Anyway to increase network range without having a different SSID?

doug_7506

2[H]4U
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Oct 17, 2004
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Just as the title says, I'm looking for something to boost my signal to reach my entire house without having to have a separate SSID. Uncle Google tells me I need a wireless repeater. However, i'm having a hard time finding a residential application.

Thanks,

Doug
 
Lots of ways extend wifi. I don't recommend repeaters or mesh wifi, but THIS is what you are referring to as far as extending the wifi. I always add more AP's to cover more ground, that requires you run a cable to the AP and possibly put a POE injector to it. While it's annoying and some work, it's the right way to do it.
 
Plug in another AP if you can.

If you use a router/AP combo, setup will look like this:
- Disable DHCP
- Make sure the LAN IP is on your subnet but does not conflict with another device
- Plug it into your network via one of the LAN ports
- Configure the SSID to be the same with the same passphrase
- Put it on a different channel than your primary. Only use channels 1, 6, 11 on the 2.4ghz band
 
Lots of ways extend wifi. I don't recommend repeaters or mesh wifi, but THIS is what you are referring to as far as extending the wifi. I always add more AP's to cover more ground, that requires you run a cable to the AP and possibly put a POE injector to it. While it's annoying and some work, it's the right way to do it.

So this piece needs to be hardwired? This isn't a big deal since I dropped cat 5 in every room when I remodeled. But will this use the same SSID that I already have? Or will it create a new SSID that I have to select.

I know. I'm lazy. But i'm trying to prevent hoping in and out of settings everytime I walk from the front of my house to the back.
 
Although I generally hate repeaters, I was quite impressed with this: TP-LINK RE450 AC1750 Wireless Dual Band Range Extender (Wall plug) - Newegg.com

I managed to get 40Mbit usable throughput at a location that had 1Mbps measured. 144Mbps connectivity repeated on 2.4Ghz.

Be forewarned this device SUCKED and pretty much did nothing before I updated it to the latest firmware. After I updated it, it worked correctly.

I also like that when this customer upgrades this particular repeater can grow with them at least to the 802.11ac spec.
 
Although I generally hate repeaters, I was quite impressed with this: TP-LINK RE450 AC1750 Wireless Dual Band Range Extender (Wall plug) - Newegg.com

I managed to get 40Mbit usable throughput at a location that had 1Mbps measured. 144Mbps connectivity repeated on 2.4Ghz.

Be forewarned this device SUCKED and pretty much did nothing before I updated it to the latest firmware. After I updated it, it worked correctly.

I also like that when this customer upgrades this particular repeater can grow with them at least to the 802.11ac spec.

'Wouldn't this one make you set up a new SSID though?
 
'Wouldn't this one make you set up a new SSID though?


What would happen if I would just make the SSID the same as my current one with the same password? Would my wireless devices be able to switch between them?
 
What would happen if I would just make the SSID the same as my current one with the same password? Would my wireless devices be able to switch between them?

No it would not automatically switch as it would see two different devices broadcasting the same network SSID and have problems. Best bet is to just manually go through and switch, is it really THAT time consuming to do that vs. all the time and effort you are putting into NOT trying to do that?
 
'Wouldn't this one make you set up a new SSID though?


Nope

If configured in Repeater mode, it becomes a repeating extension of your current wireless network. but all devices that connect to the primary router wirelessly using the repeater have 1/2 the usable bandwidth.

Example.... connecting directly to a 2.4Ghz wireless N router at 144Mbps will give you approx 92Mbps of unidirectional throughput.

Connecting to a repeater at 144Mbps that itself has a 144Mbps connection to the primary router will give you approximately 46Mbps of unidirectional throughput.

Connecting to a wireless access point at a rated speed is not the same as being able to move that data at the rated speed. You constantly have packet loss, retransmissions and latency to work around. So quality and consistency of the connection is often MORE meaningful than the connection rate itself.


Ex. I'd rather have a solid usable 38Mbps connecting at 72Mbps with 0% packet loss than a 144Mbps connection with 30% packet loss 60Mbps measured but completely inconsistant (basically useless for streaming content and annoying with multiple users).
 
No, you can totally run multiple of the same SSIDs without issues. I run two 2.4GHz and one 5GHz AP in my house all on the same SSID and hand-offs are seamless. I also run them on different channels so that they don't interfere with each other.
 
Yeah the handoff should be fine with 2 AP's and the same SSID/Password. Just make sure encryption is the same on both SSIDS
 
There is some wrong information in this thread.

But yes, you can absolutely use two AP's/Routers and use the same SSID/Password and your devices will move from one to the other without your intervention.

Get something and hardwire it. If you use another router then make certain you connect to it's lan port and as said previously turn DHCP off on it.

