[Closed] Networking issues - Go on then, sort this one out

I've tried ethernet over power but the study is on a new ring and it's not working through the consumer unit to anywhere in the rest of the house

Odd, it should work across rings but not across phases.

How about installing a wireless repeater 4' to the right?

tell him to stop sitting in a faraday cage when using his laptop?

Sounds like there's something there interfering with the wifi? radiators, pipes cables, things like that apparently make a difference, not that I've ever had anything as significant as what you're describing.

You can set up a wireless repeater closer to your sons room? I have an old Linksys router (Cost £35 on ebay) with DD-WRT installed on it which can act as a repeater though I did this a few years ago so no doubt there are cheaper/better options these days.

What about a WiFi repeater outside his room?

Could be a channel conflict. Do other devices work in the dead spot? If not, try changing the channel on the router

Or have a look with something like this;
[url= http://www.ekahau.com/wifidesign ]Ekahau Heatmapper
[/url]
It might give a clue as to what is blocking the signal

I had similar when upgraded my Netgear router it caused conflicts and dead spots, devices would drop the connection and my repeater hated it. Switched to BT which went live last week as my eldest has been sucking up my bandwidth, their router has been excellent I don't even need the repeater but may fire it up to reach into the garden some more.

So it could be a crap router.

I'd try changing wireless channels first.

That might be the answer. Actually, that's what I've gone for. A wifi extender which has an ethernet port on the base so we can run an ethernet from the plug socket into his room.

Obvious really. Thanks.

Change the channels, more than likely it's someone's signal interfering.

I'd already been through choosing different channels. I'd got it to a fifth of packet loss by messing with different channels and moving the router about in the room. I'll wait for the repeater to arrive before deciding on the final resting place of the router and channel.

By the way, he's now got 4Mbps down and 1Mbps up in his room (speedtest.net) and he's still not happy. 😉 But that'll be because the main PC in the study and my macbook on wireless both get 60Mbps. 😉

What's causing all that noise and interference?

[url= http://uk.insight.com/en-gb/productinfo/id/0001491437-00000001 ]These [/url]act as ethernet over power and wireless extenders...might be able to place it close enough to boost the wireless?

samuri - Member

By the way, he's now got 4Mbps down and 1Mbps up in his room (speedtest.net) and he's still not happy. But that'll be because the main PC in the study and my macbook on wireless both get 60Mbps.

With packet loss it'll seem a lot slower though. People start noticing 'the internet is slow' at about 2-3% loss in my experience.

Is his an older laptop, checked f/w and drivers, does the wap still provide b & g ?

Mobiles and microwaves are same frequency.

It doesn't matter if you're getting 60mb - with any packet loss over a few percent it'll seem like you're back at 56k as your PC requests all the packets again...

Anyway.

You need either:

http://uk.tp-link.com/products/?categoryid=206

or

http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/?categoryid=&model=TL-WA850RE

I like powerline as they're more secure using an ethernet to connect up, but there are wifi ones too.

I had similar at a friends house which had me scratching my head.
Took a netbook round & used some software called "Inssider" ( Great free tool)

Turned out that through whatever weird acts of nature prevailed, two of the near neighbours were on the same channel which seemed very strong at the one point in the house where they wanted to use the PC.

They since changed ISP ( ...& therefore router) & problem went away
Chris

WiFi Analyzer (sic) phone app is great for building a walkabout picture of what random wifi signals are floating about.

WiFi Analyzer (sic) phone app is great for building a walkabout picture of what random wifi signals are floating about.

So is Ekahau Heatmapper as linked further up 🙂

That powerline thing is EXACTLY what I'm looking for (Sorry Jon, just borrowing your thread!). Only thing is will it work with the different-brand ones I have installed all over the house at the moment? Assume there's some kind of standard they'll step down too?

[i> http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/?categoryid=&model=TL-WA850RE

I like powerline as they're more secure using an ethernet to connect up, but there are wifi ones too. [/i]

That's exactly the one I bought. 😉

The Reg have favourably reviewed a [url= http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/24/review_devolo_dlan_500_av_wireless_plus/ ]Devolo dlan500 today[/url].

been using TPlink ones for ages with no issues (only 2 though) cant see any reason to buy anything more expensive if im honest. much more reliable than wireless

I popped into maplin to get the powerline wireless adaptor. Ace service actually in there. It works a treat with my other tp-link homeplugs but the tp-link router refuses to repeat the wireless (QSS lights up, but never creates a secure connection with TP wireless homeplug. Randomly creates non secure connection that doesn't work...) so what's a good ADSL wireless router that actually can do wireless extension through PBC.

Currently have two wireless SSIDs that just overlap which works but is a bit of a PITA. Really want to extend the primary but the TP-LINK (it's an older one that the link up there) won't have it even with latest firmware. I'd buy the one Jon has if someone has sucessfully extended the SSID.

I'm so glad I don't do this for a living anymore. When did it get so bloody complicated? 802.11ac? Clueless 😉

Drawing clouds is so much easier, eh? 😉

I'll let you know if this works but then my router is also a TP-LINK.

Clouds AND lines. We call that service design 🙂