# Wireless Repeaters



## Wozzer (Jun 11, 2010)

Afternoon everyone,

Just a quicky - I need to extend my wireless signal to allow it to reach our newly convertered garage (Which happens to be my room). The router im using is the BT Home Hub 2.

I've read several forums and come across several options on how to increase the signal. One of these being a repeater. Would anyone else recommended going down this route?

Can anyone guarantee that wireless repeaters work with the BT Home Hub, as i've heard they don't?

And could anyone suggest me a repeater. Budget around £25.


Many thanks,

Wasley


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Jun 11, 2010)

Repeaters are not worth the money IMO.  I have had 2.  They just don't do the job.  You need to get an extremely good quality (directional if need be!) antenna.  I got one that boosted the signal and did a great job.


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## Wozzer (Jun 11, 2010)

Unfortunatley, the BT Home Hub has a built in antenna so that option isnt avaliable to me.


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## slyfox2151 (Jun 11, 2010)

im guessing a cable would be out of the question, but do take into consideration:


adding a repeater will Half the bandwidth and add more latency to wireless. (unless the part about the bandwidth is wrong, i remember reading it somewhere but i cant find it right now.)



maybe you can just move your current wireless router into a better position?


(just trying some alternatives ) personaly i have never used a repeater so i really cant recomend one.


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## Wozzer (Jun 11, 2010)

Adding an ethernet from the Router to the PC is highly un-likely as its to far. 

As for moving the router, that could be a possiblity - But its a pain as the main computer we are using (Where the router is also kept) isn't wireless meaning the ethernet cable is connected directly from the computer to the router.

So I have several options;

- Buy a wireless reapeater
- Buy a NIC for the computer and move the router
- Buy a seperate router and use it as a repeater
- Buy a powerline adaptor


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## Athlon2K15 (Jun 11, 2010)

powerline might be good option if using a solid cable isnt


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## Easy Rhino (Jun 11, 2010)

buy a cheap d-link wireless g router. bridge the d-link with your home hub router. buy a half watt amp and hook it up to your wireless g. bam.


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## Solaris17 (Jun 11, 2010)

Easy Rhino said:


> buy a cheap d-link wireless g router. bridge the d-link with your home hub router. buy a half watt amp and hook it up to your wireless g. bam.



BAM


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## Velvet Wafer (Jun 11, 2010)

he could also buy himself a powerlan, like devolo produces... helped me pretty good i must say!


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## Solaris17 (Jun 11, 2010)

i have not been informed of this powerline/lan please explain sounds intriguing.


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## Velvet Wafer (Jun 11, 2010)

there are several versions, i got me the WLAN version which isnt the cheapest nor the most expensive. 
you simply plug a small box in the power socket, with both a power socket on top of it, so you dont loose the plug for other things, and a network plug on the downside.
then you connect your standard wlan,or no wlan router to it, via cable, and voila!, all your powerlines in your house, are now network capable too! 
So, the next step is, that you plug in the Wireless G Router Devolo supplied, in the power socket, in the room, where you want to have cable capabilities, or near the room you want to have wlan capabilities. 
there is just one cable, the power plug of the devolo router works as both data and power connection. then you just plug in your rigs, configure the router via IP, as usual, and you can also set a password for the whole powerlan, via a software that is delivered. 
then you have 1 or 2 wlans and 2 places to connect cables rigs to, also the connection is up to 300mbps via powerline, if both the emitter and the reciver are on the same phase (or as ktr stated, breaker) 

regarding the price: i paid 100 euro, and i must say: it was worth it!


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## Easy Rhino (Jun 11, 2010)

yea get two of these

TRENDnet TPE-112GS Gigabit Power over Ethernet (Po...

and it is supposed to work like normal.


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## ktr (Jun 11, 2010)

I would go with direct burial Ethernet cable (get it from ebay) and probably some PVC pipe (local hardware store) for extra protection. It will be cheaper and a much solid solution. Powerline is also a good solution, but it is best to be on the same breaker. There is something called MOCA adapters (Ethernet over coax; NETGEAR MCAB1001-100NAS 270 Mbps MoCA Coax-Etherne...) but it is a bit pricey.