Don't go with a repeater imo, they cut your bandwidth in half and are generally junk anyhow. You're already wired so pick a spot and do it the right way,.
 
A lot of good info in here.

I will go with the masses and try a repeater that is hardwired.

Anyone have any recommendations on hardware?

This is what I currently have

NETGEAR AC750 WiFi Range Extend - new in box. Could return to Amazon if it doesn't work

Securifi Almond
- Used, but I could sell on eBay if it doesn't work.

Would either work?

If not I have no problems with returning/sending back those two and getting something that will.
 
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Repeaters can't be wired....... because then they're not repeating.

The netgear you listed, I can't speak to it's reliability although I've long thought Netgear to be unreliable. The one you linked to however will work in AP mode with a wired backhaul.... and it has good reviews.

So you'd put that in AP mode using the switch on it and then set up your SSID and Password to match your other wifi and hook it up to your LAN and you'd be off.

As far as the securifi, I have no idea if it would do what you want it to. It seems to be made to make things simple, and sometimes simple translates into limited.
 
Repeaters can't be wired....... because then they're not repeating.

The netgear you listed, I can't speak to it's reliability although I've long thought Netgear to be unreliable. The one you linked to however will work in AP mode with a wired backhaul.... and it has good reviews.

So you'd put that in AP mode using the switch on it and then set up your SSID and Password to match your other wifi and hook it up to your LAN and you'd be off.

As far as the securifi, I have no idea if it would do what you want it to. It seems to be made to make things simple, and sometimes simple translates into limited.

Perfect, I'll try the netgear out since I already have it. If it doesn't work i'll return it.

The securifi is limited. That is the problem I am currently having with it. It catches the signal wirelessly and then repeats it under a different SSID
 
So this piece needs to be hardwired? This isn't a big deal since I dropped cat 5 in every room when I remodeled. But will this use the same SSID that I already have? Or will it create a new SSID that I have to select.

I know. I'm lazy. But i'm trying to prevent hoping in and out of settings everytime I walk from the front of my house to the back.

So if you have drops in every room, then you'd probably want to use APs that can actually talk to each other. I'm surprised one of the other regulars didn't drop into this thread yet but this is exactly what something like the Ubiquiti access points are designed to do. They can be managed by a single controller and all of the APs will work together to handle wireless seamlessly.

Ubiquiti Networks - UniFi® AP AC LITE

Ideally you would be able to place them on the ceiling, but that may or may not be possible. But unlike an extender these will run on different channels and each AP has full capacity as it's using the wired port for traffic. A repeater in general is going to share the same wifi connection as other clients, and have degraded performance. A "hard wired" repeater isn't really a repeater but just another AP. They can kind of work because simply having two APs using the same SSID / password the client should be able to connect to each of them, but there is nothing to steer clients towards one or the other. Your client will just stay connected to one until it loses all signal, where meshed APs will purposely handoff a client so they can connect to another AP with better signal strength. (Good APs can do this without dropping packets, much like your cell phone does when switching towers)
 
Or you could go with open-mesh and hardwire all the AP's. Seamless roaming, central management and one SSID (or multiple if you want different networks).

Open-Mesh is a "mesh" network but if you wire everything it uses the ethernet interface for the mesh traffic, not the wireless. That means full bandwidth. The seamless roaming is what really brings it together. It's amazing when you can face-time while walking your entire setup and have it be seamless, even while roaming from AP to AP.

If you want to learn how open-mesh does the seamless roaming look into B.A.T.M.A.N. routing.

If you only need one AP, get a UniFi AP. If you need/want more than one, get open-mesh as UniFi doesn't fully support seamless roaming,which is the entire point of having multiple AP's. 2 or 3 OM5P-AC's and you'll be good. After you set them up turn off your old wifi and enjoy wifi that just works!
 
Or you could go with open-mesh and hardwire all the AP's. Seamless roaming, central management and one SSID (or multiple if you want different networks).

Open-Mesh is a "mesh" network but if you wire everything it uses the ethernet interface for the mesh traffic, not the wireless. That means full bandwidth. The seamless roaming is what really brings it together. It's amazing when you can face-time while walking your entire setup and have it be seamless, even while roaming from AP to AP.

If you want to learn how open-mesh does the seamless roaming look into B.A.T.M.A.N. routing.

If you only need one AP, get a UniFi AP. If you need/want more than one, get open-mesh as UniFi doesn't fully support seamless roaming,which is the entire point of having multiple AP's. 2 or 3 OM5P-AC's and you'll be good. After you set them up turn off your old wifi and enjoy wifi that just works!

Wow this looks really nice. This is really tempting to try and do something like this. I am about to remodel and it wouldn't be that big of deal to have an electrician drop a few dedicated spots for wireless. I'm going to keep looking at this. Thanks
 
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