WIFI Boosters?

[Mr Burns]

I'm a technophobe who's having issues connecting my smart TV and phone to the internet in my room. I'm constantly losing connection as it appears the router is too far from my devices, but I was told today that if I bought a WIFI booster box it would solve my issues.
Can anyone confirm this or better still recommend a specific booster?

 

[Stay Puft]

We've got the Netgear ones which virgin media give out, brilliant so far.

 

[Pistachio]

Get homeplugs. Much better than wifi

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...rline-adapter-kit-twin-pack-10143560-pdt.html

 

[Mr Burns]

Get homeplugs. Much better than wifi

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...rline-adapter-kit-twin-pack-10143560-pdt.html

Surely that would mean running cables through the house if it's wired, or am I misreading it?

 

[Pistachio]

You don't need to run wires between the homeplugs. They use your houses wiring. You just plug one in beside your router with an ethernet able. Then plug the other one wherever you want it

 

[Bluebeard]

You don't need to run wires between the homeplugs. They use your houses wiring. You just plug one in beside your router with an ethernet able. Then plug the other one wherever you want it

Like Ste, I am a techno r****d.

Can you explain a bit more?? I have a very old house with 12 inch thick walls so my wifi is really hot and miss some days. These look ideal but not sure how you'd wire them up??

 

[Pistachio]

You just plug it in to the wall, then plug an ethernet cable between the homeplug and the router. Then plug the other one where you want internet. You can then either plug an ethernet cable from the second homeplug to your pc (or whatever) OR you also get ones that have wifi on the second homeplug meaning you have a very reliable wifi repeater

 

[Mr Burns]

So I'm assuming I just plug one homeplug in near my router which is connected to the router, and plug the other homeplug in my room?

 

[Pistachio]

Yup. The one I linked only does one wired connection though. No wifi. You need to find a different one if you want wifi

 

[SWL16]

Get homeplugs. Much better than wifi

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...rline-adapter-kit-twin-pack-10143560-pdt.html

This. Much better than wifi boosters

I use these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Computer...-Extender-Configuration-Smartphone/B00DHB2T44

 

[Mr Plums]

Our wifi boosters are great, just plug it in the wall no wires needed, we could get zero signal in our bedroom before and i couldnt connect to the internet, its now full bars and we never lose connection.

 

[Mr Burns]

Our wifi boosters are great, just plug it in the wall no wires needed, we could get zero signal in our bedroom before and i couldnt connect to the internet, its now full bars and we never lose connection.

What booster have you got mate?

 

[charltjr]

Powerline stuff is great if your home wiring is suitable, I used to swear by them but they're a bit slow in the current place because the wiring runs are much longer than in previous houses I've been in. They still work fine, there's just a significant performance drop off.

I use a £15 Netgear range extender now to overcome exactly the problem you had and it works great.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NIUHAG6/?tag=cliospnet01-21

Personally I'd try powerline for any application where performance and latency is important to you, but buy from somewhere like amazon where you can return them no questions asked if they're not quite right for you. For streaming telly, hooking up a mobile etc I'd keep it cheap and cheerful. It's one of those situations where there's not really a right or wrong, it's just what suits you best.

 

[Mr Plums]

What booster have you got mate?

I cant remember the name mate but iirc they were about £20 off amazon.

 

[R3k1355]

Powerline stuff is great if your home wiring is suitable, I used to swear by them but they're a bit slow in the current place because the wiring runs are much longer than in previous houses I've been in. They still work fine, there's just a significant performance drop off.

They have issues with old wiring and going between different ring mains IIRC.

I don't know how you'd go about figuring out what plugs are on what ring main but you might get some performance boost moving plugs around all onto the same one???

 

[andybond]

You need to be careful just adding a booster. WiFi tends to crap out due to interference from other channels.

You really need to have a sniff around what channels other WiFi broadcasts are using and pick a channel that is away from that. 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz is another consideration.

Take a peek at this : https://www.howtogeek.com/197268/ho...nnel-for-your-router-on-any-operating-system/

 

[Mr Burns]

Interesting... We live in a detached house so I'd be surprised if other signals are interfering, but it could easily be the case!

 

[andybond]

Interesting... We live in a detached house so I'd be surprised if other signals are interfering, but it could easily be the case!

Unless you are miles from another house , I would very much doubt you are void from another signal. WiFi search on your phone. I would be very surprised if you dont pick up several others.

 

[Canary172]

I ended up buying a Belkin N300 extender;
http://www.argos.co.uk/product/2598493
Works a treat!

 

[JonnyK]

If i was to buy a wifi extender I would make sure it was wireless AC, not the outdated N

 

[Pistachio]

If i was to buy a wifi extender I would make sure it was wireless AC, not the outdated N

WHAT

 

[Starlet_gt]

I use powerline adapters. Signal is brilliant and it means the WiFi in my garage is not far off the speed I get in the house.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

 

[charltjr]

If i was to buy a wifi extender I would make sure it was wireless AC, not the outdated N

Again, depends on your circumstances. AC is overkill for a lot of people as their broadband connection won't even come close to saturating an N connection. Sure, if you're doing a lot of big file transfers etc the extra speed can be welcome and the extra range can be too. Horses for courses. Moving up to AC would have doubled the price of the range extender and it would have been useless for me.

Powerline can have issues with some types of RCD in the fuse box especially when the signal crosses over to another ring, which is why I recommend getting them from somewhere with a good returns policy so you can give them a go and see if they work for you. When they do work well, they're brilliant.

 

[Mr Burns]

I've bought some WIFI plugs from Currys, and they seem to be working fine

 

[JonnyK]

Again, depends on your circumstances. AC is overkill for a lot of people as their broadband connection won't even come close to saturating an N connection. Sure, if you're doing a lot of big file transfers etc the extra speed can be welcome and the extra range can be too. Horses for courses. Moving up to AC would have doubled the price of the range extender and it would have been useless for me.

Powerline can have issues with some types of RCD in the fuse box especially when the signal crosses over to another ring, which is why I recommend getting them from somewhere with a good returns policy so you can give them a go and see if they work for you. When they do work well, they're brilliant.

I guess it all comes down to if it is solely for internet purposes, or if you have a home network and file transfer speeds etc.. are important. Which to me they are.

 

[JonnyK]

WHAT

cool story bro. Care to elaborate?

 

[MrBlonde]

Anyone using a booster with the Sky Q box/router?.im looking to get one to work with my Sky router,im only in a flat so guessing doesnt need to be to fancy.

 

[R3k1355]

Run it over powerline adaptors if you can.

 

[Goodj]

Another vote for powerline.
The only times it isn't a better idea:

1) old wiring
2) if you have more than 1 main board. The Powerline signal only goes as far as your....'consumer unit' (?, someone electrical will correct me here).

ethernet > wifi

 

[Paul172sport]

My garage is about 50m from my router and I want to pick up wifi down there.
What's best to boost/extend the signal?
I've mains power but it's run off the main fuse box but on it's own circuit and via a separate mains power cable down the garden.
Will the plug in ones work for me??

 

[Pistachio]

My garage is about 50m from my router and I want to pick up wifi down there.
What's best to boost/extend the signal?
I've mains power but it's run off the main fuse box but on it's own circuit and via a separate mains power cable down the garden.
Will the plug in ones work for me??

Yeah should work fine. Buy it from Currys or something and if it doesn't work you can take it back. Pretty sure it will though