Home Networking Issue (multiple wifi/routers?) (1 Viewer)

[Leeroy Jenkins]

New house, new issues:

I'm moving into a house that has a mother-in-law suite attached to it. We apparently will be sharing a FIOS internet connection (50/25) via a sub-hub (does that sound right?).

An offer I put on a house has been accepted! Now I have work to do.

The house is two stories with a finished basement. My home office will also be in a separate finished room in the basement.

There is currently fios in the house, but I could go Comcast as well. The panel is in the basement as well.

How do I wire this house so that TVs, game counsels, tablets and computers in the basement, first floor, and bedrooms have access to wired internet and a strong wifi signal?

Do I use the provider's supplied/rented router? Do I need to buy multiple cable modems/routers for hardwiring and wifi signals on each floor?

TIA.

 

[Abraham]

Hardwire as many devices as possible. That's a strong connection for a house - who are you sharing with? I'd probably put a single WAP on each floor as far away from exterior masonry as possible and call it a day.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Hardwire as many devices as possible. That's a strong connection for a house - who are you sharing with? I'd probably put a single WAP on each floor as far away from exterior masonry as possible and call it a day.

Sharing with the Landlord's 82 year old mother.

I guess I'm asking, if I have 3 devices I want hard wired in one room, but there is only one wall jack, what do I need to buy?

What is a WAP?

ETA: 16,000th POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[[icon]]

Gigabit Ethernet Hub to split your single ethernet connection in the room.

WAP = Wireless Access Point / Range Extender

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Gigabit Ethernet Hub to split your single ethernet connection in the room.

WAP = Wireless Access Point / Range Extender

And as Abe suggests, I should buy two WAPs. Will they play nice together?

 

[Patriotsfatboy1]

I don't know that you need two WAP's given the size and space being covered. You will probably have to configure it and the existing router to prevent IP conflicts.

I am not sure how much data you are moving around, but you will be bound by the download/upload speed for Internet connections vs. the WIFI connection. If you have wireless devices, go with wireless. Then you can just connect the Xbox to a wired connection and skip the hub.

Start simple and you can add a WAP and hub later on.

 

[Abraham]

A simple router will spilt things up. I have a trend micro 100mbs router that has four ports and a strong signal. Cost $30 from amazon.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

A simple router will spilt things up. I have a trend micro 100mbs router that has four ports and a strong signal. Cost $30 from amazon.

So I can probably use my current Verizon router (if I don't have to turn it in), or I get a Router for the living-room. And that router will put out a wifi signal that will work for the 1st floor and allow me to plug in xbox etc directly. Then, if my signal sucks on the second floor, I can get a WAP and plug it into the Ethernet wall jack and that will give me the signal up there?

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

So, the final answer here is what;

1. buy a router with wireless output capabilities and multiple ports to plug directly into, that is good for a 50/25 connection that will plug in from ethernet jack in the wall. This will take care of my multplie plug in issue for xbox, ps3, etc., and also cover the wifi signal on the first floor; and

2. Purchase a WAP that will connect via ethernet jack in the wall on the second floor, and this will provide the signal on the second floor?

Any suggestions on what plays nice together?

Should I just buy two of these that was posted earlier??

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

An offer I put on a house has been accepted! Now I have work to do.

The house is two stories with a finished basement. My home office will also be in a separate finished room in the basement.

There is currently fios in the house, but I could go Comcast as well. The panel is in the basement as well.

How do I wire this house so that TVs, game counsels, tablets and computers in the basement, first floor, and bedrooms have access to wired internet and a strong wifi signal?

Do I use the provider's supplied/rented router? Do I need to buy multiple cable modems/routers for hardwiring and wifi signals on each floor?

 

[matttyl]

Hardwire as many things as you can. That's by far the best way to spread internet around. If you have jacks in every room, that should work (assuming it was wired properly). If you want to hardwire more than 1 device in each location, you can use a "hub", or better yet you can use a wifi router as a wifi hub (use only lan ports on router and you have to turn a few things off in the router's settings). That's what I do.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Hardwire as many things as you can. That's by far the best way to spread internet around. If you have jacks in every room, that should work (assuming it was wired properly). If you want to hardwire more than 1 device in each location, you can use a "hub", or better yet you can use a wifi router as a wifi hub (use only lan ports on router and you have to turn a few things off in the router's settings). That's what I do.

The original topic had the jacks. New house does not. There will just be coax available I presume. How do you go from there to hardwire etc.?

