Internet and router

ThePrettyDamned

Okay, as a follow up to my pc question...

I live in a house. Hooray for me.

It's fucking awful for Internet. We get BT fibre optic which is really fast, certainly enough for gaming, but the problem isn't the Internet so much as the home hub 5 not sending it all around the house.

I tried a plug in to the wall booster thing and... It didn't work. I don't even know how it's supposed to, we followed instructions but nothing.

So, how do you boost the Internet? I'd like a small box or plug in thing that could sit in the hallway just outside the living room (it's very definitely the wall between the two that screws it up!).

Cheers for any advice. Otherwise I'll probably need to just forget the idea of a gaming pc altogether as the Internet in my room is just shite.

TTony

1.  Make sure that your router has a decent-strength wireless transmitter.  AFAIK, BT's home hubs are reasonable enough.

Our house is fully solid walls (ie no partition / stud walls *anywhere*), and is reasonably spacious.  The wireless signal from my router (not a BT HH and at one edge of the building) easily covers the whole house.

2.  Make sure that it's set-up/configured properly and isn't conflicting with (eg transmitting on the same channel as) other wireless networks in your area (if there are any).

3.  The "wall booster thing" will effectively receive the wireless signal, and send it on again.  If you position it at the edge of your wireless coverage area, you'll extend the area in the direction that you've placed the booster.  thing.  If it's not working, I'd hazard a guess that you've not set it - or the router - up properly.  Look for any instructions that refer to "WPS" and make sure that you follow that bit extra carefully!

4.  You can send the network signal around your power cables - ie from one mains socket to another - so you avoid wireless completely  Though I've had mixed results with those things.  Look for network powerline adapter.

ThePrettyDamned

That powerline thing is what it was - just didn't work I connected to it, and it seemed to think it was connected to the router, but it just didn't want to give me a decent speed.

Any recommendations for wireless extenders? I'll see if I can try one of those.

TTony

ThePrettyDamned said:

That powerline thing is what it was - just didn't work I connected to it, and it seemed to think it was connected to the router, but it just didn't want to give me a decent speed.

Any recommendations for wireless extenders? I'll see if I can try one of those.

Before you go spending more money ...

The powerline things don't like being plugged into plugboards / extension sockets.  They only like being plugged into a wall socket.

Reset both of them, and start the set-up process again.  Make sure that they're paired.  Plug your PC directly into the extension unit and avoid wireless connection completely.

ThePrettyDamned

Got it, will do. I think that was what I did, it was a while back...

But I'll give it a punt

Emp_Fab

+1.  Persevere with the powerline adaptors.  They're much better than wireless.  Wired will always be better than wireless.

You do have two of them don't you ?  One plugged into your home hub (into any one of the four yellow sockets) with a network cable, and the unit plugged into a mains wall socket (not extension).  The one in your room plugged into a mains wall socket and also into your pc with a network cable.

Read the instructions that came with the powerline adaptors too.

Any trouble, come back here and give me shout.

ThePrettyDamned

Emp_Fab;411051" said:

+1.  Persevere with the powerline adaptors.  They're much better than wireless.  Wired will always be better than wireless.

You do have two of them don't you ?  One plugged into your home hub (into any one of the four yellow sockets) with a network cable, and the unit plugged into a mains wall socket (not extension).  The one in your room plugged into a mains wall socket and also into your pc with a network cable.

Read the instructions that came with the powerline adaptors too.

Any trouble, come back here and give me shout.

Will do, I'm going to dig them out again tomorrow I hope.

I had one plugged into the router and into the wall, the other upstairs in my room into the xbox, and while the xbox could connect to the plug, it wouldn't get any Internet. Couldn't work out why.

I'll reset them and try again, and record each stage of set up.

Adam_MD

Upstairs and downstairs must be on the same ring main for it to work.

ThePrettyDamned

Adam_MD;411062" said:

Upstairs and downstairs must be on the same ring main for it to work.

Hmm. Any way to test that?

musicman

If its for gaming the last thing you want is it to keep dropping out even if you do manage to get a decent signal up there, my advice would be to run a cable upstairs.

boogieman

ThePrettyDamned;411072" said:

[quote="Adam_MD;411062"]Upstairs and downstairs must be on the same ring main for it to work.

Hmm. Any way to test that? [/quote]
Look at your fuse box. If there are separate fuses/breakers for upstairs & downstairs they're not on the same ring.

FelineGuitars

I have this problem - separate mains and fuseboard for upsatirs, so they didn't work for my place

chillidoggy

I think one of the problems for wireless is the foil-lined insulation that some houses use, including mine. Unless it's line of sight, my wi-fi is shit. I'm thinking of trying the power line wi-fi next.

FX_Munkee

If you've got an Android thing. Can I recommend Wifi Analyser as an app, it's free. It does a good job of showing you where you have conflicting wifi in your space and the best channel/s to use to get the most efficient wifi in your location.
I've used it quite a bit in various friends and relations houses to get their wifi working better.

Emp_Fab

+1 for WiFi analyser.

wave100

FX_Munkee said:

If you've got an Android thing. Can I recommend Wifi Analyser as an app, it's free. It does a good job of showing you where you have conflicting wifi in your space and the best channel/s to use to get the most efficient wifi in your location.
I've used it quite a bit in various friends and relations houses to get their wifi working better.

+1 It also shows you how strong the wifi signal is so you can check your home hub thingy is working as it should.

chillidoggy

I thought the wi-fi analiser app had been wiithdrawn?

FX_Munkee

chillidoggy said:

I thought the wi-fi analiser app had been wiithdrawn?

This is the one I was talking about:-
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer&hl=en_GB

were you thinking of the wi-fe analiser?

chillidoggy

Ta.

Actually my spelling of 'analiser' was deliberate. My mis-spelling of 'withdrawn' wasn't!

Axe_meister

The ring main thing is a red herring.

There are 3 floors in my house, ground floor, bedroom floor and loft. Each has it's own circuit braker.

My PC is connected via a powerline adapter

However the Xbox may be the issue, I get this problem on my sons Xbox which is wired with an ethernet cable into a switch and

then onto the BTHH5, it doesn't like it. Wireless is fine however.

Have you tried plugging in a laptop into the same homeplug?

boogieman

FX_Munkee said:

chillidoggy said:

I thought the wi-fi analiser app had been wiithdrawn?

This is the one I was talking about:-
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer&hl=en_GB

were you thinking of the wi-fe analiser?

I use inSSIDer, it's a free download.