A final thread about wireless signal - A Wireless Repeater

G

GeorgeC

Member
I've been through just about every idea for increasing the range of my router's wireless signal but all of these ideas run the risk of still not upping the range enough (new antennae, new wireless NIC etc). I have turned to what I feel is perhaps a more sure process for getting a boost in wifi range - a wireless repeater.

I would intend to use the TL-WA730RE as the slave and my current DGND3300v2 router as the master.

Is there any blatant compatibility issue? I've done this kind of thing before for a friend so I'm not worried about the technical aspect of it.


Thanks, you can trust me this will be the last time I pester about wifi strength :D!
 
pengipete

pengipete

Rising Star
Difficult to say for sure - the router is WDS capable but the manufacturers warn that it may not work with non-Broadcom hardware - and that repeater uses Atheros.
 
Fear

Fear

Prolific Poster
have you not thought of getting a homeplug set up much better and reliable.
 
pengipete

pengipete

Rising Star
Fear said:
have you not thought of getting a homeplug set up much better and reliable.
Click to expand...

I use a combination of both - I have an old BT Homehub connected via powerline adaptors to the main router (a Sky branded D-Link). That way I get wireless throughout the house and ethernet connections if if need them. It also gives us a wireless "n" signal which the Sky router doesn't have. My desktop PC is connected directly to another powerline adaptor - no need for wireless.

I should say that I got two of the powerline adaptors free when I had BT Vision - otherwise cost would have been a factor as they're not particularly cheap.
 
G

GeorgeC

Member
Cost really is a factor to me here so I'm trying to spend as little as I can. I looked up some homeplug reviews and everyone has nothing but good words for it, but then that's really what I would expect for upwards of £50. In the future (over the next year perhaps) I am having my bathroom refurbished, at which point I will lay down an Ethernet cable. In the mean time I want to get a connection for as low a price as possible, and from the looks of it £18 for a wifi repeater is as good as it gets. Also considering other family members complain about a poor wifi reception upstairs.

So right back to the start agian, even if the manufacturer of my router doesn't advise the use of non-broadcom hardware is it entirely possible? From the number of positive reviews and good experiences it looks like compatibility shouldn't be an issue, nobody seems to even mention it. All the negative reviews of this product being used as a repeater seem to be from people who did not know how to set it up in the first place and as I'm pretty confident with this kind of stuff I think that side of it should be fine.

While you may not like wireless connections and perhaps would only settle for wired, this would still work in theory right?

Thanks again, I'm really impressed by all the support both users and staff give.
 
Fear

Fear

Prolific Poster
I can fully understand the cost being an issue when i changed mine over a couple of years ago it cost a fortune but it was well worth it and never have any connection issues but you can only do what you can afford at the time hope the wi-fi repeater works for you but there are never any guarantees with wi-fi (i still use wi-fi for the printer and the Wii but i have to leave the printer on standby if i turn it off i have to reset the whole network to connect it)
 
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