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[tickmike]

After attempting to 'Skype' last night our daughter who is working away from home for a year, she is in rented house sharing with three others on the same course, The broadband is poor So is the WiFi in her room !.

I think putting in Ethernet cable is out of the question so I was thinking about getting some of these 'Home plugs' or similar.
I have read a few post on this forum.

I see the 'Base unit' would be plugged in to the router (may have to get a 'mains feed through type' as I think I only noticed one socket for the router).

The remote device would be plugged in her room and her laptop could be plugged in to the Ethernet socket, her iPhone could be connected to the WiFi hot spot.

It would need 'password' protection for logging in etc.

What types do you recommend ?.

[loonylion]

Homeplugs would only work if both ends are on the same ring main.

What about a wifi signal booster?

[Weaver]

Or a powerful access point, probably 5GHz so it would be able to stay clear of the existing wireless LANs.

[guest]

If the broadband is poor then is it worth getting new kit? Surely you're just going to end up with a fast connection to the router & "poor" after that?

Or is she basing this on the wifi throughput wherever in the house she is? ie has anyone tried a wired connection/looked at the router sync/etc?

Who provides the broadband?

[Weaver]

Btw I don't know whether or not it is the case that the wifi problems are because of interference from neighbours' 2.4GHz wlans.

[tickmike]

If the broadband is poor then is it worth getting new kit? Surely you're just going to end up with a fast connection to the router & "poor" after that?

Or is she basing this on the wifi throughput wherever in the house she is? ie has anyone tried a wired connection/looked at the router sync/etc?

Who provides the broadband?

The landlord has said they will put in FTTC at 35M compared to 1 to 2M now, but he has just had open heart surgery so it will not be yet.
I have only been in the house once to help her move in and I had a look at the router config data, I also gave it a re-boot and got another 1meg out of it  .
From what I can find out it's a TT (TalkTalk) Business ADSL2 LLU line 5/6 Km from the exchange, if they get FTTC that's about 450 / 500M to the cab.
The landlord is not got let them put in Ethernet cable .

[tickmike]

Btw I don't know whether or not it is the case that the wifi problems are because of interference from neighbours' 2.4GHz wlans.

I did have a look while I set her internet connection up and yes there are a lot around there so I set it up to use a channel 12  I think away from the others.

[guest]

Well there's no point in doing anything until the broadband is improved IMHO.

She might be better off buying a 3G dongle until it is.

[Chunkers]

I use TP Link homeplug / WAPs at home on my very dodgly cabling and they work all over the house including on different ring-mains although i have no idea why.

I also use this TP-Link M5350 mifi dongle when I am travelling and again it works quite well (I use mine when I am working in Africa but have used in the UK too).  The only thing to look out for is it gets too hot if you keep it in your pocket!

Cheers

C