WIFI, Routers, Concrete Walls

RG84

Bronze
May 21, 2010
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Those that live in a two or more level home, are you able to get a good wifi signal throughout your home?
If so, what did you do to achieve this? 

Did you buy your own modem or router? Did you set up access points? Did you buy one of the wifi-mesh systems.  All this concrete and steel bars inside of them makes it hard to get a wifi signal through walls and floors.
 

No Place Like Home

Well-known member
Jul 9, 2013
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Yea. I got the tplink extender and it works for about 15 feet. The problem is cement walls. You can however position the parts, based on your needs to get a better signal. Good luck
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
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Yes, preferably buy your own router. The modem/router combos supplied here are not the best, do not provide the strongest wifi signal, usually have a single antenna, do not necessarily support the latest high strength/speed protocols (A/AC).

A router that dedicates two or more antennas to transmitting and two or more antennas to receiving works best. Locate the modem centrally. Wifi signals pass through concrete better at 90 degree angles than they do at oblique angles.

Range extenders within line of sight of the main router where possible. Chain them together (extender #1 connects to the router, extender two connects to extender #1, extender #3 connects to extender #2 etc.) to go down the hall, around the corner and up the stairs for example. Connecting as many of the extenders as possible to the router by ethernet cable is preferable. At the very least try to connect the first extender in a chain to the router by cable. Alternatively, run a cable to each floor of your house from the router. Connect an extender to the end of each of these cable runs.

Lastly, do not forget to turn off all the functions of the modem/router combo supplied by your ISP. No wifi, no dhcp services, no nothing other than to act as a connection from the wall to your new router. All network tasks, wifi and routing functions are to be performed by your router. Your router is connected to the now dumb ISP modem by cable.
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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Yes, preferably buy your own router. The modem/router combos supplied here are not the best, do not provide the strongest wifi signal, usually have a single antenna, do not necessarily support the latest high strength/speed protocols (A/AC).

A router that dedicates two or more antennas to transmitting and two or more antennas to receiving works best. Locate the modem centrally. Wifi signals pass through concrete better at 90 degree angles than they do at oblique angles.

Range extenders within line of sight of the main router where possible. Chain them together (extender #1 connects to the router, extender two connects to extender #1, extender #3 connects to extender #2 etc.) to go down the hall, around the corner and up the stairs for example. Connecting as many of the extenders as possible to the router by ethernet cable is preferable. At the very least try to connect the first extender in a chain to the router by cable. Alternatively, run a cable to each floor of your house from the router. Connect an extender to the end of each of these cable runs.

Lastly, do not forget to turn off all the functions of the modem/router combo supplied by your ISP. No wifi, no dhcp services, no nothing other than to act as a connection from the wall to your new router. All network tasks, wifi and routing functions are to be performed by your router. Your router is connected to the now dumb ISP modem by cable.
It's much easier to use the house wiring to carry the signal---known as "powerline"---than depend on a chain of extenders, some with wires.

The Cisco device I use has a ethernet connection to the router and plugs into an electrical outlet. The distal device plugs into any electrical outlet and is like having a wireless router right there. We have one downstairs and one upstairs. We can plug the distal unit in anywhere.

Easy peasy, and very inexpensive.
 

RG84

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May 21, 2010
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I was also thinking of getting an old router and turn into an access point. That way on the second level I can still get a signal and not have two different networks.
 

Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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You need to be careful with powerline adapters here. The power is often "dirty", under or over voltage which can damage equipment. Inverter power during a black out is generally square wave and that's not good for data or computer equipment in general. Sinewave inverters are available and if you have one, you're better off all around.

...and the good lord only knows what gauge wire is running though your walls and what condition it's in. The number of twisted connections and electrical tape between powerline adapters will certainly be a factor.
 

TropicalPaul

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Sep 3, 2013
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For anyone who wants to buy something locally, I just bought a number of Extenders from Steren in Santo Domingo. Took 5 different Claro engineers to install them properly and get them working, but everyone agrees that the extenders are very good, they have four aerials and seem to bounce the WiFi signal around very well. In the Colonial Zone we have 18 inch thick walls in some places, so WiFi is quite a big problem.
 

Selltech

Member
Jun 26, 2015
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It's much easier to use the house wiring to carry the signal---known as "powerline"---than depend on a chain of extenders, some with wires.

The Cisco device I use has a ethernet connection to the router and plugs into an electrical outlet. The distal device plugs into any electrical outlet and is like having a wireless router right there. We have one downstairs and one upstairs. We can plug the distal unit in anywhere.

Easy peasy, and very inexpensive.

Mind blown...
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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You need to be careful with powerline adapters here. The power is often "dirty", under or over voltage which can damage equipment. Inverter power during a black out is generally square wave and that's not good for data or computer equipment in general. Sinewave inverters are available and if you have one, you're better off all around.

...and the good lord only knows what gauge wire is running though your walls and what condition it's in. The number of twisted connections and electrical tape between powerline adapters will certainly be a factor.
We've had ours for years, as well as a plethora of other tech, and never once had any problems powerline adapters included.

We have regular rolling blackouts in the areas, at least 3-4 days a week for several hours.
 

bigbird

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May 1, 2005
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It plugs into your (wireless) router with an ethernet cable.

I think I got that part but where you place the second one is that only good for an ethernet connection? Let's say upstairs you have no signal. Now install this gizmo will my cell phone/laptop be able to connect wireless upstairs?

I use the Wi-Fi extenders and have wireless connections throughout. My devices automatically(?) switch over to the strongest wireless signal.
 

cobraboy

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Jul 24, 2004
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I think I got that part but where you place the second one is that only good for an ethernet connection? Let's say upstairs you have no signal. Now install this gizmo will my cell phone/laptop be able to connect wireless upstairs?

I use the Wi-Fi extenders and have wireless connections throughout. My devices automatically(?) switch over to the strongest wireless signal.
You place the second one in any electrical outlet you choose, and it broadcasts a strong wifi signal from there.

In your case, you connect the "main" unit to your router via ethernet, then plug the "main" unit into an electrical outlet. The remote unit would then be plugged into any electrical outlet upstairs. Voila! Wifi there!

The connecting wires are your houses electrical system.
 

bigbird

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May 1, 2005
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You place the second one in any electrical outlet you choose, and it broadcasts a strong wifi signal from there.

In your case, you connect the "main" unit to your router via ethernet, then plug the "main" unit into an electrical outlet. The remote unit would then be plugged into any electrical outlet upstairs. Voila! Wifi there!

The connecting wires are your houses electrical system.

gotcha............

One other question. Will your devices now see two different available Wi-Fi connections? With the extender I use I have Main WiFi and Main WiFi ext, in essence two different wireless networks where I can if I so choose two different passwords.

The way I am understanding it the setup you have works much like the extenders except your remote does not need to rely on a wireless signal from the main router to boost.