How to Fix Stuff

[Bronze]

That's a good point Bronze. Cables are not hard to run. I ran cables to my TV and Apple TV box. I didn't want to have to worry about buffering on wifi. I wonder if I could add a five port ethernet switch and then run a bridge from that. She's not home from college much but my youngest complained before about wifi signal strength on the second floor of our house.

Cables really aren't hard to run Hit. You can buy a gang n port with wall plate that dresses out nicely. In most cases you can run the patch cable in the crawl/basement or attic. Finding the sill plates to drill the passage hole is not as hard as people think. A few cable clips to hold the patch in place and it's done. One central wifi is usually inadequate for a two story house.

I see no reason why you cannot add a five port switch and run a bridge from that. My router has four ports so I don't need a switch. However, I am adding a second access point plus I use the other two for other stuff and I will be maxed out on ports. Any more and I'll need a switch.

I actually use one repeater for one purpose. My kitchen TV. The TV is in such a place where wifi signals go to die. Don't know why. So I have a repeater behind the TV (for my roku) and the signal is off the charts for that one TV. I'm adding another access point in the LR so I'll see if that works for the kitchen TV.

 

[Bronze]

That's a good point Bronze. Cables are not hard to run. I ran cables to my TV and Apple TV box. I didn't want to have to worry about buffering on wifi. I wonder if I could add a five port ethernet switch and then run a bridge from that. She's not home from college much but my youngest complained before about wifi signal strength on the second floor of our house.

Something like this to dress out the wall connection.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EMKYYPK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Bronze]

I have a 2 story house with basement. Always had a little trouble, because the modem had always been in the basement where the cable came in. Tried more powerful routers, moving the modem to main level, but never got the performance I wanted. I got the Linksys Velop mesh system a few years ago- it's been pretty easy to use, and I like it. I got the base and 2 nodes. After a kid moved out, I easily moved one of the nodes to near the screened porch, where we have a (rarely used) tv that uses Roku, which greatly improved the signal and performance. Not a bad system. It also has a nice interface on your computer, so you can see all devices that have been connected to it, and disconnect access, prioritize, things like that.

Yeah, a mesh system makes it easy. Gotta dish out a few bucks but for those who want a clean and easy solution mesh is a good way to go.

 

[Brewdawg1181]

Yeah, a mesh system makes it easy. Gotta dish out a few bucks but for those who want a clean and easy solution mesh is a good way to go.

Yeah, I don't remember what I paid, but it wasn't cheap. But I really enjoy that my wife isn't yelling about her slow internet connection every day, so whatever it was, it was worth it.

 

[r77r7r]

I have a midsized bi level and have always made due with just a cheap Extender/booster. 100 down on one side of the house, 80 at the Extender and outside.

I think many grab these fancy mesh systems because they don't manage their systems well to begin with. I could probably make due without the Extender but I use an ethernet cord with it for the pc in my office.

 

[Bronze]

I have a midsized bi level and have always made due with just a cheap Extender/booster. 100 down on one side of the house, 80 at the Extender and outside.

I think many grab these fancy mesh systems because they don't manage their systems well to begin with. I could probably make due without the Extender but I use an ethernet cord with it for the pc in my office.

A mesh system certainly does not require a computer science degree. That’s part of its appeal.

 

[hittman]

Something like this to dress out the wall connection.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EMKYYPK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I already had speaker wires running through the basement ceiling for my Bose surround sound system in the living room and had just drilled holes where the carpet and base trim meet for that so ran my ethernet cables the same way since it's all behind the entertainment center but definitely see the benefit of a clean installation like the wall jack you suggested.

 

[Bronze]

I already had speaker wires running through the basement ceiling for my Bose surround sound system in the living room and had just drilled holes where the carpet and base trim meet for that so ran my ethernet cables the same way since it's all behind the entertainment center but definitely see the benefit of a clean installation like the wall jack you suggested.

Whatever works such that cables aren’t laying all over the place.

 

[r77r7r]

A mesh system certainly does not require a computer science degree. That’s part of its appeal.

Oh hey, sorry. My comment wasn't aimed at anyone here. I'm on a Cord Cutting thread on FB and that's where I was referring to. Got a lot of people young and old that are used to the simplicity of the cable box and non smart tvs throwing money at anything that will allow them to watch a show with no issues.

 

[r77r7r]

I already had speaker wires running through the basement ceiling for my Bose surround sound system in the living room and had just drilled holes where the carpet and base trim meet for that so ran my ethernet cables the same way since it's all behind the entertainment center but definitely see the benefit of a clean installation like the wall jack you suggested.

That's nicer than what happened here with an installation tech a few years ago. He just pulled out a blade and cut an X in the carpet several inches away from the wall and just drilled away.

Cable he ran across my garage got caught by the door coming down and almost tore it all out again, lol.

 

[Bronze]

Another advantage of a mesh system is if you're walking through your house with, say your phone, it will find the node that is emitting the strongest signal, automatically. That does not happen with an access point. With an AP, you have to change the WiFi setting in your phone to lock on a specific AP. While a mesh system has a main WiFi unit plus at least one node (often more), they act is if they are one unit. An AP system acts as separate units in terms of what devices see.

 

[CMD-Ky]

Well this is an interesting and informative thread. This how I addressed a somewhat different though similar problem, that of p... poor internet service.

My WIFI strength is adequate to the house size and layout. The problem is that I have a download speed of 5 Mbps (you read it right) when using a VPN and 6 Mbps without VPN. My ISP is the only game in town but for HughsNet which is outrageously priced. I considered setting the VPN up through the router but need all of the speed that I can muster for streaming.

