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Extending Wi-fi Signal
#39429 03/13/16 04:01 PM
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deniro Offline OP
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On the second floor of my house, I have a desktop imac with a Netgear N300 router attached to it. I have the lowest DSL speed from ATT, which bandwidthplace.com judges to be, at the moment, 1.12 Mbps download.

Downstairs, on the first floor, I use Facetime on an ipad to communicate with my brother, which works surprisingly well. But I'd like to increase the signal strength to reduce or eliminate slowdowns and drops. Do you think a range extender would allow me to do that? Or is there something else to take into account? Thanks for any relevant advice you can offer.

Last edited by deniro; 03/13/16 04:35 PM.
Re: Extending Wi-fi Signal
deniro #39432 03/13/16 05:13 PM
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I use a powerline adapter/wi-fi extender that works quite well. Lots to choose from on Amazon. They use your home wiring to transmit the broadband signal to any room you plug in the adapters. Wi-fi or hard wired.


iMac (19,1, 3.1 GHz i5, 12.7.4, 40 Gb RAM); MacBook Air (1.8 Ghz, 8 Gb RAM, 10.14.6, 256 Gb SSD) Vodafone router and Devolo Wi-Fi Extender, Canon TS8351 printer/scanner.
Re: Extending Wi-fi Signal
deniro #39450 03/14/16 02:11 PM
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Although range extenders can be made to work properly, historically speaking, I've had very bad luck with them. They can be very ornery (to impossible) to set up initially, and I've seen them then randomly disassociate after days, weeks, or even months of working.

Possibly a better solution would be to install a second base station elsewhere with another ethernet run to it?


I work for the Department of Redundancy Department
Re: Extending Wi-fi Signal
deniro #39457 03/14/16 02:32 PM
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Not all WiFi routers will play nice with extenders, but I have used a WiFi network extender for years and the only difficulty is occasionally needing to reset the extender (power down and power back up) usually after some sort of a power glitch and that happens very seldom since I installed while home surge protection.

FWIW I am using an Airport Time Capsule to create the network and an Airport Express to extend it.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Extending Wi-fi Signal
joemikeb #39469 03/14/16 04:28 PM
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deniro Offline OP
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If my router is upstairs, and I want to watch YouTube through my TV downstairs, what DSL speed do you think I would need? And do you think I would need some kind of ranger extender/access point in between?

Re: Extending Wi-fi Signal
deniro #39477 03/14/16 07:03 PM
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Originally Posted By: deniro
If my router is upstairs, and I want to watch YouTube through my TV downstairs, what DSL speed do you think I would need? And do you think I would need some kind of ranger extender/access point in between?

DSL speed is limited by the condition of the telephone companies copper wire network, the number of wire miles between your location and the Telephone company central office or DSL repeater/amplifier, and seldom if ever more than 5 or 6 Mbps. (Fiber Optic or Cable is capable of much higher speeds. Right now my cable broadband speed is running in the range of 60 Mbps). On the other hand my WiFi LAN is running 217 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz and 1,300 Mbps on the 5 GHz band. So either WiFi band is many times faster than your incoming DSL signal can be.

Before making any hard and fast recommendations you need to do some testing:
  1. Go to an internet speed test site such as Ookla.com and measure your actual download speed (If the download speed is less than 3 Mbps talk to your DSL provider and ask them to try conditioning your line to improve signal speed or consider another network provider)
  2. Get a WiFi app such as WiFi Explorer (available on the app store) and check your Wifi network speed, signal strength, and signal to noise ratio in the same room as your WiFi router
  3. Using the same app either check your Wifi network speed, signal strength, and signal to noise ratio at the TV downstairs. If your router is dual band be sure and check both the 2.4 GHz and 5GHz bands. One may penetrate through the floor significantly better than the other and it may be all you need to do is change bands.

IF
  • The internet download speed is significantly less than your WiFi network speed
  • and TV reception of content coming over the network is adequate in the same room as your router
  • and the WiFi signal strength downstairs is reasonable
  • and the signal to noise ratio downstairs is not hugely higher than in the room with the router
  • and you get a good picture on the downstair TV with no distracting screen artifacts

THEN
  • You do NOT need a WiFi signal amplifier/extender

ELSE
  • If the downstairs signal strength is low or the signal to noise ratio high

THEN
  • You may benefit from a WiFi amplifier/extender


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Extending Wi-fi Signal
joemikeb #39483 03/14/16 07:36 PM
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
DSL speed is limited by the condition of the telephone companies copper wire network, the number of wire miles between your location and the Telephone company central office or DSL repeater/amplifier, and seldom if ever more than 5 or 6 Mbps.

Just to clarify, my Verizon DSL speed is 7.8Mbps which translates to about 820Kbps by the time it gets to my deuced Mac(hina) via my AirPort Express Base Station.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Extending Wi-fi Signal
joemikeb #39485 03/14/16 10:18 PM
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deniro Offline OP
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ookla.com doesn't work.

WiFi Explorer is incompatible with my system.

Re: Extending Wi-fi Signal
deniro #39487 03/14/16 11:04 PM
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Try Speakeasy Speed Test - Powered by MegaPath.

I also use Speedtest.net by Ookla; I wonder if it will work for you where ookla.com didn't.

Both require Flash.

Edit: In place of WiFi Explorer try KisMAC for Mac; I'm pretty sure it's the one I've used successfully in Snowy. tongue

Last edited by artie505; 03/15/16 01:43 AM.

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Extending Wi-fi Signal
artie505 #39506 03/15/16 04:06 PM
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deniro Offline OP
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Speakeasy and Speedtest require Flash, which I deleted a long time ago.

For Kismac, Macupdate didn't work, but I found it here: http://www.tucows.com/preview/607729/KisMac

Last edited by deniro; 03/15/16 04:07 PM.
Re: Extending Wi-fi Signal
deniro #39513 03/15/16 10:19 PM
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deniro Offline OP
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I'm paying $42.00 for ATT lowest speed DSL

Re: Extending Wi-fi Signal
deniro #39521 03/16/16 10:17 AM
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Originally Posted By: deniro
I'm paying $42.00 for ATT lowest speed DSL


What is that download speed? In my neighborhood AT&T's slowest—768 Kps (yes, K not M, so really slow)—is $29/month.


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: Extending Wi-fi Signal
Ira L #39525 03/16/16 03:57 PM
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deniro Offline OP
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1.12 Mbps


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