Wireless extenders

IOPS said:
I've had a pretty bleak experience with a few consumer APs/ extenders.
Where possible, I'd strongly recommend getting a Ubiquiti AP.
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+1 Ubiquity AP will cover your home extremely well, even if you just two at opposite ends it will cover your entire home and they are rock solid, in your case I would use 3 each where you marked with a X :) , that does mean you need to pull ethernet cable, but you dont need to worry about power as they work with POE.

Never had much luck with Range Repeaters regardless of the brand, another thing to consider is if you use a wireless repeater the wireless network runs in half duplex mode meaning your trough put is halved.
 
FaSMaN said:
+1 Ubiquity AP will cover your home extremely well, even if you just two at opposite ends it will cover your entire home and they are rock solid, in your case I would use 3 each where you marked with a X :) , that does mean you need to pull ethernet cable, but you dont need to worry about power as they work with POE.

Never had much luck with Range Repeaters regardless of the brand, another thing to consider is if you use a wireless repeater the wireless network runs in half duplex mode meaning your trough put is halved.
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Ubiquiti is the best. I worked with the HP Bullets at the mines - They are extremely dependable, ridiculously rugged and a dream to work with. We had 300 of those little units deployed on one project, and never had a single failure. I'm actually looking at one of their residential units for my use.
 
I have a question about extenders. If it picks up a weak signal and re transmit it, will you get the same or similar speed standing next to the extender as you would standing next ton the router itself, or would it just transmit the weak signal further?
 
MitchellHale said:
I have a question about extenders. If it picks up a weak signal and re transmit it, will you get the same or similar speed standing next to the extender as you would standing next ton the router itself, or would it just transmit the weak signal further?
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It will transmit the weak signal. Hence I bought the tenda that has as good wireless range so that I don't need to extend it and plug it in directly in my ADSL router.
 
xrapidx said:
Yip - full property coverage now.
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That's good to know. So, how far does this thing extend to? I have a flatlet on my property that is about 40m away from my Tenda main ADSL router but the flatlet is on a terraced area about 10m lower than the level of that router. Do you think this Tenda device will be able to reach that spot? Also, how do you set it up? Does it have to be cabled to the main router or does it pick up the wifi signal and then amplify it?

Sorry, I'm useless with networking, so any help is appreciated.
 
If you have a look at the picture I posted earlier, I get coverage throughout the house, and by the pool area. The extender is plugged in where the blue cross is in the bottom - and the VDSL wireless router is plugged in at the red cross.

I also have a Pi3 in the bottom left corner of the property controlling irrigation, and its on the wireless network with no drop offs.

(Property is about 700m2)
 
D4N said:
Hows the speed? Do you lose throughput by using a repeater?
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No clue unfortunately - my wireless connection is only used for internet access. I have wired points for everything requiring bandwidth.
 
I'll never use a repeater/extender again. Much better to set up APs. Currently I'm using Airport Express stations downstairs and the router upstairs but the router only has single band so there's just one practical network. The Airport Express doesn't have a terribly strong signal but it's so simple and bulletproof to set up that I don't care.
 
So I bought the Tenda W-FH307 today, but I am either totally thick or this thing just doesn't work as advertised.

If I set it up by connecting to my existing ADSL router with an ethernet cable I am able to create a new wifi network with a password and connect to the internet, no problem. But I am still not getting enough range from this thing, even after pushing the boost button.

I was under the impression that somehow this device would be able to connect to my existing wifi signal and boost that, which would then let me position it closer to where it needs to be received. I have tried everything to get this to work and while it will pick up the existing wifi when enabling the WISP method, it doesn't seem to want to allow internet access once the ethernet cable is unplugged and its moved away from my office.

Can anybody point me in the direction of a tutorial or something I can educate myself on this stuff with? I'm sure its just a setting I am missing, but there are so many of them I am hopelessly lost. Thanks.
 