 

[matttyl]

Hardwire as many things as you can. That's by far the best way to spread internet around. If you have jacks in every room, that should work (assuming it was wired properly). If you want to hardwire more than 1 device in each location, you can use a "hub", or better yet you can use a wifi router as a wifi hub (use only lan ports on router and you have to turn a few things off in the router's settings). That's what I do.

The original topic had the jacks. New house does not. There will just be coax available I presume. How do you go from there to hardwire etc.?

You mention that there is a "panel" in the basement. Do you just mean there is something there where the coax line runs into the house? I assume that coax line will carry both TV and your broadband internet on it?

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Hardwire as many things as you can. That's by far the best way to spread internet around. If you have jacks in every room, that should work (assuming it was wired properly). If you want to hardwire more than 1 device in each location, you can use a "hub", or better yet you can use a wifi router as a wifi hub (use only lan ports on router and you have to turn a few things off in the router's settings). That's what I do.

The original topic had the jacks. New house does not. There will just be coax available I presume. How do you go from there to hardwire etc.?

You mention that there is a "panel" in the basement. Do you just mean there is something there where the coax line runs into the house? I assume that coax line will carry both TV and your broadband internet on it?

Not a patch panel. Where the coax/fiber comes into the house and then feeds into the fios thing, which they sends the coax out to the house, There are splitters in this closet as well. I did not spend a lot of time in there and have only been inside once at this point. Just under agreement yesterday.

 

[matttyl]

So you have coax running through the house, but no Cat5 (ethernet cable)? If you don't want to go ripping into walls to distribute cat5 cable everywhere, look into "powerline adapters". You plug one in at each location you'd like to have internet. You can then plug a wireless router into each one and have "wifi hotspots" around the house, and have the ability to plug in up to 3 wired devices in each of those locations as well. That's sort of what I do at my place (I have only a pair of powerline adapters). If buying new, there are new powerline adapters that use MIMO technology (they should be advertised as either 1,000 or 1,200 adapters).

 

[captain_amazing]

If you want to really future-proof your home, put some holes in the wall and snake cat6a throughout your home. Without putting too much thought into this, I'd get a 5 or 8 port gigabit switch, get a d-link dir-655 or better (something with dual band) then go from the modem to the switch, then the open ports would go to various jacks around the house. Then I'd place the router on the middle floor somewhere centrally located and connect it to the jack.

Without thinking about house size, data needs, and jack location, this is a rough idea of what I would do. At the very least, if you run cat, make it cat6a and it will be good for a long time. Also, consider placing jacks near tvs, so that those can be hardwired and lower the traffic on your router.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

So you have coax running through the house, but no Cat5 (ethernet cable)? If you don't want to go ripping into walls to distribute cat5 cable everywhere, look into "powerline adapters". You plug one in at each location you'd like to have internet. You can then plug a wireless router into each one and have "wifi hotspots" around the house, and have the ability to plug in up to 3 wired devices in each of those locations as well. That's sort of what I do at my place (I have only a pair of powerline adapters). If buying new, there are new powerline adapters that use MIMO technology (they should be advertised as either 1,000 or 1,200 adapters).

Correct.

That sounds pretty sweet. Is there a speed trade-off using these? Related to that if i buy powerline adapters that only have 1 Ethernet port, but I have an Ethernet switch where I can plug in multiple devices, can i use the switch still without losing streaming speed?

 

[matttyl]

If you want to really future-proof your home, put some holes in the wall and snake cat6a throughout your home. Without putting too much thought into this, I'd get a 5 or 8 port gigabit switch, get a d-link dir-655 or better (something with dual band) then go from the modem to the switch, then the open ports would go to various jacks around the house. Then I'd place the router on the middle floor somewhere centrally located and connect it to the jack.

Without thinking about house size, data needs, and jack location, this is a rough idea of what I would do. At the very least, if you run cat, make it cat6a and it will be good for a long time. Also, consider placing jacks near tvs, so that those can be hardwired and lower the traffic on your router.

How are you able to connect the modem to the switch and then router? Do you have to go modem to router (WAN port) and then router (LAN port) to switch?

 

[matttyl]

So you have coax running through the house, but no Cat5 (ethernet cable)? If you don't want to go ripping into walls to distribute cat5 cable everywhere, look into "powerline adapters". You plug one in at each location you'd like to have internet. You can then plug a wireless router into each one and have "wifi hotspots" around the house, and have the ability to plug in up to 3 wired devices in each of those locations as well. That's sort of what I do at my place (I have only a pair of powerline adapters). If buying new, there are new powerline adapters that use MIMO technology (they should be advertised as either 1,000 or 1,200 adapters).

