Best Wireless Range Extenders/Expanders
havok
Newbie

My router is located in my basement which is preventing me from receiving a wireless signal throughout my house.  Additionally, there is a level of cement between my basement and first floor which is also restricting the signal strength. 

I am unable to move the router out of my basement and was going to try a range expander. 

Does anyone know any good expanders that my resolve my problems?  I am currently looking at two Hawking products but I am unsure whether or not they will be compatible with the Actiontec router Verizon provided.

Any help is appreciated.  Thank you in advance.

Hawking HWREN1 Hi-Gain Wireless-300N Range Extender

http://www.amazon.com/Hawking-HWREN1-Hi-Gain-Wireless-300N-Extender/dp/B001DMEYCY/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?i...

Hawking HiGain Signal Booster version 2 - HSB2

http://www.amazon.com/Hawking-HiGain-Signal-Booster-version/dp/B0009MYSHU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=elect...

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Re: Best Wireless Range Extenders/Expanders
jmw1950
Specialist - Level 2

A better solution is probably to disable wireless on the Verizon router, and run a Cat5 cable from the router LAN port to separate wireless access point/router that is in a better location. That leaves the existing router where it is, and then you don't need a repeater that may not get a very good signal either.

Re: Best Wireless Range Extenders/Expanders
spacedebris
Master - Level 2

Well several options....

Wired of course is always the prefered choice. stable and fast connection. But not always feasible.

Next I would suggest Power over Ethernet (POE). Its a compromise between wired and wireless. it has two boxes. one that plugs into an outlet near the router and runs an ethernet from the router to the box. then a second box plugs into an outlet near the computer and runs ethernet from it to the computer. Then the link uses the electrical wires in the house to transmitt the data. I've had a few experiances with this and most of the time it works pretty well.

Wireless.  Well you could try extenders. I've personally never had much luck with them. But then I dislike wireless to begin with so I may not be completely unbiased here.  There is also the option of getting a high powered router (like a MIMO router or other professional hotspot router) and daisy chaining them to your verizon router. Maybe someone else has some experiance with the extenders to give you more feedback on them.

Re: Best Wireless Range Extenders/Expanders
stereo55
Enthusiast - Level 3

Ive been giving this one some thought myself . http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127256

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Re: Best Wireless Range Extenders/Expanders
zdenneh
Newbie

If your using the Verizon Router (the Actiontec m1424), the wireless on that thing is total garbage. The solution for me was to get a Trendnet 637ap . This thing is unique and the easiest way to upgrade your wireless. I get twice the range from it and my connects almost never drop. Prior, I was losing my connection several times a day, making online gaming frustrating to say the least. Cant say enough about this product though. It just connects to the router via supplied ethernet cable. Then just turn off the Wireless on the Actiontec. Easy as pie. By the way, this upgrades routers to N speed. I just use the G speed on it though and its 10x better performance than the Actiontec.

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Re: Best Wireless Range Extenders/Expanders
Slywilcox
Newbie

I got lucky and had the ONT in the garage at the front of the house and the Verizon Router at the rear of my home, 75 feet.  Terrible reception upstairs.  So,

Router (B) (Back of House) ------------- (Garage or Front of house)  (Coax Splitter + 2 cables) Router (A)

I had a problem getting wifi reception in the upstairs bedroom toward the front of the house.  I did not want to run cable due to time and cost.  After reading much about the FIOS setup I thought that I could put an Access Point in the garage at the front of the house near the ONT.

Router (A): I bought this router on Craigslist, but you can get them on eBay as well.  This is the access point.  It does not have DHCP turned on.  I set the IP address for it to 192.168.1.2.  I used a bidirectional coax splitter to connect the router to the ONT and router (B).  I bought a splitter and two coax cables from Radio Shack to connect into the network.

Router  (B): This is the Verizon supplied router.  I restricted the DHCP IP address allocation to 192.168.1.10 to 192.168.1.50.  This more than covers what I need  is separated from router (B) and a printer that are outside of this range.  I am using a Netgear connected to Router (B) to get better WiFi reception downstairs.  But, it did not solve the problems upstairs.  I think there were too many walls and angles.

