[kwlug-disc] Extending WiFi Range

[CrankyOldBugger]

One pitfall that I found.. there's a difference between repeaters and
extenders (or whatever words the marketing people are using this hour).

One type (I honestly can't remember which term they were using at the time)
will pick up your router's signal and just pass it on through, but the
other type will pick up the signal and create a new SSID.  For example, in
my house we have two wi-fis to connect to depending on where you are:
 originalsignal and originalsignal.ext.   This is using a Netgear R7000 and
I believe a Netgear WNDR3200 (not sure on that model number).

What I wanted was one SSID throughout the house that I could seamlessly
bounce back and forth between.  But instead if I'm in the East end of the
house I have to use originalsignal, then if I go to the West end I have to
switch over to originalsignal.ext. (and no, it's not that big of a house...)

I'm led to believe that mesh wi-fi makes one big originalsignals SSID
throughout the house.  When my current router starts showing its age I will
look into this further.  Right now it's out of my budget....


On Thu, 30 Mar 2017 at 09:33 B.S. <bs27975.2 at gmail.com> wrote:

> >
> > The WRT1900AC and ACS recommended by others are expensive
>  > (~ $250 at least).
>
> Right, but if you swap in another (non-wifi) router, perhaps even
> OpenWRT capable, you can then move your current one wherever you like.
>
> Seems to me Charles had some older non-wifi / OpenWRT capable routers at
> computer recycling for cheap.
>
> As long as the WAN connection is faster than what your provider is
> giving you, and I don't imagine it's even 100Mbps, you won't suffer for
> the less speedy / capable equipment - it's just converting ethernet into
> cable-speak.
>
> (Careful though, when I tried this with my LinkSys ATA/Router - it kept
> falling over. Couldn't handle the throughput. It was fine as an ATA,
> just not as a router.)
>
>
> On 03/30/2017 09:11 AM, Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:
> > On Thu, Mar 30, 2017 at 12:05 AM, Paul Nijjar via kwlug-disc
> > <kwlug-disc at kwlug.org <mailto:kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>> wrote:
> >
> >
> > I am actually involved in a similar project to extend wifi range. The
> > plan is to use a $30 Mikrotik router as an access point, and disable
> > the router features (exactly as Khalid was suggesting, except with
> > evil proprietary Mikrotik stuff instead of angelic OpenWRT). But that
> > is an indoor solution.
> >
> > If I can get WiFi inside the basement close to the walls, that maybe
> >  just the ticket.
> >
> > Where do you buy the Mikrotik router from? Directly from the
> > manufacturer?
> >
> > The WRT1900AC and ACS recommended by others are expensive (~ $250 at
> > least).
>
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