Correct.

That sounds pretty sweet. Is there a speed trade-off using these? Related to that if i buy powerline adapters that only have 1 Ethernet port, but I have an Ethernet switch where I can plug in multiple devices, can i use the switch still without losing streaming speed?

It may be easier than putting holes in walls to run wires.

Yes, there is a bit of a speed trade off using these as opposed to running ethernet cable, these are just easier and keep you from putting holes in walls. They also tend to work better in newer homes with newer wiring. When was this house built?

I'm not sure I follow your last question, do you mean if you're running multiple devices via one adapter?

 

[Osaurus]

I use a 2nd router as WAP since my primary router is in a closet and wifi does not get to the back of the house very well. I put the 2nd router 1 up from the primary for IP address and then made the DHCP start 1 up from that. All devices that connect to 2nd router get their IP address from the primary. Both wifi connections are named the same, but on different channels. I use the 2nd router for microcell and network drives mostly. Recommend as much hardwiring as possible. Had 5 drops done in my house right after I moved in and don't regret it at all. GL

 

[captain_amazing]

If you want to really future-proof your home, put some holes in the wall and snake cat6a throughout your home. Without putting too much thought into this, I'd get a 5 or 8 port gigabit switch, get a d-link dir-655 or better (something with dual band) then go from the modem to the switch, then the open ports would go to various jacks around the house. Then I'd place the router on the middle floor somewhere centrally located and connect it to the jack.

Without thinking about house size, data needs, and jack location, this is a rough idea of what I would do. At the very least, if you run cat, make it cat6a and it will be good for a long time. Also, consider placing jacks near tvs, so that those can be hardwired and lower the traffic on your router.

How are you able to connect the modem to the switch and then router? Do you have to go modem to router (WAN port) and then router (LAN port) to switch?

Yep, totally wasn't think when writing that. Modem, router, switch, jacks. A good enough router may cover your whole home, or you could get another cheaper one and just make it an AP in another part of the house.

 

[matttyl]

Yes, I fully 2nd the statement of hardwiring as much as possible. I was able to do that on my first house (ranch style with unfinished basement, then I finished the basement) - ran x2 coax and x2 cat5 to each room (doubled that for office and mancave/family room). Everything went back to one central location in basement utility room. Made it very easy.

In my current house, it wasn't done and everything was finished - so any wiring would require tearing our walls that my wife wouldn't allow. Modem and primary router are on third floor on one side of house. Powerline adapters connect that to mancave/family room on first floor complete other side of house - where a 2nd router is located and other wired devices. It works well enough to stream HD content in that room.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

So you have coax running through the house, but no Cat5 (ethernet cable)? If you don't want to go ripping into walls to distribute cat5 cable everywhere, look into "powerline adapters". You plug one in at each location you'd like to have internet. You can then plug a wireless router into each one and have "wifi hotspots" around the house, and have the ability to plug in up to 3 wired devices in each of those locations as well. That's sort of what I do at my place (I have only a pair of powerline adapters). If buying new, there are new powerline adapters that use MIMO technology (they should be advertised as either 1,000 or 1,200 adapters).

Correct.

That sounds pretty sweet. Is there a speed trade-off using these? Related to that if i buy powerline adapters that only have 1 Ethernet port, but I have an Ethernet switch where I can plug in multiple devices, can i use the switch still without losing streaming speed?

It may be easier than putting holes in walls to run wires.

Yes, there is a bit of a speed trade off using these as opposed to running ethernet cable, these are just easier and keep you from putting holes in walls. They also tend to work better in newer homes with newer wiring. When was this house built?

I'm not sure I follow your last question, do you mean if you're running multiple devices via one adapter?

The house is from 1992.

If I get fios 50/50 what would my expected speed when linked to one of these devices be?

My use is streaming netflix, gaming etc.

The entire house is finished, including the basement and basement office.

I need connectivity in the basement, basement office, and 1st floor family room. Wifi on all 3 floors as well.

 

[matttyl]

If you want to really future-proof your home, put some holes in the wall and snake cat6a throughout your home. Without putting too much thought into this, I'd get a 5 or 8 port gigabit switch, get a d-link dir-655 or better (something with dual band) then go from the modem to the switch, then the open ports would go to various jacks around the house. Then I'd place the router on the middle floor somewhere centrally located and connect it to the jack.

