5. are you trying both or just the 5? and how about drilling a hole in wall and running cable on outside then back in to central point? you can leave those boxes just move router.

Tried both bands but some of our devices, laptops and such, don't support the 5ghz band. At the moment the degradation in wifi strength is so bad that if i plonked the router in the middle of the house I'd be afraid of dead zones on both ends. Only 2 rooms are receiving full strength at the moment.

degsie

Wifi mesh networks are becoming increasingly popular to solve wifi connectivity issues. Might be worth investigating.

IrishPhoenix

degsie wrote:

Wifi mesh networks are becoming increasingly popular to solve wifi connectivity issues. Might be worth investigating.

Thanks. I'm looking into that at the moment. Anyone have any recommendations please?

srsly78

OP you need to either install a proper ethernet connection, or get the powerline adapters working. Once this is done you can have 2 wifi access points at either end of house.

Your description makes no sense:
You say you got 12-15mbit wifi from the powerline extenders, but can't use them to connect over ethernet? Are you using repeater mode instead of powerline? Don't do this!

IrishPhoenix

srsly78 wrote:

Your description makes no sense: You say you got 12-15mbit wifi from the powerline extenders, but can't use them to connect over ethernet? Are you using repeater mode instead of powerline? Don't do this!

They are wifi repeaters but i did try them with the wifi turned off and my laptop wouldn't recognise them. It kept saying unidentified network or connected - no internet access. I was baffled. And i tried 3 different adapters! I'm genuinely stumped as to how they're acting up. Connected laptop directly to router to double check that the ethernet connection on laptop was ok and i was getting 116mb!

srsly78

Wifi repeaters never work well, they repeat every packet which wastes bandwidth.

Get someone technical around to fix your ethernet. Read manual for powerline adapters.