Extending Spectrum wifi

My Spectrum router is in the back bedroom, my office, next to my iMac which works fine. But my MacBook Air sits several rooms away, on the same floor, and my main TV (with Kindle TV stick) is still further away. I bought an Airport Express thinking it would boost my singal to the Air, and the TV. The iOS Airport Utility on my iPhone shows a green light next to both the Internet and the AirPort Express. I assumed this was boosting my signal. Last night I was trying to watch a movie using my Kindle TV and it had to keep loading, said the signal strength was fair. I moved the Express next to the TV, the green light came on, but the signal strength never changed.

I read that in addition to the Express, you need Airport Extreme. Is this true? Doesn't the Express work off the Spectrum wifi?

Mike

I read that in addition to the Express, you need Airport Extreme. Is this true? Doesn't the Express work off the Spectrum wifi?

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The Airport Express only works to extend the signal from an Airport Extreme (which by the way, Apple no longer makes). You will need a WiFi extender for your Spectrum router. Just for info sake.... my experience with Charter (now Spectrum) is that they do not provide top of the line equipment. You would be much better off buying your own router and turn the Spectrum one back in and save some rental money.

Thanks. What would you suggest I buy for a router?

MangoMike said:

Thanks. What would you suggest I buy for a router?

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Do a google search for best routers and reviews of them. I purchased a TP-Link router from B&H in NY based on reviews and ratings, but that was some time ago. Since the technology changes very fast, it's best to look at the latest ratings and reviews. Also... make sure anything you buy is compatible with the Spectrum system. I don't know if you also have Spectrum TV and VOIP along with their internet service (they generally bundle all three together). If you do have VOIP, you will need a router that is compatible with their modem.

I have Spectrum TV, land line, and internet. I'm looking at the NETGEAR Nighthawk X6 AC3200 Tri-Band Gigabit WiFi Router (R8000) , but I'm not sure it's compitable. The Spectrum site isn't a lot of help. Thank you for all your help.

MangoMike said:

My Spectrum router is in the back bedroom, my office, next to my iMac which works fine. But my MacBook Air sits several rooms away, on the same floor, and my main TV (with Kindle TV stick) is still further away.

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I get asked about extending Wi-Fi range all the time. I used to have a bunch of suggestions for doing so, but all of them had their associated headaches. (Extenders constantly needing to be reset, interference causing signal strength to vary, etc.) One *huge* problem is that many brands of Wi-Fi extender simply can't be made to work with a Macintosh for some reason.

Folks with deep pockets now deal with the problem comprehensively by using a "mesh" Wi-Fi system:

Eero mesh system ($300 and up)
https://eero.com/

And an Eero setup works wonderfully.

But for a fraction of the cost you can go with a hard-wired solution that works just as well, using your home's existing powerlines:

Logitech HD Powerline 200a Starter Kit
$28
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004F9P2KU/?tag=macforums0e4-20
(Purchase two kits to connect up to three remote devices to your router via a hard-wired connection.)

A powerline setup isn't nominally ideal for use with a remote laptop (because the laptop has to be used via a wired connection), and, of course, an iPad or iPhone has no Ethernet capability at all. However, in the remote room you can attach a cheap Wi-Fi router to the powerline adapter and have really strong Wi-Fi in that room as if your Internet modem was sitting in that room.

Thanks randy, I've never heard about the Powerline option, and it look like it just might work. I plan to take my router back to Spectrum tomorrow and see if they can give me something stronger and better. I appreciate your help...

MangoMike said:

Thanks randy, I've never heard about the Powerline option, and it look like it just might work. I plan to take my router back to Spectrum tomorrow and see if they can give me something stronger and better. I appreciate your help...

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When I first heard about it, I thought that it was a scam. "Ethernet through your powerlines???" I thought.

And when I saw the price of the kit that I gave you the link to, I thought for sure that it wouldn't work, or at least not well.

When the two kits that I ordered showed up, I thought that it was suspiciously easy to install.

But I just plugged everything in, and the Macs in the remote room instantly knew that they were plugged-into a wired Ethernet network and they accessed the Internet at speeds that they never attained using Wi-Fi. It's an amazingly effective, easy, inexpensive solution.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-line_communication

I almost tried this a few years ago to being network access to a Mac Pro with no wireless card. At the time I seem to remember that there was an issue with some older wiring affecting performance. Have you noticed anything similar? I don't need it at the moment but until recently it might have come in handy.

The Powerline option for ethernet setups has been around for many years. However, in the past it was expensive and did not always work the way it should. It seems that the latest technology for Powerline adapters have improved and might be worth while to try. The Logitech kit that Randy mentioned is not expensive and since it's from Amazon can always be returned for a refund if it doesn't work out.

I suspected as much Charlie. When I looked at these things they were indeed expensive and certainly more than it was worth to me at the time. I settled for running a long ethernet cable from one room to the other and placing my Time Capsule in the second room. Fortunately that apartment was configured in such a way that I run it in such a way that no one tripped over it.

Slydude said:

I almost tried this a few years ago to being network access to a Mac Pro with no wireless card. At the time I seem to remember that there was an issue with some older wiring affecting performance. Have you noticed anything similar?

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I've recommended powerline adapters to a huge number of folks at this point, and everyone who has reported back has been amazed and thrilled by them. I know that I have. However, as with any sort of technology, there are a number of potential situations where they may not work. The most obvious one is that if electrical sockets near the source computers are on an entirely different circuit than the electrical socket near the Internet modem. However, that isn't likely to be a problem in anything other than a large office building.

As with anything you purchase for your computer, only purchase it with a good credit card whose company will help you facilitate a refund if you have problems with the retailer, and only purchase from a retailer with a good return policy.

This page has a lot of useful information about powerline adapters:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-things-powerline-adapters-need-know-first/

Thanks for that link Randy. The pros/cons mentioned in the article are similar to what I found when I looked at this type of connection. It sounds like the performance has really improved since then and the price for a basic kit has certainly come down since I looked at them.

Ultimately we did not buy them at the time because of three factors:
1. I wasn't expecting good performance over the wiring in the first place we were going to use them. Besides in that place I could run an ethernet cable from the router in one room to my Time Capsule in another and have all but about 10' of the wire hidden by furniture.
2. When we moved to the second place the cost of these things had not come down yet. It was easier/cheaper to just buy a wireless bridge compared to the number of kits I would have needed.