Without thinking about house size, data needs, and jack location, this is a rough idea of what I would do. At the very least, if you run cat, make it cat6a and it will be good for a long time. Also, consider placing jacks near tvs, so that those can be hardwired and lower the traffic on your router.

How are you able to connect the modem to the switch and then router? Do you have to go modem to router (WAN port) and then router (LAN port) to switch?

Yep, totally wasn't think when writing that. Modem, router, switch, jacks. A good enough router may cover your whole home, or you could get another cheaper one and just make it an AP in another part of the house.

OK, just making sure I wasn't missing something. I would also recommend the dir-655 router. That's currently my "primary" router. If you don't have any "AC" devices, that router should be just fine and can be found very cheap.

 

[matttyl]

So you have coax running through the house, but no Cat5 (ethernet cable)? If you don't want to go ripping into walls to distribute cat5 cable everywhere, look into "powerline adapters". You plug one in at each location you'd like to have internet. You can then plug a wireless router into each one and have "wifi hotspots" around the house, and have the ability to plug in up to 3 wired devices in each of those locations as well. That's sort of what I do at my place (I have only a pair of powerline adapters). If buying new, there are new powerline adapters that use MIMO technology (they should be advertised as either 1,000 or 1,200 adapters).

Correct.

That sounds pretty sweet. Is there a speed trade-off using these? Related to that if i buy powerline adapters that only have 1 Ethernet port, but I have an Ethernet switch where I can plug in multiple devices, can i use the switch still without losing streaming speed?

It may be easier than putting holes in walls to run wires.

Yes, there is a bit of a speed trade off using these as opposed to running ethernet cable, these are just easier and keep you from putting holes in walls. They also tend to work better in newer homes with newer wiring. When was this house built?

I'm not sure I follow your last question, do you mean if you're running multiple devices via one adapter?

The house is from 1992.

If I get fios 50/50 what would my expected speed when linked to one of these devices be?

My use is streaming netflix, gaming etc.

The fios 50/50, or even my crapcast 30/6 has no bearing on the speed you'll see with the powerline adapters. What affects them most is the house they are being put in, and what adapters you use (newer ones work much better than ones from a few years ago, kinda like wifi routers). If you put a pair of adapters in electrical sockets right next to each other on the same wall you might be able to transmit at 250 mbps, but you'd likely never have them that close to each other. If you put them 2 rooms apart, you'll likely get closer to 100 mbps. If you put them on opposite sides of the house, you may only get 50 mbps.

* Remember the difference between MBps and mbps

Just like wifi, the closer together they are, the faster they will talk to each other.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Thanks for the tips. I will know more about the wiring and whether I can do drops after the home inspection next week. To be continued I guess, but keep the ideas coming.

It sounds like if I have my router in the family room and then two powerline connections in the basement, it should be OK.

 

[captain_amazing]

If you're going to end up painting most of the rooms, then I'd totally opt to just punch some holes in the wall and fish some cable through. It really isn't too hard to do, with the right set of tools (which can be had cheaply). If everything is nicely done and you don't plan to paint, then matttyl's suggestion will be much easier, and you don't have to worry about ruining anything.

Oh, and congrats on the house! The wife and I just bought our first home last August and ended up painting the entire house. I wish I could go back and have done wiring then, but we were strapped with time and painted all but one room. I'll eventually get to running cat throughout the house.

 

[captain_amazing]

If you want to really future-proof your home, put some holes in the wall and snake cat6a throughout your home. Without putting too much thought into this, I'd get a 5 or 8 port gigabit switch, get a d-link dir-655 or better (something with dual band) then go from the modem to the switch, then the open ports would go to various jacks around the house. Then I'd place the router on the middle floor somewhere centrally located and connect it to the jack.

Without thinking about house size, data needs, and jack location, this is a rough idea of what I would do. At the very least, if you run cat, make it cat6a and it will be good for a long time. Also, consider placing jacks near tvs, so that those can be hardwired and lower the traffic on your router.

How are you able to connect the modem to the switch and then router? Do you have to go modem to router (WAN port) and then router (LAN port) to switch?

Yep, totally wasn't think when writing that. Modem, router, switch, jacks. A good enough router may cover your whole home, or you could get another cheaper one and just make it an AP in another part of the house.

