Extend wifi coverage

Pineapple Smurf said:
Unless you set that Huawei AX3 into Access Point mode? Right? Then it will act like a booster?
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It has repeater mode and AP mode, but AP mode will still create a new network. You can name it the same as the other house network if you wish.

If you set it into repeater mode, it will act like a booster, but @r00igev@@r will haunt OP down if he does that.

If you don't set it to AP mode, it will create a double nat, but I doubt it would bother OP.
 
Grieta Thanburg said:
It has repeater mode and AP mode, but AP mode will still create a new network. You can name it the same as the other house network if you wish.

If you set it into repeater mode, it will act like a booster, but @r00igev@@r will haunt OP down if he does that.

If you don't set it to AP mode, it will create a double nat, but I doubt it would bother OP.
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Aah my bad, not AP, I meant Repeater Mode
Thanx
 
What's your budget?
- low/cheap (under R1000) - cable plus any cheap router that you can put into AP mode
- mid (under R3000) - cable plus AP (unifi/ubiquiti or ruije)
- high (above 3K) - probably still cable, but for convenience, mesh will work well)

What's your tech ability/access to equipment?
- low - go for mesh (you won't have to worry about running conduit, laying cable, crimping and testing endpoints <-- not difficult to do but it's a bit of a bother)
- med/high - cable all the way - most reliable method and cheap

What's the physical layout?
- can you run conduit easily? - cable
- is it easy to drill the holes you need? - cable
- do you have clear line of sight between the locations? If yes, consider this which is basically a wireless 'cable' [Takealot Link] - I set this up between my Mom and Sister who live next door to each other and it's been running flawlessly since June 2021

Edit: Quite honestly, @Mike Hoxbig is correct - mesh is the easiest and simplest and not that expensive - this 3 pack is going for just over R3K at TA and well worth the saving in complexity and bother - https://www.takealot.com/tp-link-de...ole-home-wifi-sytem-2x-gbe-ports/PLID58570567 - with only a 10m gap you might even get away with a 2 pack at just over R2K (https://www.takealot.com/tp-link-decom4-2-pack-ac1200-whole-home-wifi-system/PLID54517085) - nice thing with TA is that if it doesn't do the job just return it.
 
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Brother in law just used three mesh deco units, one at router, one in house nearest cottage by a window, one in cottage. Its seamless you get great coverage and it just works
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
Mesh is always the answer to coverage.

First node plugged into the router. Second node as close to the cottage as possible. Third node inside the cottage...
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Doesn't that work out very expensive?
 
Thanks for the advice!

I think I should have made my situation clearer... it's not for streaming. It will mainly be used for whatsapp calls (audio and video) and messages and such things.
 
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Aravose said:
Thanks for the advice!

I think I should have made my situation clearer... it's not for streaming. It will mainly be used for whatsapp calls (audio and video) and messages and such things.
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What's your budget - your needs don't require high bandwidth which means that you can go for the cheaper mesh solutions.

It really is very difficult to advise you without knowing what you're prepared to spend.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Access point. Never another router.
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I've always just used extra routers lying around and it works fine. Does a proper AP provide better coverage, or what would the reason be to prefer an AP over a router?
 
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Grieta Thanburg said:
I've always just used extra routers lying around and it works fine. Does a proper AP provide better coverage, or what would the reason be to prefer an AP over a router?
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If you know what you are doing then you can use a Router as an AP.

Most people don’t and end up with a Double NAT.

1. Do not use the WAN port unless you know for sure it can be made into a LAN port.
2. Turn off DHCP Server.
3. Turn off Firewall for good measure.
4. AP should be in the same IP range as the main router, you should only have one range and one router device on your network.
 
SauRoNZA said:
If you know what you are doing then you can use a Router as an AP.

Most people don’t and end up with a Double NAT.

1. Do not use the WAN port unless you know for sure it can be made into a LAN port.
2. Turn off DHCP Server.
3. Turn off Firewall for good measure.
4. AP should be in the same IP range as the main router, you should only have one range and one router device on your network.
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Most user-friendly routers does most of this if you switch it into AP mode.

I gathered OP wasn't too technical, which is why I suggested what I suggested. It's cheap and even if you use it as WAN it will still "extend the Wi-Fi", although you will double nat, but I don't think it would bother OP.
 
Grieta Thanburg said:
Most user-friendly routers does most of this if you switch it into AP mode.

I gathered OP wasn't too technical, which is why I suggested what I suggested. It's cheap and even if you use it as WAN it will still "extend the Wi-Fi", although you will double nat, but I don't think it would bother OP.
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Yeah if it has it built-in all good, but it's still bad wording to say "router" if you aren't using it as a router.
 
Thanks for this great form post. I am learning a few things as I am stuck in a similar situation; which I need to resolve for the church and Kindergarten.

Background:
- The church and Kindergarten share the same property/address in the Northern Suburbs, Cape Town
- The fiber box/modem and Wifi router reside in the church.

Issues:
- The wifi router does not provide enough coverage for the Kindergarten to access the internet.
- There is one extender going to one of the classes; which works.
- there is another access point (or is it router? see picture title kindergarten.jpeg) set up for another class with a cable to the fibre router, but apparently the "port is not opened" - not sure what this means. Apparently Vumatel needs to open this port?

Images attached
 

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fire2029 said:
Thanks for this great form post. I am learning a few things as I am stuck in a similar situation; which I need to resolve for the church and Kindergarten.

Background:
- The church and Kindergarten share the same property/address in the Northern Suburbs, Cape Town
- The fiber box/modem and Wifi router reside in the church.

Issues:
- The wifi router does not provide enough coverage for the Kindergarten to access the internet.
- There is one extender going to one of the classes; which works.
- there is another access point (or is it router? see picture title kindergarten.jpeg) set up for another class with a cable to the fibre router, but apparently the "port is not opened" - not sure what this means. Apparently Vumatel needs to open this port?

Images attached
Click to expand...
Run a cable between the church and the kindergarten.
 
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