Extending WiFi signal upstairs

I have BT Inifinity with Homehub 3. I need to get internet to a new computer in eldest's bedroom upstairs. The signal from the homhub doesn't quite reach.
I spoke to BT and they said get a repeater. They said don't get a powerline adapter.
I have been looking at both particularly the latter with another router plugged in but am still unsure which route to take.
I hope someone can offer some advice as to what th best thing to do to get a decent signal upstaris.
Thanks in advance
Ben
Solved!
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the_saucerer wrote:
Thanks for your reply. Is it plausible to plug a router into the upstairs powerline adapter?
Do you mean a wireless access point, or something to increase the number of Ethernet connections?
All of the options are discussed on the web page link I gave you.
There are some useful help pages here, for BT Broadband customers only, on my personal website.
BT Broadband customers - help with broadband, WiFi, networking, e-mail and phones.

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========
The first to bring me 1Gbps Fiber for $30/m wins!

Extending Wifi using time capsule

Hi, i have just bought a tc 2tb 4g. I have a macbook pro, ipad and iphone. My current router (netgear 802.11n) is connected to the modem downstairs. Signal is very good. If I place my TC upstairs can I essentially boost my wifi signal upstairs by creating a second network (by joining my TC to the netgear wirelessly)? I suppose this is based on the assumption that a better wifi signal would be achieved upstairs (whilst accessing upstairs) via my TC as opposed to the macbook going directly to the netgear downstairs.......Also, if this were too work then I assume that my macbook etc would have to automatically connect to the strongest signal upstairs. How is this achieved (if possible)?

If you are connecting the Time Capsule to your Netgear using a permanenet Ethernet connection, then the Time Capsule settings would look like this:
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Wireless Network Name = Exact same name as the Netgear network
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Channel = Automatic
Wireless Security = Exact same setting as the Netgear network
Wireless Password= Same password as the Netgear network
Confirm Password
Click the Internet icon
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Then power down the entire network and restart the Netgear device first, then the Time Capsule, then devices one a time. The Time Capsule will receive its network settings automatically from the Netgear router.
Your computer(s) will connect to either the Netgear wireless or Time Capsule wireless depending on which device is closer and has the stronger wireless signal.

Can i use my time capsule to extend my wifi signal without physically connecting it to my router?

I currently have a BT Homehub connected to a modem, which is connected to the ethernet port in my wall (which is downstairs). I bought a timecapsule to wirelessly back up my computer. It is connected via ethernet cable to my router. I have recently been having trouble getting a wifi signal in one room in my house (upstairs). To fix this i was wondering whether it is possible to move my time machine somewhere upstairs, to a location closer to this room, and have it transmit a wifi signal without it being connected to my router via ethernet. And if so how would i go about doing this?
cheers
jadidev

Can i use my time capsule to extend my wifi signal without physically connecting it to my router?
Yes, if you have an Apple router.
No, if you have a BT router.
IF....your Time Capsule is currently set up to provide a wireless network signal, you could add another Apple device...like an AirPort Express....to extend the Time Capsule wireless signal.

Business hub wifi signal extender

I've read other posts on this board with regard to extending the wifi signal over a longer distance, I would like to extend my signal to an outside workshop, I do get a signal there but it's quite weak.
I can't use homeplugs because it's a seperate power supply.
The popular access point seems to be the TP-Link TL-WA701ND, so I guess that would be the one to go for.
My question is will it allow me access to Openzone with my smart phone in the workshop through the access point ?

That would present a problem
Is running an Ethernet cable a realistic option? If not, then a wireless repeater is the only option.
The WA701ND works fine, you can find the instructions on my help pages.
You do need to be able to position it where there is some signal for it to repeat.
There are some useful help pages here, for BT Broadband customers only, on my personal website.
BT Broadband customers - help with broadband, WiFi, networking, e-mail and phones.

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You will need to add another device like an AirPort Extreme to provide additional wireless coverage in the house.
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While you can "extend" using wireless only, typically half of the bandwidth on the network is sacrificed when you do this.