OK, just making sure I wasn't missing something. I would also recommend the dir-655 router. That's currently my "primary" router. If you don't have any "AC" devices, that router should be just fine and can be found very cheap.

:thumbsup: I've got a dir-655 too which I bought years ago, and swear by it. I bought a new 655 recently for someone and noticed that they've barely changed a thing, firmware-wise. The only thing I wish I had was dual-band so I could run off of 5ghz since there's tons of interference from my neighbors.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

So if I can run cat6 through the house by fishing wires -- what do I need?

Can I do this myself or do I need to hire somebody?

Do I forego Comcast/Verizon's router and buy a cable modem, router, and also a switch panel?

Where should each be located in a house?

I do already own a 5 port switch and a TP link mini pocket router/repeater that's worked great extending my wifi in the house I'm currently renting that has cat5 throughout.

 

[matttyl]

I'm an advocate of owning your own equipment rather than renting it from Comcast/Verizon. I've owned my own cable modem for maybe 5 years now, and it's paid itself off 3-4x over already and still going strong. I also have only used my own routers. I even now have my own TV tuners so I don't have to have the "separate location TV charge" from them at each TV location (but that's much more involved).

If you can fish wires through the house, you really don't need anything aside from patch cables to connect your devices right to the ports you put in the walls.

Best case scenario, you can fish wires to all the locations in the house you want. From there, you attach your personally owned cable modem (not sure about what's needed for FIOS) to the income coax line to the house, then connect your single wifi router to it. Then connect the LAN ports on the router to the ports you want to "go live" around your house via the cat 6 wires you ran. If you have more than 4 lines you want to be live, you can use a switch there. If you want additional wifi capability, you can use another wifi router as a "hot spot" at one of the wall jack locations in your house.

 

[matttyl]

As a sort of related idea, and likely due to your questions here - I tried something this weekend with great results (so thank you, I guess).....

I had used powerline adapters for the last year in my house to have internet in my "mancave" in the basement - 2 floor away and on the other side of the house from my main router. This got me around 7.5 MBps in my basement - good enough for me, but faster would have been better.

So I tried to turn my second wifi router into a "client bridge" (which my router calls being a "universal repeater"). This means that my 2nd router is communicating with my main router wirelessly - and then both repeating that wifi signal, but also allowing all of it's LAN ports to be used for wired devices - really I just took the powerline adapters out of the equation and had my routers now talking to each other totally wirelessly. I thought this would result in lower speeds, but doing a test revealed that my 2nd router was now working at around 20 MBps, nearly 3x the speed of what I had before. I'm going to try this for a while and see what happens.

Your results may vary - previously my powerline adapters were communicating over a long stretch of powerlines across a main and a sub panel.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

I'm an advocate of owning your own equipment rather than renting it from Comcast/Verizon. I've owned my own cable modem for maybe 5 years now, and it's paid itself off 3-4x over already and still going strong. I also have only used my own routers. I even now have my own TV tuners so I don't have to have the "separate location TV charge" from them at each TV location (but that's much more involved).

If you can fish wires through the house, you really don't need anything aside from patch cables to connect your devices right to the ports you put in the walls.

Best case scenario, you can fish wires to all the locations in the house you want. From there, you attach your personally owned cable modem (not sure about what's needed for FIOS) to the income coax line to the house, then connect your single wifi router to it. Then connect the LAN ports on the router to the ports you want to "go live" around your house via the cat 6 wires you ran. If you have more than 4 lines you want to be live, you can use a switch there. If you want additional wifi capability, you can use another wifi router as a "hot spot" at one of the wall jack locations in your house.

I have a feeling I won't be able to really fish the wires unfortunately. I technically can plug in the cable modem/router into any coax in the house, not just the main feed, correct?

 

[matttyl]

Yes, for cable internet. Again, not sure what you'd need for Verizon FIOS. I have my cable modem the my office, which is after at least two splitters from where the main line comes in the house. It can still "connect" back to Comcast just fine.

How big is this house?

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

I'm just not up on all the terminology, so please forgive a lot of my ignorance here.

The house is about 3500 square feet, including the finished basement. They currently are using Verizon Fios.

What I need is a wired internet connection in the entertainment portion of the basement (for xbox/ps3/streaming), basement office (my PC, future streaming to TV), and 1st floor family room (again streaming/smart TV).

I also obviously want a strong wifi connection throughout the house.

