Home network problems

[DUDE!@##$%%]

Hi,

so basically telkom forced me to have my router upstairs in the studio.
Downstairs is my office, the lounge and the kitchen.
Wifi barely makes it down the stairs because of the thick ass walls leaving my house with barely (if any) connection. My office connection is wireless with terrible signal leading to broken webpages, disconnects and near-impossible gaming.

I was wondering if anyone could help me find the best solution for the cheapest price.
So far I have been looking into upgrading my office PC with a better wifi network card or buying a cheap router to use as a repeater downstairs or buying an actual wi-fi extender/repeater, I also looked at power-line adapters which use the electrical cables in the house as ethernet connections.

But to be frank I'm quite lost and would appreciate some input.

 

[Magnum]

Hi,

so basically telkom forced me to have my router upstairs in the studio.
Downstairs is my office, the lounge and the kitchen.
Wifi barely makes it down the stairs because of the thick ass walls leaving my house with barely (if any) connection. My office connection is wireless with terrible signal leading to broken webpages, disconnects and near-impossible gaming.

I was wondering if anyone could help me find the best solution for the cheapest price.
So far I have been looking into upgrading my office PC with a better wifi network card or buying a cheap router to use as a repeater downstairs or buying an actual wi-fi extender/repeater, I also looked at power-line adapters which use the electrical cables in the house as ethernet connections.

But to be frank I'm quite lost and would appreciate some input.

Extend Phone cable to where it suites you. Problem solved.

 

[Nuro]

Power line adapters work well for the most part. I ran CAT5e cable through the house myself, my brother went the powerline adapter route. Both work pretty well.

 

[PsyWulf]

In order of Ideal
Move Router
Extend with CAT5 with a AP if needed elsewhere to offer Wifi
Powerline
Extender or Repeater

 

[kianm]

Extend Phone cable to where it suites you. Problem solved.

Depends on how much longer the resultant cable will be, won't that increase attenuation and kill his signal then .

I would go for the powerline adapters they are simple and smart to use long as your plugs share the same board. And if cabling is an option I would leave the modem where it is and run ethernet cables for the LAN and install additional WAPs / jacks, that way you have a further 100meteres before the signal degrades

 

[Salvage]

In order of Ideal
Move Router
Extend with CAT5 with a AP if needed elsewhere to offer Wifi
Powerline
Extender or Repeater

Seconded. Plus if you are prepared to do the labour yourself to lay network cables then CAT5e or CAT6 cable can be bought for around R5 to R7 a meter from many PC stores. I recently did a home networking project myself over a weekend, running the cables inside the roof (unseen to the family) to various parts of the house - brought the cables down in a corner of the room, next to the alarm or DSTV cables, behind the TV unit/bookshelf/whatever so it's fairly neat and tidy. Worked out relatively cheap, especially when compared to buying Ethernet-over-powerline or extender/repeater equipment.

 

[MickZA]

Depends on how much longer the resultant cable will be, won't that increase attenuation and kill his signal then

No, I've seen routers happily connecting with 25m Ellies telephone extension cables but it's a messy solution, rather extend using cat5/6 to a second point in the downstairs office (just remember that Telkom support ends at their jack).