It took me a few days to work through this configuration, but it works well.  The reception in the bedrooms upstairs is great anddownstairs is great is well. 

This should give some help to FIOS users to choose how Verizon performs your installation.   This can help with wifi coverage in your  as well.  If you want to attach other WiFi routers to the ActionTecs that works well as well.

 

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Re: Best Wireless Range Extenders/Expanders
samzandt
Newbie

I've been trying to get better range in my house too. Many rooms  in  my house with 3 floors plus basement have cat5 wired with a hub in the basement connecting them all to the Verizon router. The router is also wireless, but because it is in the basement I don't get any signal in the 2nd and 3rd floors. I tried an extender, but the results were poor. I then tried to connect another wireless router on the 3rd floor and connected it through the cat5 to the Verizion router in the basement. I then had problems with internet connection when connecting to the Verizon wireless while on the 1st floor. Can other wireless routers be connected to the Verizon router in this way? Are there special settings that need be configured? If so I could put a wireless router on each floor connecting to the Verizon router through the cat5 on each floor. Any suggestions?

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Re: Best Wireless Range Extenders/Expanders
viafax999
Community Leader
Community Leader

@samzandt wrote:

Can other wireless routers be connected to the Verizon router in this way? Are there special settings that need be configured? If so I could put a wireless router on each floor connecting to the Verizon router through the cat5 on each floor. Any suggestions?


Yes you can connect your own wireless router/s.

Yes you could put one on each floor, though that sound like overkill to me.

You can find a write up here on the various options.

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/verizonfios/3.0_Networking

The simplest form is to configure your own router to be something other than subnet 192.168.1 and then connect a LAN port from your VZ router to the WAN port of your own router via your house wiring if you so desire.

Another simple way is to bridge them by connecting a LAN port from teh VZ router to a LAN port on your router, disable dhcp on your router when doing this.

The down side of bridging your own router from the VZ router is that your VZ router is probably 100mb and wireless-g while your own router would most likely be 1gb and wireless-n.  If you bridge the routers you will reduce your router LAN ports to be 100mb also.  If you want to maintain your internal network at 1gb then make a LAN to WAN connection as in point one and then use the LAN ports on your own router to distribute to the house and make any other router connections bridged connections.


 

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Re: Best Wireless Range Extenders/Expanders
mjepk
Newbie

I have  a similar set up -- modem/router in back of house and the ONT in front in garage.   I'd like to do what you did, but I have a couple questions.  First, all the modems I see can be hooked up with ethernet cable but don't take a coax cable?  How did you get around this?   Second, I'm a little confused with your hook ups for the new modem.  Do I only have to hook it into the coax cable via a splitter and not directly to the Verizon router?   (JIn other words, do you jhave ust one connection from splitting the coax out of the ONT and nothing directly linking the router A and B?)

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Re: Best Wireless Range Extenders/Expanders
armond_in_nj1
Master - Level 1

@mjepk wrote:

I have  a similar set up -- modem/router in back of house and the ONT in front in garage ... all the modems I see can be hooked up with ethernet cable but don't take a coax cable?  How did you get around this?   ... Do I only have to hook it into the coax cable via a splitter and not directly to the Verizon router? ...


The VZ device is a router, not a modem.  This is significant beyond being merely a terminology issue, because it's actually the ONT that handles signal distribution (to TVs, phones, and the VZ router, and then on to individual devices and computers).  In general you will not be able to purchase a commercial router that uses coax (i.e., a MoCA connection), except for older VZ routers selling on Ebay or similar sites.  Instead most users find it easier to insert devices after the Verizon router.  However there is no single best method to do this, and you will have to decide on the specifics that match your needs (and frankly, experience level and desired complexity).

Here are two links that cover the choices in some detail:

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/12506?r=0.703609018444212

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/16077

Check them out and study up a bit, and then report back if there are additional issues.