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## Easy Rhino (Jun 11, 2010)

ktr said:


> I would go with direct burial Ethernet cable (get it from ebay) and probably some PVC pipe (local hardware store) for extra protection. It will be cheaper and a much solid solution. Powerline is also a good solution, but it is best to be on the same breaker. There is something called MOCA adapters (Ethernet over coax; NETGEAR MCAB1001-100NAS 270 Mbps MoCA Coax-Etherne...) but it is a bit pricey.



direct burial is a good option, but to the OP that means most likely punching a hole through one of this exterior walls and the burying the cable. i think he wants to go wireless because it is in a new area of his house. he would have to punch out from where the router is and then punch in to his room. this is why wireless was invented!


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## Wozzer (Jun 11, 2010)

I've spoken to Dad and a ethernet cable to my room is a posibility. Am i right in saying you lose some of the speed when the cable gets to a certain length?


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## ktr (Jun 11, 2010)

What length are we talking about? 

There is no correlation between length of cable and speed, but the quality of the connection.

Category 5e or 6 can do 300 feet with no problems.


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## Wozzer (Jun 11, 2010)

At a guess, I would say around 30m


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## ktr (Jun 11, 2010)

The direct burial cable will be just fine with no performance loss. Recommend max is 90m to 100m.


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## wahdangun (Jun 12, 2010)

AthlonX2 said:


> powerline might be good option if using a solid cable isnt



i think its not a good idea because powerline have many noise, and if you have many motor apliance (example : blender, drilling equipmen).

i think you should go buy another wiffi router and WDS(Wireless Distribution System) it with your current router wiffi, i have try it with asus wl500w and lynksis wr54gl and its work great.


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## slyfox2151 (Jun 12, 2010)

Easy Rhino said:


> yea get two of these
> 
> TRENDnet TPE-112GS Gigabit Power over Ethernet (Po...
> 
> and it is supposed to work like normal.






um thats power over ethernet. how will that help him?


powerline networking is different to this device. (this would be use'd to power the ethernet router at the end of this cable or modem ECT.)


you wont lose bandwidth over cable. max cable distance is 100 meters so your well within the limits, im currently running Gigabit lan with 50 meter cables.
if you cant run a direct ethernet cable to the garage, then  powerline networking would be the best alternative.


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## Mussels (Jun 12, 2010)

either run a cable or go homeplug.

and as said in the post above me, PoE and homeplug are very very different things...


powerline is designed to work in a noisy environment, thats why its slower than ethernet in the first place...


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## zithe (Jun 12, 2010)

Wireless would have to pass through walls and travel the same distance. I think wired would be more reliable in any situation anyways.


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## Easy Rhino (Jun 12, 2010)

slyfox2151 said:


> um thats power over ethernet. how will that help him?



i thought that was what ktr was talking about...


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## Mussels (Jun 12, 2010)

Easy Rhino said:


> i thought that was what ktr was talking about...



homeplug = ethernet over your homes existing electrical wiring

PoE = running power over ethernet wiring, so that you dont need mains power to run hubs/switches/access points etc


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## Easy Rhino (Jun 12, 2010)

Mussels said:


> homeplug = ethernet over your homes existing wiring
> 
> PoE = running power over ethernet wiring, so that you dont need mains power to run hubs/switches/access points etc



ahh. see i thought ktr was talking about PoE because the OP did not specificy having any sort of pre-wiring in his garage.


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## Mussels (Jun 12, 2010)

Easy Rhino said:


> ahh. see i thought ktr was talking about PoE because the OP did not specificy having any sort of pre-wiring in his garage.



his PC is gunna need power in there, so one assumes it has mains power wired up.


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## ktr (Jun 12, 2010)

Easy Rhino said:


> ahh. see i thought ktr was talking about PoE because the OP did not specificy having any sort of pre-wiring in his garage.



As already defined, PoE and Powerline (aka homeplug) are to different technologies. Even though the technology vastly improved over the years, things like surge protectors or different breakers can disrupt the connection. Being that his garage has been converted to a room, chances are that they installed a new breaker for it.


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## crazy pyro (Jun 12, 2010)

Power line is also well known to cause interference and should in fact NOT have been allowed for use in the UK, might cause you problems with unwanted RF emissions (I know it causes lots of problems around 30MHz, not sure if it causes problems with mobiles/ broadcast bands). I'd suggest going ethernet or shifting your router to somewhere that is halfway between the two furthest PCs.


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## slyfox2151 (Jun 13, 2010)

we im still voting for a single cable run to the garage, bury  it or go over the roof.



very simple to setup and the cheapest option you have.

you could even run it accross the top of your fence if its 6 foot (2 meters).


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