Extending Wifi network range: wireless range extender or power of ethernet

Hi all,

So I recently moved into a garden cottage and convinced my landlady to switch to uncapped mweb. The cottage is about 5m from the main house and about 15m from the Belkin wireless N adsl router. The problem is that I am on the edge of the wifi range and although web browsing is fine, copying files is ludicrously slow and I average about 300kb/s...

I have read up quite alot on how wifi extenders can either save the day or causes grey hairs and how fantastic power over ethernet can add 10 years to your life....

I am considering purchasing the TP-LINK WA730RE 150M WIRELESS RANGE EXTENDER and putting in the main house room that is closest to my cottage. My only concern is that this won't talk nicely with the Belkin wireless N router... according to the product page

WA730RE features a Range Extender Button that allows users to setup the wireless connection on open network simply by pressing the Range Extender button for about 5 seconds. Auto-configuration can be successfully achieved without needing to access the device’s web interface

Click to expand...

I am slightly sceptical about this...

My other option is TP-LINK PA210 ETHERNET OVER POWER but I have no idea if this will work between the cottage and the main house, my main concerns being that both buildings are pretty old (~60 years, not sure about the electrical cabling quality...) and that the cottage has its own DB board. Has anyone had a similar experience?

Any comments and help will be appreciated

Repeaters dont generally play nicely with other brands so I would suggest you dont go down that road unless you have lots of spare time and dont get frustrated easily.

Powerline adapters generally dont work when going through DB boards but we have had reports of it actually working, but as there's no guarantee that this will work its probably not an option.

Something else you could try that would work and wouldnt be too expensive is to install a TL-WA5110G client router setup in client mode connecting to the wireless router in the main house, then install a TL-WR743ND in your cottage to redistribute the wireless signal in your cottage.

This will definitely work and will be pretty stable.

If you only have one device that you're connecting to the router in the main house then you could just buy a high gain USB adapter such as the TL-WN7200ND

kernel said:

Repeaters dont generally play nicely with other brands so I would suggest you dont go down that road unless you have lots of spare time and dont get frustrated easily.

Powerline adapters generally dont work when going through DB boards but we have had reports of it actually working, but as there's no guarantee that this will work its probably not an option.

Something else you could try that would work and wouldnt be too expensive is to install a TL-WA5110G client router setup in client mode connecting to the wireless router in the main house, then install a TL-WR743ND in your cottage to redistribute the wireless signal in your cottage.

This will definitely work and will be pretty stable.

If you only have one device that you're connecting to the router in the main house then you could just buy a high gain USB adapter such as the TL-WN7200ND

Click to expand...

Thank you kernel for your informative reply! I think I am going to try the TP-LINK WN7200ND and see how this affects my data transfer rates. I have also read up a lot on how maximising wifi transfers in win7 (seems like a universal problem) and I was unaware that wifi is half-duplex... If this doesn't solve anything I think I might just run a 15m ethernet cable

Edduck said:

Thank you kernel for your informative reply! I think I am going to try the TP-LINK WN7200ND and see how this affects my data transfer rates. I have also read up a lot on how maximising wifi transfers in win7 (seems like a universal problem) and I was unaware that wifi is half-duplex... If this doesn't solve anything I think I might just run a 15m ethernet cable

Click to expand...

Try the cable first! Just route it away from a gardener's spade

Edduck said:

Thank you kernel for your informative reply! I think I am going to try the TP-LINK WN7200ND and see how this affects my data transfer rates. I have also read up a lot on how maximising wifi transfers in win7 (seems like a universal problem) and I was unaware that wifi is half-duplex... If this doesn't solve anything I think I might just run a 15m ethernet cable

Click to expand...

If you are able to run a cable that will be first prize, cheapest and fastest option.

Running a 15m cable would be my first option. Transfer speeds will be much faster then wireless and it will be cheaper than a repeater. Its just a little effort, get some pvc if its underground for longer protection.

I would go the cable route. Firstly it will ensure that you have better speed to the ADSL router and that is I believe one of your main concerns. Secondly you are likely to spend less.
In running the cable I would say it pays to make a bit of an effort to make it neat and tidy to stay in the landperson's good books. Assuming that the area between your cottage and the house is garden, I would suggest digging a trench and laying the cable at about 40cm depth which is out of reach of most garden spades. Do encase it in normal electricians PVC conduit and put at either end proper elbow joints and run the conduit up the wall. I would even drill through the walls (check for electrical and water pipes first) and make it a neat and tidy job. Where it goes into the wall it is a good idea to put an inspection box in as at times it can be difficult getting cables round bends and having these boxes lets you get an electricians fish in easily.
To make life a little easier you could run the cable or strong string through the conduit before you bury it and then either pull the cable through or just push the ends of the cable through into the house. Remember to use the PVC cement to join all the connectors to make them watertight.
If there is paving between then you will need to lift it carefully and put it back. A word of warning though, it never looks the same so make sure the landperson is happy that you do it.
If it is cement then I suggest you go back to looking at the wireless extenders or find another route even if it is more than 15m.

Good Luck