Do I need an access Point

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joker08

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The front of the house(living room) has a TP-link router but the signal is weak in the ensuite bedroom which is at the back of the house. So I ran an ethernet cable through the roof to a second router and set it to be used as an access point(using these instructions ), I
use wireless on my laptop and the desktop is connected to this second router using an ethernet cable.
I have a common SSID for the wireless on both routers.
The challenge is when my wife uses her laptop in the study which is in between the bedroom and the living room. She complains that her skype calls keep dropping.
From what I have observed, the problem is the laptop or any wireless device doesn't switch to the wireless from one router to another when the signal gets weak, instead, it waits till the existing wireless connection is completely out of range and then it picks up the other available wifi. Since she is in the middle of both wireless routers, its creating issues.
If I remove the second router and put an access point will it resolve the issue?
I have a POE switch in the roof so running another ethernet to the new access point is not a problem.
 
Nope.

A normal access point will be no different/better in this regard and the same client side problems will exist as it’s sees them all as different network essentially.

This is why Mesh systems exist as the “server” is intelligently aware of other Access Points and hands the client device off between them.

To the client device it all appears as one single network.

****

Have you at the very least setup your SSID on different channels for each AP? And preferably quite far apart at that.

Another trick would be to lower the power of one or even both units to try to compensate for the overlap.
 
You need to adjust her roaming aggressiveness on her laptop.

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You gave the second router a static IP of the same range as the main router and disabled DHCP on the 2nd router?
 
SauRoNZA said:
Nope.

A normal access point will be no different/better in this regard and the same client side problems will exist as it’s sees them all as different network essentially.

This is why Mesh systems exist as the “server” is intelligently aware of other Access Points and hands the client device off between them.

To the client device it all appears as one single network.

****

Have you at the very least setup your SSID on different channels for each AP? And preferably quite far apart at that.

Another trick would be to lower the power of one or even both units to try to compensate for the overlap.
Click to expand...
SSID on different channels for each AP : no, the instructions on the website i followed said they need to be the same.
I wi try that.
 
Or should I disable the wifi on the main router and put an access point in the center of the house ? Remove the extra router. Then there would be only one wifi in the house.
I will just connect the desktop with the ethernet from the main router.
 
joker08 said:
SSID on different channels for each AP : no, the instructions on the website i followed said they need to be the same.
I wi try that.
Click to expand...
Try different channels. Mine is setup that way and I have no problems with different access points.
 
joker08 said:
Or should I disable the wifi on the main router and put an access point in the center of the house ? Remove the extra router. Then there would be only one wifi in the house.
I will just connect the desktop with the ethernet from the main router.
Click to expand...

Then you’ll likely just have dead spots on the outlaying areas.

The guide is a bit kak to advise using the same channels, especially with the same SSID.

Trying using the extremes of 1, 6 and 11.
 
I'm a bit old fashioned - I got a guy to run Cat6a ethernet cables with neat trunking, from the routers to RJ45 access points mounted on the rooms/walls. I love the quick response times as compared to WiFi. For cellphones and the roaming laptop users, theres mobile data.
 
Aghori said:
I'm a bit old fashioned - I got a guy to run Cat6a ethernet cables with neat trunking, from the routers to RJ45 access points mounted on the rooms/walls. I love the quick response times as compared to WiFi. For cellphones and the roaming laptop users, theres mobile data.
Click to expand...
guessing from your DP, Kamar-taj with wifi ?? :p
 
you should only use the same SSID if your AP's have a controller or a mesh system and they can handle the hand-off properly. Otherwise as SauronZA said it will be a mess.

Roaming aggressiveness should have helped so something else is at play.

Maybe also try this:

Preventing Network Switching​

If two of the networks in your wireless network list are in the same physical location, your computer might switch from one to the other frequently. It does this in an attempt to remain connected to the network with the strongest signal. You can prevent this behavior by right-clicking one of the networks, clicking "Properties" and then deselecting the "Connect to a More Preferred Network if Available" option. To prevent this behavior completely, make the same change with all of the networks in the list.
 
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