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Extending wi-fi coverage


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I live in a large house built of concrete and steel.  It's about the size of a small block of flats and my wi-fi coverage is restricted at present to a couple of rooms in one corner of the building. 

I would like to extend my effective wi-fi zone to cover more of the house, but I'm having problems making everything work together.

In my office I have a couple of desk PCs hard wired in a network via a switch, which is in turn wired to the Livebox on the ADSL line.  My wife and I work side-by-side and occasionally add one or both of our laptops into the network, either by plugging in a patch cable to the switch, or, from another room nearby, by wi-fi via the Livebox.  All this works OK with few problems except that, only very occasionally, our 4 different versions of Windows refuse to co-operate with each other.

To extend the network further around the house I bought a couple of Devolo dLAN 200 AVmini network extender plugs which use the electric mains wiring in the house to carry the network.  This works, but involves carrying cables about and plugging in the adaptors, the laptops (their batteries don't last long when you're working) and trailing network cables.

I also have an iPod Touch which connects to the internet only by wi-fi, so is limited to use in a small part of the house.  It's so useful my wife wants one, too.

I tried to extend the wi-fi zone using an old but serviceable Belkin Wireless Network Access Point that I had used in our previous home.  I connected it in another part of the house to the network switch via the Devolo adapters.  The PC in the office with the Belkin management software installed is definitely communicating with the Access Point this way.  The Livebox can also see the Belkin unit, so there appears to be no lack of  network connectivity.  Encription is not a problem - I have not set it up on either the Belkin or the Livebox, as the house stands in the middle of 3 acres of walled and gated grounds, so there's no-one nearby.

When I go into the room where the Belkin Access Point is installed, I would expect my laptop and my iPod to find my wi-fi network, exactly as they do when they are near the Livebox.  Nothing doing!

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Patrick

           

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I really need to be able to work online while I'm in other parts of the

house, so does my wife.  I would appreciate a reply from someone with some technical expertise.

For exercise we already have bikes, a rowing boat, a well-equipped gym, a huge garden to mow, sweep, weed and look after, and a 3 storey house to renovate, maintain and clean.   

As well as running businesses, we're up and down the stairs, or ladders, all day and that we sometimes have to phone each other to communicate if we're in different parts of the house.

This is a serious question - so if someone can help I'll be grateful 

Patrick 

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Orange do an extender for Wifi, it uses the power sockets in your house like the Liveplugs but one unit has an arial and no connector. You can use a two in to one mains adapter and put the Wifi plug in one side ant the power cable for the Laptop in the other or simply plug the Wifi plu into another socket even in another room.

To see one use the following link

http://boutique.orange.fr/ESHOP_mx_orange/?tp=F&ref=24664&IDCible=1&type=11&donnee_appel=ORESH&id=172351287090716

 

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Well, that certainly looks simple - and thanks for the link.  It is, in theory just a neater version of what I've cobbled up for myself - but presumably, as it's designed to work with a Livebox, it should just plug and play.

I still don't see why my system doesn't work, though

Patrick

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Somebody some while back tried to use an extender, a reputable make, one used by many, but it didn't work with his Livebox. Fortunatly he bought it from Amazon who simply took it back and gave him a refund. It was something about the way the Livebox sends the repeater information, well rather the lack of it, which allowed it to set its self up. If you buy the extender I would be interested to hear how you get on.
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Some Belkin models cannot be used in 'Bridge' mode i.e. used as an extender to carry wireless signals to/from another access point (your livebox)

Pat, what is the model of the Belkin router? There should be info in the manual about this if it is possible.

Danny

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Yes I think Pickles has probably nailed it.  You have to configure routers to be in extender mode.  I did this very successfully with a Cisco router (well OK, successful at the third attempt) so It's probably a case of reading the manual again..  The thing I've found with Belkin kit is that it works very well with other Belkin kit but can be a bit of a swine if you mix and match.  I don't know why this should be if everything is following the same standards but that has been my experiance. 
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I purchased the wifi extender mentioned above... I have one and it works fine.

However, it then led me to the company that produce them in the first place (www.devolo.fr).  Here you can fined several different options and also lots more info on set up.

You can not buy them direct from the company so I bought mine from www.rueducommerce.fr.  Pretty sure orange had them too.

I ended up buying 2 sets(4 of them) of dLAN® 85 HSplus.  I just plug them in where I want and they connect me to the internet without the need for wireless.  They will also work with the wifi extender I already have  (the guy told me so but I have not yet needed to set it up).  I can also at my leisure buy more and incorporate them with the existing ones.

I was advised to buy the 200mbits version but didnt bother.

You need to use a bit of software (there is a cd which comes with them ) to get more than 1 set talking to each other.

good luck

osie

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If your the seller who also has a Viners cutlery set for sale, then I've just put in a bid!

My Belkin gear just doesn't seem to like being in a network with a Livebox 2.  It's a few years old, and I haven't used it for 3 years, but I installed it like it says in the manual, and ran the CD that came with it. 

It is supposed to be able to work in "Bridge" mode, but as someone already said, Belkin products don't seem to always like being with non-Belkin stuff. 

I have a redundant netgear router with wi-fi that I could experiment with, but if I get the eBay auction stuff - and if it works - then I'll know not to mess about any further.

Patrick

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