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[TableLeg]

I have an Ethernet connection (1 each) in 2x rooms of the house at the furthest point away from the router, however not unsurprisingly the connection is not great at this point.

Given that I have an Ethernet connection is there some kind of booster device I could plug into the Ethernet cable to boost the WiFi signal in this area?

Thanks in advance.

 

 

[loonylion]

a wifi access point set to the same ssid (and a different channel) as the main ap/router should allow seamless roaming between the two base stations depending on which has the stronger signal at any given location.

[TableLeg]

a wifi access point set to the same ssid (and a different channel) as the main ap/router should allow seamless roaming between the two base stations depending on which has the stronger signal at any given location.

Thanks for the reply 

So just to clarify so I know I understand this correctly, I could buy a device that I could plug into the mains, and connect via Ethernet cable to the wired point in the room. This would then boost the WiFi signal in that area?

Can you recommend such a device?

[loonylion]

technically it wouldn't boost the signal from the main source, it would create another wireless network at the new source.

If both base stations are configured with the same name, wifi standard, encryption etc then the effect should be that the original wifi network has been extended and devices should be able to transition between either base station at will, without it being noticeable by the user.

I can't recommend anything since I've only ever done it with professional grade devices. In theory just about any wireless router could be (ab)used like this, especially if it runs dd-wrt. make sure the 2nd device supports the same wifi standards and encryption used on the main router, disable DHCP on the 2nd router and set the wireless up exactly the same as the main router, but on a different (ideally non-overlapping, eg 1,6 or 11) channel, then plug one of the LAN ports into your ethernet connection

[TableLeg]

Thanks again for the reply.

I did venture into trying an old router once in the past but didn't have much luck getting it to run seamlessly. I was hoping for something I could just plug in and it'd work with no requirements to fiddle with any settings.

I may have to dig out an old router and look at this again though.

 

 

[loonylion]

plug-in wifi signal boosters do exist, they don't use ethernet, they simply rebroadcast the signal from the main router. On the downside, they reduce the wifi bandwidth available.

[Dray]

Can you recommend such a device?

http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/cat-12_TL-WA901ND.html

[TableLeg]

plug-in wifi signal boosters do exist, they don't use ethernet, they simply rebroadcast the signal from the main router. On the downside, they reduce the wifi bandwidth available.

Thanks again, yes I read that and wanted to try and avoid that route.

[TableLeg]

Can you recommend such a device?

http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/cat-12_TL-WA901ND.html

Perfect!!!  That looks just like what I need.

[Dray]

Yes, it works very well. It's easy to choose which mode you want to use and I think you should set it up as an access point.

It's very easy to do the same thing with an old router if you know what you're doing.

[Weaver]

I think Dray's recommendation is a good one. If the channel space is getting crowded where you are, you may need to think about going to 5 GHz instead. (isn't that device 2.4GHz-only?) TP-Link make an excellent 5GHz wireless access point which is about £50. Zyxel make dual-frequency access points offering 2.4GHz and 5GHz simultaneously, and there are plenty of other manufacturers doing the same. There are lots of free channels in the 5GHz space so it's very much worth considering if you have neighbours and the miserable three frequencies 1, 6, 11 (four at a push if you space them slightly wider and hope) are getting fully occupied.

[tickmike]

I use old WiFi routers as an Access Points plugged in to my Ethernet network, I have 5 around my house at the moment and get good WiFi anywhere around my house or large garden.
I get routers Free off  'freecycle'  www.freecycle.org    .
There are plenty of details on the internet as how to configure them.

[NewtronStar]

Hello guys i would like to use my Dlink 2640B as a wireless repeater in living room without ethernet cable and just can't seem to be able to do this.

Here is a link to the settings http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=59005.0 eveything go's well in Secondary Router  upto the point were i enter the mac wireless code for the main router and save/apply changes it just sits on this page.

Is the Dlink 2640B able to use WDS ?

[Dray]

Are both routers Dlink 2640B's

[NewtronStar]

Are both routers Dlink 2640B's

Nope the Main router is a Brightbox2 and the Dlink 2640B will be the Secondary Router