Trying to find a reliable solution..

[amck77]

Hello there, just joined up after reading alot of reviews on wireless routers from this web site.

I'm trying to find a solid solution for our problem. One which needs to work and to be just left.

We have a small cottage a joined to our house which is all made from think dry stone walls. At the moment we have a NETGEAR DG834G which has served us well. The problem is that we now need to have wireless access in the cottage next door for guests to use. The current router can not provide any useful wireless access in there. It is no more then 20 or so meters away, but has thick walls in between.

I have been looking at many different routers and they all seam the same I've looked so much... Could any body offer any advice? Is it worth getting an N router for the future? We need a guest SSID and it has to be ASDL. Also to be reliable. Apart from that gigabit ethernet would be nice. Possibly the ability to change aerials to give a better signal as well?

Thanks in advance,

Alex.

 

[thiggins]

I would first try using HomePlug AV powerline vs. wireless.

Otherwise, you can try a pair of wireless bridge / antenna combinations, designed for such applications. This will give you an Ethernet connection in the cottage, to which you can attach an access point if you want wireless in the cottage.

Engenius makes a number of these bridges that are reasonably priced.

 

[amck77]

Thanks for your reply!

I did think about home plugs, but the places are on different supplies so i don't think they would work would they?

Would there be no way of doing with just the one router and maybe some sort of extender or high gain aerial if needed?

 

[thiggins]

What do you mean "different supplies". If they are branches off the same breaker box, that shouldn't be a problem. If they are entirely different services (metered separately) then it probably won't work.

Extenders cut throughput in half.

Please describe (or illustrate) the location of the current router and all the
locations. I can't visualize what is where.

 

[amck77]

Ok, I've tried to draw a very simple diagram to show you how things are roughly laid out.
The router has to be where it is as that is where the phone line is. I could put an ethernet cable through to the cottage but would be a pretty big job so bit of a last resort.

I used to have two BT home hubs set up as a wireless bridge in the window of the house and the window off the cottage which just about worked but was very slow and was unreliable. So what you said would make sense about the throughput...

Yes there are different meters so two different supplies. I've heard that the home plugs aren't always so good? We have old cabling so might not be so good...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57552570@N04/5297427334/
Thanks again,

Alex

 

[thiggins]

The problem is the thick stone wall construction. It really kills wireless signals.

If the cottage is really physically joined to the house, I'd bite the bullet and
run Ethernet. Ethernet cable could be 100M long, and could be run out one
window, buried and run in another window.

I don't know what BT Home Hubs are. But if you got Ethernet over to a window
that was close enough to a cottage window, you could just set up an access point in that window. I'd use a higher power one. again Engenius has a bunch.

If you can't get Ethernet to the window, then use a pair of HomePlug AV adapters in the house to get Ethernet there. Then install the AP.

Using an AP will avoid the throughput loss from repeating and be much more reliable.

 

[amck77]

Ok, thanks again for the advice. I'm going to have a rethink and have a look at the link you sent again. I'll maybe post back if I come to any conclusions.

 

[mjw]

My sister had almost the same issue at her house. She has a NETGEAR DG834G router with a separate house and the wireless signal was not sufficient to reach from the main house to the second house. The houses are on separate power supplies so powerline did not work.

I found that upgrading the antenna on the DG834G to the longest antenna I could find allowed the wireless signal to reach the other house. It's not great, but it works. The antenna I bought from Ebay for $14 was called "10dbi 39.6cm SMA Antenna & EDUP Magnetic Base".

I can see a similar one listed here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/EDUP-10dbi-SMA-...ltDomain_0&hash=item3f077d1514#ht_3397wt_1139