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In Airport Utility, under the "Wireless" tab, I've selected "Extend a wireless network". I am able to select my TWC network under "Wireless Network Name." Wireless Security is set to "WPA2 Personal." But when I click "update" the airport express fails to join the TWC network, and my Airport Express signal disappears; I am only able to get the signal back by resetting the Airport Base Station with a paperclip.
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You need TWO Airport units, one to function as the main radio and the other to function as an extender. I used two Express units.
Configuration is simple if you start from a factory default condition. Then connect the main Airport to AC power and finally to the Internet modem (or modem/router). Open Airport Utility on your Mac or other computer and accept all of the recommendations. After confirming that it works, insert your desired administrative and WiFi passwords.
Then connect the extender to AC power. As before, open Airport Express on your Mac or other computer and accept all of the recommendations. No need to add password info.
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How: Extend a non-Apple wifi signal with Airport Express

I have a Wifi modem provided by the ISP, Tiscali [Italy] unrelated to Apple. I want to use my AE to extend the signal to another part of the house. The Tiscali router was set up with WPA2. I have Airport Utility 5.6.1 [yah, I know, old; haven't moved up from OS 10.8.5 either, MBk Pro] and the Airport Express is MC414Z\A C86L9K02DV3R. Opening the A Util w the AE powered up [yellow light showing] I immediately saw the AE listed at the left, but now that I go back to the Utility and rescan, it doesn't find the AE, altho Airport is one and lists that AE showing a full signal, properly calling it "gatti.11n." Your advice would be most appreciated and likely will be helpful to many others saddled with a non-Apple wifi router.

Apple AirPorts cannot wirelessly "extend" a signal from a third party product. They can only wirelessly "extend" a signal from another Apple router. Another way of saying the same thing is that if you want to wirelessly extend a network using an Apple router, you need two Apple routers.
You have two options:
Option 1. Add another AirPort Express and install it close to the ISP modem/router using an Ethernet cable and configure the Express to 'create" a wireless network. Then, your other AirPort Express can wirelessly extend the signal from the first AirPort Express. The "extending" Express will need to be located where it can receive a strong signal from the first Express.
Option 2. If you cannot run the Ethernet cable....or....you do not want to add another AirPort Express, then a pair of Ethernet Over Powerline (EOP) adapters might be able to send the Ethernet signal over the existing AC powerlines in your home. These products are also sometimes called HomePlug adapters.
The theory with these devices is that you already have the wiring in place.....you just need the adapters. In practice though, things do not always work as well as the theory might suggest. So, if you decide to try a pair of these adapters, then it would be good idea to understand the store's return policies before you buy.
Any computer / electronics superstore will have a selection of EOP adapters. Ask the salesman what type and brand that he would recommend.

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I want to extend the range of both to the new building using a a express, can this be done?
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How to add a second router as access point and wifi signal extender

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I have since switched to an Airport Extreme as my main router. I can't seem to get the same configuration with the linksys router, it is Model E1000 and has an "N" signal. The Linksys E1000 I think is the newer model of the old WRT54G Linksys. I can't get it configured to work. I have searched high and low on the internet and can't find anything simple enough for a novice to understand. I did read something that I may have to assign a "DHCP Reservation" on the Apple Extreme. I couldn't figure that out.
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You have two routers producing two networks with the same name, so they will show up as two networks on any type of scan by a wireless utility. This is normal.
If you had used two Linksys devices, they would probably show up as one network, not two. Linksys has a feature that allows this to occur, but this is not true of Apple devices.
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Cancelled Infinity. Wifi signal did not reach rest...

