internet booster that plugs into a mains socket

Matthewfalle

anyone know how they work?

big_harv

Matthewfalle wrote:

anyone know how they work?

How, no.
If, not in my experience.

Matthewfalle

oh. thankyou anyway.

anyone else?

big_harv

Here y'are

https://www.repeaterstore.com/pages/wif ... ifferences

Not great signal in V's garage?

jgsi

As someone who's main job is to password reset everyone else , because they cannot follow a simple control alt delete sequence, I would suggest the word booster is a misnomer. Using a ring main to extend the network works very well with Cat 5/6. I use one to connect the home hub over to the TV without trailing Cat5 cable across the fireplace.
WiFi extenders using the ring main usually a bit sh it. A wireless device can hop from one extender to another and then hop over again making your Netflix/YouPorn/iPlayer experience again a bit sh it.
If you want wifi router performance to rival GCHQ, look at Netgear NightHawks with mass array aerials.

zeee

If you mean power line adapters be careful because if you are using it in a garage there is a chance the power is on a different circuit to the house and therefore won't work well if at all.

As above you're better off getting a better router.

tlw1

We’ve got one and it’s adequate at best

veronese68

Matthewfalle wrote:

anyone know how they work?

Magic

Matthewfalle

cheers guys - much appreciated.

just trying to work out how to get internet from house to garage - 15 metres distance, granite buildings both of them so difficult to get signals out.

big_harv

Do you have a reasonable mobile phone signal?

I use one of these in France.
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/phones-br ... -broadband

Whoops, try again.

orraloon

Use BT powerline extenders to get t'internetz out into a stone barn. Works ok. The signal is routed through the main consumer unit, then the separate externals sub CU sitting next to it, then through the mini CU in the barn itself to a socket in barn.

Matthewfalle

Big Harv wrote:

Do you have a reasonable mobile phone signal?

I use one of these in France.
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/phones-br ... -broadband

Whoops, try again.

link doesn't work dude

big_harv

https://shop.ee.co.uk/dongles/pay-month ... 18/details

Sorry. Basically a portable WiFi gadget using a mobile phone signal. Various tariffs available. I get 15Gb a month for multiple devices. Very handy abroad.

sloppyschleckonds

Matthewfalle wrote:

anyone know how they work?

Snake oil

jgsi

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

anyone know how they work?

Snake oil

Is someone giving trade secrets away?

sungod

Matthewfalle wrote:

cheers guys - much appreciated.

just trying to work out how to get internet from house to garage - 15 metres distance, granite buildings both of them so difficult to get signals out.

assuming your internet router has some free ports and it's not going to be a big problem to run a cable...

run an ethernet cable from it to garage
for instance https://smile.amazon.co.uk/KabelDirekt- ... B018M7F3MW
you'll also need a short cable, add that if you haven't got one already

connect short cable from router to power injector, long cable to power injector output

connect an access point to it at garage end

plug in power injector

configure ap

this is cheap, and likely to be as fast as you need for small number of devices in a garage, includes power injector (sends power down the cable so you don't need mains connection in the garage
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004

if you get lightning strikes in your area, i'd unplug the cable from power injector during storms

if you want higher wireless data rate, access point will get more expensive (look for 802.11ac standard) and probably you'll need to buy a separate power injector

thistle_

My experience was similar to jgsi, it did extend the WiFi but it would connect to the extension then decide the main router was a better signal and keep swapping/disconnecting.
I think Power line adaptors would be a better bet, plug it into your router with a cable so no radio signal strength to worry about, if it will work with your wiring.
See if edwyn had some and can lend you a pair to check that it works.

Or, move the WiFi router nearer the garage?

captain_chaos

I have had good experience with a couple of Powerline adapters - one in the house and one in the garage which is some way from the house. Good experience with TP-Link units. Fast (faster than WiFi) . Easy to set up. In fact the one in the house is hanging off another switch in one of the rooms, Ie central router-switch-powerline adaptor. Seems to just work.

sloppyschleckonds

Have you tried switching to off and back on again?

BelgianBeerGeek

This wasn’t the thread I was hoping it would be. I’m out.

CiB

I needed to connect somewhere to somewhere else, settled on a long length of Cat 5 cable to do it by connecting router to a wall socket with a LAN cable, then socket to socket at target location, then wall socket to end point with another LAN cable. It still works v well.