I set up computers and phones with VPN's and set the router to use a private DNS server that does not track and has a fast translation time eliminating my ISP DNS. To the router, I added a Quality Of Service priority scheme so that ROKU attached TV's had the highest priority, phones the lowest with computers in the middle. Using this setup my ROKU's work quite well along with some browsing at the same time. My daughter, who visits when her social and business life permits, has rather poor iPhone speeds if she is streaming at the same time. Life can be so difficult at times.

While I am a privacy nut job, I figure that if ROKU knows that I watch football, re-runs of 'Boston Legal' or 'Justified' and some Westerns then that is a sacrifice I am willing make. I practice un-protected streaming and practice protected browsing.

 

[Bronze]

Well this is an interesting and informative thread. This how I addressed a somewhat different though similar problem, that of p... poor internet service.

My WIFI strength is adequate to the house size and layout. The problem is that I have a download speed of 5 Mbps (you read it right) when using a VPN and 6 Mbps without VPN. My ISP is the only game in town but for HughsNet which is outrageously priced. I considered setting the VPN up through the router but need all of the speed that I can muster for streaming.

I set up computers and phones with VPN's and set the router to use a private DNS server that does not track and has a fast translation time eliminating my ISP DNS. To the router, I added a Quality Of Service priority scheme so that ROKU attached TV's had the highest priority, phones the lowest with computers in the middle. Using this setup my ROKU's work quite well along with some browsing at the same time. My daughter, who visits when her social and business life permits, has rather poor iPhone speeds if she is streaming at the same time. Life can be so difficult at times.

While I am a privacy nut job, I figure that if ROKU knows that I watch football, re-runs of 'Boston Legal' or 'Justified' and some Westerns then that is a sacrifice I am willing make. I practice un-protected streaming and practice protected browsing.

5 mbps? How does anything work in your house? I didn't know a roku would work at that rate.

 

[CMD-Ky]

5 mbps? How does anything work in your house? I didn't know a roku would work at that rate.

I didn't either, every thing I read all claimed 10 or more was required. But, my daughter dated an IT guy at her college. He told me that 6Mbs would work "Okay" and he was right. It is satisfactory. I lack a smart refrigerator or anything else 'smart' in the house, heck, even me. No Alexa, no Cortana. Full disclosure: I did recently get rid of my flip and got a Moto G with location, camera and microphone disabled (as well as other 'services') just to round out my privacy nut job image. I even shut off blue tooth if I am not using it for something specific like listening to ancient tunes while happily driving my Tacoma.

For years our DSL was 0.5 Mbps, just as good as my old dial up with a US Robtics modem. After 0.5, we thought 6.0 was speeding down the information highway.

 

[hittman]

5 mbps? How does anything work in your house? I didn't know a roku would work at that rate.

I agree. I’m pulling over 200mb just on WiFi with google fiber.

 

[Bronze]

I didn't either, every thing I read all claimed 10 or more was required. But, my daughter dated an IT guy at her college. He told me that 6Mbs would work "Okay" and he was right. It is satisfactory. I lack a smart refrigerator or anything else 'smart' in the house, heck, even me. No Alexa, no Cortana. Full disclosure: I did recently get rid of my flip and got a Moto G with location, camera and microphone disabled (as well as other 'services') just to round out my privacy nut job image. I even shut off blue tooth if I am not using it for something specific like listening to ancient tunes while happily driving my Tacoma.

For years our DSL was 0.5 Mbps, just as good as my old dial up with a US Robtics modem. After 0.5, we thought 6.0 was speeding down the information highway.

I have 100 mbps piping into my house. That's way more than enough for everything I'm doing in this house. Some tell me that isn't enough and they have 200, 300 mbps. Well, that's why I brought up this topic of house coverage. Extend the coverage and you don't need the super high speeds. Even 100 mbps is overkill if there is proper coverage.

 

[Bronze]

I agree. I’m pulling over 200mb just on WiFi with google fiber.

We have fiber in the area but not in my neighborhood.

 

[Bronze]

They also make these things called power line adapters (I believe that's the name). It plugs into a wall outlet and you're essentially using your home's electrical system as an ethernet cable. I really don't know much about them so I'm reluctant to talk about them here. I do know they have some popularity. I would encourage anyone interested in extending their house coverage who do not want to run ethernet lines to research power line adapters.

 

[Bronze]

I didn't either, every thing I read all claimed 10 or more was required. But, my daughter dated an IT guy at her college. He told me that 6Mbs would work "Okay" and he was right. It is satisfactory. I lack a smart refrigerator or anything else 'smart' in the house, heck, even me. No Alexa, no Cortana. Full disclosure: I did recently get rid of my flip and got a Moto G with location, camera and microphone disabled (as well as other 'services') just to round out my privacy nut job image. I even shut off blue tooth if I am not using it for something specific like listening to ancient tunes while happily driving my Tacoma.

For years our DSL was 0.5 Mbps, just as good as my old dial up with a US Robtics modem. After 0.5, we thought 6.0 was speeding down the information highway.

A repeater would not be an option for you. You lose bandwidth and what comes out of the repeater would be a pittance. An AP loses no bandwidth so if you wanted to extend coverage in your house you'd have to go with a bridge (access point).

 

[CMD-Ky]

I have 100 mbps piping into my house. That's way more than enough for everything I'm doing in this house. Some tell me that isn't enough and they have 200, 300 mbps. Well, that's why I brought up this topic of house coverage. Extend the coverage and you don't need the super high speeds. Even 100 mbps is overkill if there is proper coverage.

Ours is 'high speed' DSL internet from Windstream, a phone company that gives you two cans and a string. I would find paying for 200 - 300 Mbps most difficult especially since 5.0 Mbps meets all of our needs.