wireless router plus extender nightmare

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Nov 12, 2007
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Hi!

I really could use your suggestion on good brands of wireless routers and compatible wireless extenders, like the netgear ones, for the uber wi-fi environment....

I stay in a house that is at least twenty years old, there are very thick walls and strange space planning...it is a wireless networks nightmare....

Your replies are greatly appreciated...

HELP...:Oops:

Mac and PC compatible please
 
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Apr 27, 2005
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Leamington Spa
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13.3 MacBook Air 1.7 i5 - also, Mac Mini and dead 12in iBook G4 (RIP)
I currently use a standard and quite cheap Belkin ADSL router for my wireless network...

I also have an Airport Express, into which is plugged a printer..

although the Express can apparently extend the network by repeating (and boosting?) the signal, I am too much of a doofus to figure out how... so I just use it to be able to put my ptinter out of the way on a shelf and print wirelessly from my iBook or Mini

My house was built in 1930 and has plenty of steel in a large extension, in part of which the computers live... in a straight line, they are only 12 feet from the router and the signal drop is not too bad, through 2/3 brick walls and with the steels in the roof above (but not in line-of-sight to the router, which is in the cupboard under the stairs, for reasons of space...

currently hoping someone will explain how to use the Express extending facility but at the moment I can hook up in the back garden, 30/40 feet away from the router and the signal is still 3/5 bars strength...

I did look at Airport Extreme - but it was about £100 more than the Belkin, which seems to work well, although the Extreme will undoubtedly talk to the Macs and be better able to set up a network connection between them...

in short, I think almost anything works... Express can then be used to boost signal, or use a better antenna!
 
Joined
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rMBP 3.06Ghz, MBP 2.2Ghz, Mini G4, B/W G3 (Media Server), LCII, Beige G3
While wireless range extenders are sometimes helpful when you have to be far from the the wirless router they do have some downsides. The extenders run at half speed of the actual wirless router and every one that you add to span a long distance decrease by half each one you extend through another extender.

Most top out at 14mbps-24mbps as opposed to the wireless standard of 54mbps.

I would suggest if you have the time to run a hardwire cat5 cable through the walls or even through the attic, this is actually not as hard as its sounds if you have a few tools for the job. I would run this cat5 cable from your origin wireless router through your house to where you use your laptop most, and add another wireless router at that end of the house.

Good luck.
 
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Mac pro Quad Xeon; 15" Retina Macbook Pro; macbooks (family); Macbook pro 17"; intel & G4 iMacs.
Two wireless extremes connected by cat5 would do virtually any normal house! If you just use the two extremes it will still work but there is a performance hit. You might find however that a wireless extreme will cover the whole house as the latest airports have a much bigger range. Mine is set up it the bedroom upstairs in a four bedroom house. I get full speed anywhere in the house and right out into the garden or garage! I live at the end of a road and it picks up 4 other networks some of the 6 houses away !!!
 

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