Buy or steal:
2 x LAN face plates and zinc plate wall boxes from Wickes or similar. About £6
2 x LAN cables to conenct each end, router to wall & wall to device. Make sure they're long enough. Find these at work or pay a quid or two each off Amazon.
A long enough length of Cat 5 cable - Maplins used to sell it but they've shut. Amazon will sell it in decent lengths, or borrow it from the techie lads at work. They have miles of the stuff and won't miss 60 foot of it going walkabouts.
A plastic prong thing to push the wires into the faceplate connectors. Youtube will show you how.
Some garden hose to use as a sheath to protect the Cat 5 cable outside.
Drill bits, power drill, screwdrivers, rawl plugs, rubber sealant, and a bit of acumen to make holes in walls and fit the boxes & plates securely and water-tightly.
2 hours to do it.

It's pretty simple really. The bits you dont understand are on Youtube. Connecting it up is easy with the right tool to push the wires into place. Once you've connected two wall plates together you just need to connect each end with the borrowed LAN cables. A four or eight port switch (Netgear are good) costs from about £20 if you want to connect more than one device at the far end.

navrig2

We have several TP-Link powerline adapters around the house. They work pretty well. Sometimes you have to restart them (every 3 months or so) as they seem to stop receiving from the master unit. I replaced the ethernet connection models with the wifi broadcast models. Much more convenient.

Worth it.

Mr_Cellophane

CiB wrote:

Some garden hose to use as a sheath to protect the Cat 5 cable outside.

Protect against what ?
That certainly won't protect against lightning.

slowbike

Navrig2 wrote:

We have several TP-Link powerline adapters around the house. They work pretty well. Sometimes you have to restart them (every 3 months or so) as they seem to stop receiving from the master unit. I replaced the ethernet connection models with the wifi broadcast models. Much more convenient.

Worth it.

TP-Link do pretty decent low cost networking kit.

Most of the time, the issue with Powerline adapters is the power cabling though - old cables/poor connections can degrade the performance. They work best when the adapters are on the same ring/branch. Certainly a good shout when wifi can't cut it and you've got no easy way to run a cat5 cable.

slowbike

Mr_Cellophane wrote:

CiB wrote:

Some garden hose to use as a sheath to protect the Cat 5 cable outside.

Protect against what ?
That certainly won't protect against lightning.

Just against casual damage and a bit of water ingress.

Lightning won't care - and for domestic use, I wouldn't worry - if lightning hits your house, a bit of cat5 cable and switches/routers at either end will be the least of your concerns...

Matthewfalle

thank you very much for the solutions though guys - very much appreciated

need to scratch my head over this one I think.....

chris_bass

fibre or ADSL (through the phone line!) - if the second option then phone extension and second router might work?

or a very long network cable attached to a range extender and just use it when you need it

slowbike

Chris Bass wrote:

fibre or ADSL (through the phone line!) - if the second option then phone extension and second router might work?

or a very long network cable attached to a range extender and just use it when you need it

You can't just add another router to your phone line. The router authenticates with the host - one2one relationship.


There are a few ways to extend a network to a non-physically connected building.
1) Use a PowerLine adapter
2) Use a Cat 5/5e/6 cable via some ducting - can be underground - you're limited on length (100m for Cat5) between terminators/switches
3) Use a WiFi extender closer to the building which may penetrate far enough.
4) Use a WiFi bridge

In the various networks I maintain I've used all of these. The most stable is the cat cable - but you get the inconvenience of having to physically run the cable.
The powerline adapters need rebooting frequently and are reliant on the mains run being at least of reasonable quality.
WiFi Extenders are ok, but sometimes don't penetrate far enough - leaving a weak signal that drops out or doesn't produce the speed required
WiFi bridges are just 2 wifi routers paired - I use one pair to connect our warehouse - throughput is >300Mbps and the Ubiquity nano-beams are rock solid - currently been up for 150 days and I've not had to force a reconnection.

The only techs I'm aware of that I've not used are
Fibre - it's much faster, but more susceptible to breakages
Mobile Hotspot - although this is a standalone device that gives a connection to the internet rather than through an existing connection. I say I've not used it - I do hotspot off phones - it's ok for occasional use - for a fixed building I'd rather use one of the above if feasible.

navrig2

You can use old BT Homehubs as extenders. You have to configure the software to work. I've done this using non-wifi TP Link powerline adapters however I think you can do configure them to be pure wi-fi extenders.

Instructions here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0Q04 ... lvOHlac1A0