Short synopsis:
Before buying Infinity, try your current wifi hub plugged into your master socket, and see if your wifi signal can still reach the rest of the house. If your master is at the wrong end of the house to your computers, like me, then BT will offer you pretty much no solution. And once you discover this to be the case, they make it extremely difficult to downgrade the contract to DSL, let alone cancelling the (useless) broadband connection.
Long rant:
The engineer came to install Infinity. We talked briefly about moving the Master Socket from a small room at the front of the house. Initially he said that it was not possible to move the Master at all, but when pushed he said that in doing so he'd have to disconnect any internal wiring, meaning all the rest of the telephone sockets in the house would no longer work. I didn't want that. I also didn't want an ethernet cable trailing round my house, and he couldn't plumb one outside. _But_, he said, the wifi range of the Hub is excellent and will easily cover the house. And also the speed difference between wifi and wired is negligable. Sounded great. After switching it on he pretty much ran out the house before I could even connect with a single PC.
From then on the troubles started. After I had a lot of drop-out connections from my upstairs office, I used iStumbler on my MacBook Pro and found that signal strength was 50% in the tiny room with the master socket, 25% in the _room_next_door_ where I have a PS3, and upstairs in my study the signal was only 18% and every couple of minutes the connection would completely fail.   Incidentally, the Home Hub 3 signal strength is quite a lot _less_ than my old Thompson router that I got from my previous ISP (Be Unlimited).
The problem is obviously that the Hub is too far from where I have my computers. And yet there is no way to move the hub from the Master Socket, and no way for me to move the Master Socket (although if I sacrificed my other phone points and paid some cash then possibly I could have done this).   And I don't want to move my office to a poky tiny room next to the front door where the Master is.
With my previous ISP, I had my router in an upstairs bedroom, and got great signal both in the lounge and in my upstairs study. I could even sit in the back garden and use the Internet. And indeed when I run the Home Hub 3 in that same room, I get the same reception (although 5% less than with my previous router).
So at this point I started calling BT Tech Support.
The first call ended in someone telling me they were off to run a "line check" that would apparently not only check my line but also my entire wifi network (!), and they'd call back in 10 mins. They never did. Tech Support, by the way offers no Incident Support number, and seemingly no one ever writes down your issue, so I've had to explain the same problem to every single person I talk to, and face the same instant defences.
The next call was for an hour where the guy very painstakingly made me go to the room with the Master Socket (to get reception), change channel, go upstairs, prove I lost the signal. Despite the fact that I'd tried all channels before, he insisted. Don't worry, he said, I'll fix your problem. He was completely sure that the Hub signal would reach all parts of the house. Ultimately, having failed to find a better channel, he put it back to 11 and said that I should "Wait 24 hours to let the wireless signals _propagate_ round my house, which is very important with a brand new router", which very much sounded like BS to me.   After this time there was no change in signal.
The next call to Tech Support resulted in the following possibilities:-
1) Run a big ethernet cable throughout the house from the Hub to my _main_computer (ignoring my other wifi devices I guess).
2) Buy a "wireless booster" (by which I think they meant "range extender"). This support guy very seriously told me to "Get PCWorld to come round your house and work out where to place the device, but don't buy it before you try it because they'll try to sell you it even if it doesn't work". Apart from that hilarity I didn't want a range extender _purely_ because my Hub was forced to be in a stupid place, and I didn't want to spend £60 on it. And the support guy said that BT could not recommend _any_ device or make that would work with their Hub, so it was between me an the PCWorld guy who'd come home with me.
So then I called Customer Services with the reasonable proposition (I thought) to exchange Infinity for DSL. The idea being that the Home Hub 3 worked fine in the bedroom from a telephone extension. I was a new broadband customer so it was still business to them. Customer Support said that I could not cancel the Infinity contract without a penalty. I dread to think what that was because later on they told me the penalty for early termination of a DSL contract is £8 per month left of the contract, and I was here 2 days into am 18 month Infinity contract. I objected, saying that Infinity clearly did not work for my house. They then put me through (as a special treat, it usually costs money) to Home IT, saying that if those guys could not help then they'd waive the charge.
So I talked to Home IT. They had one last suggestion that I already had considered. A Powerline connection from Hub to another wifi router somewhere more central in the house. The problems there are that Powerline bandwidth is highly dependent on your house wiring (and after all the point of Infinity is to get that super fast bandwidth), and that they were suggesting I pay £100 for Powerline, and £60 for another router. And again, there would be no technical support for setting this up.    I declined and they said they'd put a "note" on my account telling Customer Services that they agreed that downgrading to DSL was the best solution.
So I called Cust Services again. Explained the entire thing again. Again they said there was _no_way_ to cancel the Infinity contract (not even to change it to DSL) without a large financial penalty.   So I told them my other option was to cancel the entire thing because it just didn't work, and I guess that triggered some thought that I probably _could_ just cancel legally, so after talking to their supervisor they came back and set up the DSL alternative for me.
Now I have to wait a week for the DSL to be activated, which hopefully will happen without problem. Aparently I don't need the engineer to come back and "disconnect" Infinity from the Master Socket. And BT don't want my 2 day old Infinity modem back either.
What gets me about the whole thing is that no one ever said "oh yeah, we get this sometimes". I think it would be amazing if every single person who buys Infinity just happens to have their Master Socket either in the same room as all their computer equipment, or close to it, or is happy to accept all their internal phone wiring to be rendered useless just to get a few extra Mb download speed, or is techie enough that they're willing to spend another £200 on additional wireless solutions just to get the signal from their front door to their PC.
Meanwhile to be able to write this, I'm sat next to the Master Socket in a room that is small enough that we've been using it as a very messy storage cupboard. It's not exactly condusive to work.
My Infinity download speed, by the way, varied (when I sat near the Hub to actually get the signal) from 12Mb to 20Mb. DSL speeds were 7 or 8Mb prior to that.

