Wireless Range Extenders?

[godhugh]

My FiOS router is located on the 2nd floor of my house and my TV is on the first floor, on the total opposite side of the house. This, naturally, results in a fairly weak wi-fi signal for the TV and for our devices when we're in the living room. Does anyone have any recommendations for a range extender? Is a range extender even what I really need? If so, what would be the best location to put it? Half-way in between the router and the TV? Running cables isn't really an option, but I'm open to other suggestions if yall have any. We're fixing to upgrade to 4k TV so I want to make sure I have solid wi-fi to the TV so streaming works well. Thanks!

[Kasey Chang]

There are 3 general solutions to your problem:

1) Run a powerline networking from your router to downstairs to your TV

2) Run a powerline networking from your router to downstairs, and start a SECOND AP (Home Downstairs vs. Home, maybe)

3) Run a range extender to "clone" your existing SSID, except you put the range extender downstairs. I was told this will half the throughput of the network.


I kinda ended up doing (1) and (3). My router is downstairs, and my signal upstairs is not good. I ran a CAT 5 from Router to Switch (where it went to a downstairs PC) then to powerline networking adapter. The other end of the adapter is upstairs, connected to my Roku for upstairs TV. I also have an ASUS range extender next to my PC but I'm debating whether I should switch to (2) and make a second AP so it doesn't conflict with the signal downstairs. But that's minor tweaking. I could use another switch upstairs so instead of going directly into Roku it can go into both Roku and the second AP. Hmmm... (Roku can go both wired and wireless, but works better in wired mode of course)

[morlac]

I looked into this a few weeks ago and ended up getting a better WIFI router in lieu of using an extender. I spent a little more than the extenders I was looking at but have been thoroughly pleased with the results. Not sure that will work in your case but might be worth looking at?

Edit to add: I got a dual band Router and setup both. Apple stuff goes on the slow 2.4ghz. Android and PC/Laptops go on the faster 5 ghz. that also made a big difference in speed but not really signal strength.

[gilraen]

We have a range extender - this one, it works great. I did experiment a little with which outlet to plug it into, but basically I tried to get a straight line to both the router and the room that needs the signal.

I also have a Diamond powerline adapter that was used for a Roku a few years back that refused to get any wi-fi signal despite being smack in the middle of the house. It worked very well, but I didn't try plugging in more than 1 device.

[Victoria Raverna]

Best solution is to run a CAT 5 to an access point.

Powerline adapter to an access point or powerline adapter with wifi can also work but that depend on your electrical wiring.

[jotomades]

I do not use such extenders, is it bad?

[Z-Corn]

I don't know bot, you tell us...

[Pyperkub]

Realistically, you should be looking at WiFi Mesh systems now:

Fast-forward to recent years, and consumers now have more options than ever when it comes to home Wi-Fi networks. What’s more, technological advancements and increased competition have resulted in massive quality improvements, much better reliability and faster data speeds. The biggest strides that have been made recently have come courtesy of a new wave of mesh networking solutions that claim to improve on every aspect of the home Wi-Fi experience… but do they deliver?

We tested all of the top mesh Wi-Fi systems on the market right now, and in this post we’ll show you the best of the best.

[DD*]

I've used a wifi extender (some Linksys/Cisco number) successfully in the past. I've also seen good results with a USB wifi widget with a realy antenna rather than the little micro wifi adapters.

[noxiousdog]

I can't say enough good things about Google Wifi (their range extenders).

The only thing to beware of is it will create a subnet and only things on the subnet can talk to each other. There is an ethernet connection for anything you have wired in addition for the outbound internet connection. You can, of course, port forward, but plan on treating it as an isolated network.

[GuidoTKP]

Realistically, you should be looking at WiFi Mesh systems now:

Fast-forward to recent years, and consumers now have more options than ever when it comes to home Wi-Fi networks. What’s more, technological advancements and increased competition have resulted in massive quality improvements, much better reliability and faster data speeds. The biggest strides that have been made recently have come courtesy of a new wave of mesh networking solutions that claim to improve on every aspect of the home Wi-Fi experience… but do they deliver?

We tested all of the top mesh Wi-Fi systems on the market right now, and in this post we’ll show you the best of the best.

+1

I went with Google WiFi. Works great. Coverage in my two story home is comprehensive. There are no longer weak spots. I have good coverage in my front and back yards as well.

[Victoria Raverna]

I can't say enough good things about Google Wifi (their range extenders).

The only thing to beware of is it will create a subnet and only things on the subnet can talk to each other. There is an ethernet connection for anything you have wired in addition for the outbound internet connection. You can, of course, port forward, but plan on treating it as an isolated network.

Can the google wifi support custom dns with non standard port?

For example instead of 208.67.222.222 which use the default port 53, can it use 208.67.222.222:443 to use port 443?

I am now using two routers, a standard modem router that can't support non standard dns port and a tomato based router that can. So I have dual NAT setup and if I use google wifi, it'll be a triple NAT setup. I wonder if I can just get rid of the tomato based router and use google wifi with the modem router while still using non standard dns port.

I need to use non standard DNS port because most ISP in Indonesia redirect port 53 to their own dns server to implement internet censorship (with the goal of blocking porn sites but also religious debate sites that are against Islam).