Extending broadband from outbuilding

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DavidM4164

Member
Dear all,

I could use some help on improving my home broadband/wireless.

I have sky broadband coming into my home office, which is a converted summer house in our garden.

The building is a good 30m or so from the house, and is on the same consumer unit, but has its own ring main.

I currently have the main router in this building and have my PC and PS3 plugged into this with Ethernet cables.

I have a Netgear wireless extender set up in the house, with Sky tv and Apple TV plugged with Ethernet cables.

My partner and I both have iPhones which pick up the wireless.

The set up works ok, BUT, the Netgear extender is forever losing signal and needs to be hard rebooted.

This is doing my head in as everything works fine until...it doesn't. No way of knowing when the signal will die.

Is the Netgear box just bobbins?

Could I use homeplugs?

Could I use a more powerful range extender?

Help, please, if you can.
 
vanthus

vanthus

Member Resting in Peace
Homeplugs could be the answer,contrary to common belief,homeplugs dont need to be connected to the same circuit,they will work as long as the sockets are wired to the same consumer unit(fuse box).In some cases homeplugs will even work from different consumer units (fuse boxes) as long as they are on the the same phase.
Here is some useful information regarding homeplugs, dispelling some myths commonly believed,like they wont work unless on the same circuit or from extensions.
http://www.homeplugs.co.uk/acatalog/faqs.html
 
sted

sted

Rising Star
Do your wired connections lose out on the Internet while the wireless ones do too? If so, maybe look into a more reliable router, Sky has a new one for about £39, though I don't know if its reliable or not.

Wireless in my case is often known for dropping the signal/connection with my wireless devices. The amount of things sharing a connection in your house may or may not be affecting your reliability in the use of the net gear and your ISP. Every time you add a new thing to share the connection, whether it's by Ethernet or wifi, the strength/speed is cut/divided between all the things using the Internet. Just something to consider and possibly improve your situation.
 
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DavidM4164

Member
Hi, guys thanks for the feedback.

To clarify:

What happens is the wireless extender lights up red to say it has no connection and has to be rebooted.or worse still, just stops broadcasting without giving any indication.

Generally speaking we'll only be using one or at most two bits of kit at any time:

E.g. Watching a movie on sky anytime, whilst checking email on iPhone, or Ms DavidM listening to radio on Apple TV, and me working in the shed.

However, we do have a fair few bits of kit passively connected at anyone time and I wonder if this is an issue.
 
tom_gr7

tom_gr7

Life Serving
I'd try a new router.

Get onto your ISP, explain that your router is knackered and can you get a new free one? if they say no, explain that you are considering changing ISP when contract is up. Bet they would offer you a free router.

saying that, it may just be interference that is causing the wireless to drop out.
 
D

DavidM4164

Member
The main router seems ok.

It's the extender that keeps falling over.

I can think of 2 solutions:

1) to stick the router (in the summerhouse/office) on a homeplug, and the extender on one in the house

2) replace the extender wit a new one (but which?)

Anyone have any other thoughts?
 
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