Points taken guys!
I wanted to change ISP to BT, and took a few seconds to convince myself that it was worth "going large" with the Infinity package.   I knew about the master socket thing. I'd read that some people had got the engineer to move this, which was my initial plan to move it to the lounge. I also read that the Home Hub 3 had "excellent" range, so that seemed fine. I didn't _imagine_ that with a hub in the room with the master socket I'd have no signal at the other end of the house, so I didn't test this. In fact I've never had any problems with wifi signal where my router used to be so I never even investigated signal strength before or even downloaded iStumbler.
The engineer immediately talked me out of moving the socket for reasons mentioned, and said again that the wifi signal strength of the Hub was great and would reach the whole house. The moment he connected up the socket there was just time for me to wifi connect with my laptop in the same room before he said that his work was done and he was off. He _did_ turn up early just before lunch so perhaps that was more on his mind. I had no time to test signal anywhere else in the house before he left. Hence I said "ran off".
Using another router. I didn't try this. The Home Hub has a very ominous red lead connecting it to the Infinity modem. And the red lead comes out a socket marked Infinity rather than the other socket marked ADSL. As such I've assumed that one could only use the Home Hub with the Infinity modem, and not some other DSL modem. Perhaps I was wrong. I'm not that technical about networks and I've also bought into a package by a vendor and so don't really feel like messing around replacing parts of that package.
My house is a medium 4 bed house. The master socket is in a small room next to the front door. My study is in a back bedroom, from where I get 18% signal as reported by iStumbler. The lounge is next door to the master socket room, where I was getting about 25% signal. I also only get a max of 60% signal when I'm touching the Mac to the Hub, so maybe the hub is defective, or the Mac is.   No BT tech support guy has raise any sort of eyebrow at these figures, or suggested that either the Mac or the Hub is broken. I also have a MacMini in the office that shows similar signal strength there, and the iPhone won't even see the hub at all from there, but can connect if in the same room as the hub.
But regardless, everything was fine with my old router setup with my old ISP. Except that the 3 year old router seemed to occassionally crash and drop the line. So rather than get tech support from Be Unlimiter, or buy a new router, I though the _easy_ option would be just to move provider to BT and get a fancy new router as part of the deal.   Also I've always perhaps nievely thought that if you have BT for phone and broadband then if something goes wrong then they can't tell you it's not their fault. Shrug. If I'd known that I'd have been on the phone to tech support for hours anyway, I'd have just talked to Be in the first place. Now I kind of want things to go back to the state that I actually _had_ internet access in my study, which is why I settled on again the easy option of convincing BT to downgrade me to DSL.
Apart from coming here to vent (apologies), I think it's actually quite an important fact to consider when thinking about Infinity whether moving your hub from a central point in the house to your master socket (usually a point closest the street) will affect your wifi reception throughout the house.
I didn't consider that. And it's caused me two days of frustration. And I'm now sat in a cupboard.

Can I use an Airport Express to extend wifi w/o TC?

Hi-my setup is this: I am using an Linksys modem and an ASUS router. I have a new Time Capsule but I am only using that for Time Machine backups. My wifi signal is weak upstairs and I was wondering if I could put an Airport Express up there to extend my network.... Remember that my TC is not being used as a router. I am hoping that I can just plug in a new-but-not-yet-purchased Airport Express upstairs and it will strengthen my wifi upstairs. Will that work? Thanks for the help!!! Judy
PS-I have a MB Pro running the latest version of Mavericks, an iPhone 4S and a 4th Gen iPad.