Right now there are coax connections in the basement entertainment area, family room (albeit the opposite side of the wall I want to use), living room, kitchen, master BR, and one other BR.

The basement wall is furred out that I can probably fish coax/cat6 from the basement entertainment area to the office. Otherwise, it does not seem possible to wire or make changes to the rest of the house given the room locations etc.

My questions/ideas are the following (again, I likely am using incorrect terms):

1. Cable Modem/Router for Basement Entertainment Area that also has a coax OUT that can plug into the TV. Would this also put out a wifi signal?

2. Splitter/Switch to plug multiple devices into directly at the spot of the Basement Entertainment Area. I currently have one with 5 ports that I use in my current office for xbox, ps3, and PC.

3. Fish additional Coax from main feed to Basement Office

4. Fish cat6 from splitter to Basement Office

5. Cable Modem/Router for Family Room. Again with a coax OUT to plug into TV (or split coax)? Plug Smart TV into this. Provides wifi signal for first and second floor. Negative here is that this is at the rear of the house, so worry about wifi on second floor.

6. If necessary, what would I need for better wifi signal on second floor?

Note: Current owners have their Verizon Router on the second floor in the guest room (adjacent to master). They have no devices hard wired for internet. I was able to stream Netflix on my iPhone while logged into the network on all floors of the house. I did not notice any repeater or anything like that plugged in anywhere. So maybe I only need the first floor family room router to put out a wifi signal for all 3 floors.

Suggestions or comments?

Is there any issue using 1-3 modems/routers (one on each floor if necessary or if I want to hard wire the bedrooms) plugged into coax to provide hardwired and/or wifi connections on each floor?

 

[belljr]

I'm not going to answer the question directly but hope this helps.

coaxial is the white or black round cable that that on the end has a screw connector with one copper wire at the end. This is all your tv connections.

cat5/cat6 has what looks like giant phone connections

this is your data for PC etc.

you would basically long version of this cable that looks like your small either net cables.

unless fios is different you won't have coaxial coming out of the modem/router.

Coaxial will go into the router that carries the data from Verizon to the router. From there you will need to run ether net cable.

you can fish anything through walls to basement or attic.

so you can split an existing line for tv to go to the office area.

hope that helps

for wifi. You cane get a range extender or second router to work as a bridge

 

[heckmanm]

I haven't done much research on this, but if you've already got coaxial running through the house, but not Ethernet, MoCA might be something to look at.

 

[matttyl]

First off, you only need one modem for the house. You can use multiple routers (after adjusting some settings), but you only need and should only have one modem. I suggest buying your own, but if you're using FIOS I'm not sure what you'd need to buy (I have Comcast).

If possible, you may want to set up your one modem and a router in your basement entertainment area. This can be done via the coax that already goes there (you did mention an existing coax line to there, correct?). You can use a coax splitter (again FIOS may use something different) and have one out from the splitter go to the TV and the other to the modem for internet. You should get all your devices there hardwired for internet, and you'll have wifi in that area.

From there, if you want to use other devices that have wifi (or can get wifi, like a desktop computer in the basement office) you should be able to do that.

Expanding your network from there - you have a few options. The first step I'd try if I were you (avoids fishing wires, to at least see if this will work for you) would be what I described in post #31 with using a 2nd router in "client bridge/universal repeater" mode or whatever the router would call it. No wires would b needed to connect the two routers, they would be talking to each other wirelessly - and then the 2nd router would be able to have wired devices attached to them - like a smart TV in the family room. It will also be another wifi hot spot. If you need to grow your wifi system from there, you can just add another router and do the same thing again at a different location.

One thing I'll mention here - the 2nd router won't have the speed of the main/primary router. In my house, my main router is in the office, and things wired to it get the full 30mBps of my internet connection. At the 2nd router, which is two floor away and on the other side of my house, that router can only connect to my primary router at between 15-20mBps, and then repeats it possibly slower than that. This past weekend I was on my back porch with my cell phone that could "see" both network hotspots. It could connect to my primary router at around 25 mB, but the 2nd router it would only get around 7 (as that connection is going from the primary router to the 2nd one wirelessly, than then being transmitted again to the phone).

If you find that doesn't work, then you can go about fishing wires or going with powerline adapters and such - you'll still need to use a 2nd router most likely anyway.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Thanks everybody and especially Matttyl. You've been very helpful.

I'll let you guys know what I do or come back with more questions once I talk to Comcast and Verizon (I probably need to close on the house first too).