Pixual said:
So I bought the Tenda W-FH307 today, but I am either totally thick or this thing just doesn't work as advertised.

If I set it up by connecting to my existing ADSL router with an ethernet cable I am able to create a new wifi network with a password and connect to the internet, no problem. But I am still not getting enough range from this thing, even after pushing the boost button.

I was under the impression that somehow this device would be able to connect to my existing wifi signal and boost that, which would then let me position it closer to where it needs to be received. I have tried everything to get this to work and while it will pick up the existing wifi when enabling the WISP method, it doesn't seem to want to allow internet access once the ethernet cable is unplugged and its moved away from my office.

Can anybody point me in the direction of a tutorial or something I can educate myself on this stuff with? I'm sure its just a setting I am missing, but there are so many of them I am hopelessly lost. Thanks.
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So looking at the spec sheet I could find in the Internet, see that the device cab work as:

(1) High power Wi-Fi Router ---- You seem to have it setup to work in this mode
(2) As a Universal Repeater ----- There must be another set of setup instructions for this mode of operation.

Further I see the devices has the following working modes under its wireless features:

(a) An AP ---- This in my opinion is a much better way to set it up but it will require a wired connection back to your main router
(b) A Universal repeater -- This is the mode you are expecting to use?
(c) As a WISP --- don't think you want to do this
(d) WDS Bridge

Not a bad piece of kit. Suggest you read the manual some more to find the correct settings or go on to the manufacturers website to find more detailed setup instructions.

Check this out
http://www.tendacn.com/en/faq/default.html

plenty of help there in their FAQ section.

Or here for the router you have :

http://tendacn.com/en/product/FH307.html
 
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Geoff.D said:
So looking at the spec sheet I could find in the Internet, see that the device cab work as:

(1) High power Wi-Fi Router ---- You seem to have it setup to work in this mode
(2) As a Universal Repeater ----- There must be another set of setup instructions for this mode of operation.

Further I see the devices has the following working modes under its wireless features:

(a) An AP ---- This in my opinion is a much better way to set it up but it will require a wired connection back to your main router
(b) A Universal repeater -- This is the mode you are expecting to use?
(c) As a WISP --- don't think you want to do this
(d) WDS Bridge

Not a bad piece of kit. Suggest you read the manual some more to find the correct settings or go on to the manufacturers website to find more detailed setup instructions.

Check this out
http://www.tendacn.com/en/faq/default.html

plenty of help there in their FAQ section.
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Thanks for the suggestions. Earlier I went through most of the Tenda literature, but honestly, I don't understand it at all. The more I play with this thing the less I seem to understand what it's doing.

I had thought that a universal repeater would be the way to use it, but when I try to set it up that way it will not connect to the internet unless it is connected by ethernet.

I think I must just take this thing back to Scoop and try to find another solution... :(
 
Pixual said:
Thanks for the suggestions. Earlier I went through most of the Tenda literature, but honestly, I don't understand it at all. The more I play with this thing the less I seem to understand what it's doing.

I had thought that a universal repeater would be the way to use it, but when I try to set it up that way it will not connect to the internet unless it is connected by ethernet.

I think I must just take this thing back to Scoop and try to find another solution... :(
Click to expand...

All these setups regardless of which one you buy are confusing. More so I think if you go into it with pre-conceived ideas ( which we all do initially).

I suggest you start by drawing simple diagram of what you are trying to do. Compare that with the manual and then select the mode.

Alternatively, you need to find someone who has worked with APs and extenders before to help you on site.

As I understand it you currently have a wired connection ( ADSL) terminated on an existing router with Wi-Fi.

There are two ways forward.
(1) the better way is to work out where in your home you want to have better Wi-Fi coverage place this new router there and connect it back to your main router via a LAN cable --- There are a few things you need to check about your existing router for this to work -- for example will it support WDS? if not then this option may not be available to you.

(2) The second is to set it up as a Universal Repeater, which will simply extend coverage.

Patience!
 
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