I am hoping that I can just plug in a new-but-not-yet-purchased Airport Express upstairs and it will strengthen my wifi upstairs. Will that work?
An AirPort Express could extend the wireless signal provided by another Apple product, in this case the TC, but since the TC is not being used this way on your network, the Express would be of no value to you. It cannot wirelessly extend the signal provided by the ASUS wireless router.
Check with ASUS support or an online forum for suggestions on a repeater or extender that would do what you need.

Can anyone tell me or give me a link to the latest response from Apple regarding very real weak wifi signal on what seems to be a batch of both the new ipad and the earlier Ipad2. I have just bought a 2nd hand ipad2 and it has a very weak wifi signal

Over the last week or so I have been trawling the internet looking for references to weak wifi signals on the Ipad2 and was staggered by the sheer quantity of people who seem to have identical issues, not just with the ipad2 but also with the new ipad. What annoyed me most from reading the reams upon reams of comments made on the Apple community forum is the fairly large number of people who seemed to believe that 'these' people were either just moaners and wingers or else they must have something wrong with their router set-up rather than a serious fault with their ipad and it seems all because there ipad in question works like a dream.
Obviously I can only speak from my experience, and that is, I have an ipad2 32GB with wifi, purchased about 6 months ago and it works like dream with a good 2-3 bar wifi signal through 2 thick stone walls over 30 feet away. My router is a standard one supplied by my broadband supplier compatible with all 'g','b' and 'n' equipment. However, over a week ago now I bought second hand genuine ipad2 16GB with wifi from a close friend who has just purchased a new ipad3 to replace his old ipad2 (had it for over a year so no longer under warranty). When I started it up downstairs from my router, where I always use my other ipad2 which has a very strong wifi signal, I discovered that the new secondhand ipad2 I had purchased couldnt find a network signal at all. So after doing network resets and all other 'fixes' on the device recommended, I took it upstairs to my office where the router is based and found that the device could now locate the network, but the signal was lost over only 12 feet from the router!
I quizzed my good friend about this issue and he informed me that it has always been like this since he first purchased it and he never thought that it was a fault, it was just the way it was. When he first aquired the device he did think at the time that this distance was poor, but thought nothing of it as he didnt have any other ipad to measur ethe signal strength against, and as his router was in his living room anyway he nothing of it. Fair enough.
So, there we have it. One ipad2 with a very good wifi signal and another ipad2 with a very poor wifi signal running off the same router, both with the same IOS 5.0. ?
As well as all of the other isues that customers have picked up on, such as 'death grip' (which I must say does appear to happen, but personally i dont think that this is a serious issue if you are aware of this issue and have a strong signal anyway), my experience seems to be a good example of a 'duff' wifi ipad versus a 'great' wifi ipad', an issue confirmed by complaints from a fairly large number of customers who have also reported the same or similar weak wifi signals with both the ipad2 and the ipad3. So, as this shows the weak wifi signal is a very real issue it seems on a batch of ipad2 and 3's, which to my logic is obviously a hardware issue on a batch of early ipad2's and not a software one, otherwise all ipad's would suffer this problem! So, is it a faulty antenna or a faukty network card in an early batch?
So, the bottom line now is, of course, firstly, how can I get Apple to fix my other ipad2 when the warranty has run out? Any suggestions anyone?
Personally I think good Apple customer service should offer a recall with a replacement on this apparent batch of ipads, dont you?

Greetings,
I've never seen this issue, and I handle many iPads, of all versions. WiFi issues are generally local to the WiFi router - they are not all of the same quality, range, immunity to interference, etc. You have distance, building construction, and the biggie - interference.
At home, I use Apple routers, and have no issues with any of my WiFi enabled devices, computers, mobile devices, etc - even the lowly PeeCees. I have locations where I have Juniper Networks, as well as Aruba, and a few Netgears - all of them work as they should.
The cheaper routers, Linksys, D-Link, Seimens home units, and many other no name devices have caused issues of various kinds, and even connectivity.
I have no idea what Starbucks uses, but I always have a good connection, and I go there nearly every morning and get some work done, as well as play.
You could try changing channels, 2.4 to 5 Gigs, changing locations of the router. I have had to do all of these at one time or another over the many years that I have been a Network Engineer.
Good Luck - Cheers,
M.

Extending WiFi signal upstairs

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