The Mother Board

Ok here's the situation. I am planning on dropping my cable tv in favor of streaming tv. But I need to get my WiFi signal range set up better.

As of right now it's a 6/7 out of 10. That's ok for a few videos or a movie or two. That's not good enough for streaming full time.

My current TWC Cable/Internet is setup like this.

Room 1: Cable Line IN: to Y Split
One Coax Line goes to CABLE DVR Box
One Coax Line goes to CABLE Modem
Cable Modem Plugs into Linksys Wired Router

Router Connections:
PC
Smart TV
Linksys W.A.P. for Internet in Room 3 [W.A.P. is located on a 3ft tall table close to PC]

Room 2:
Cable IN: to TV

Room 3:
Cable IN & Antenna IN: to AB Switch
AB Switch to HDTV
WiFi Laptop
WiFi Tablet

I can think of these possible remedies for my weak signal.

1: Move my W.A.P. to a 5ft metal shelf close to the door in the same room.
2: Move the W.A.P. to a high shelf in the hallway.
3: Run Ethernet to the other side of APT and move W.A.P. there.
4: Add signal boosters.



I'm planning on using Fire TV with PS Vue when I can get the WiFi signal fixed.

What would be the best solution to this problem? What hardware do I need to get or replace?

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I'm assuming this is an apartment situation? What floor are you on, and what kind of construction are we working with (if you know)?

Based PURELY on your floorplan - the best location for your wifi source point would be where you have the pink box TV. that way it has the least amount of wall depth to penetrate in either direction to your other devices.
Putting it in the far right room will double the loss to your living room, and putting it in the hall will have a more complex path through walls, doors and closet contents.

With that in-mind, you really shouldn't be having wifi coverage issues with the sized area I'm assuming this to be. There must be some other external influences on why your signal is being degraded so much.

For reference, I can get 60% signal from my router 40 feet away, through my floor and a half-dozen walls + misc stuff. Easily enough to stream HD through my googleTV. This is in a standalone house scenario, using standard 2x4 wood construction - with no other buildings within 50' of mine. Only a smattering (4-6) other networks are visible within range of my house.

-Roach

_________________
Lian Li Lancool First Knight Series PC-K59W
Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz
EVGA X58 FTW3 132-GT-E768-TR
EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW GAMING ACX 3.0
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB (3 x 4GB)
Crucial M4 128gb SATAIII SSD x2
Crucial M4 256gb SATAIII SSD
OCZ Saber 1000 960GB Enterprise SSD
Corsair Professional Series HX850 PSU
Dell UltraSharp U2713HM 27" w/drop ceiling mount
Logitech G930 7.1 Headset
DBPOWER RGB LED Keyboard
Logitech G402 Hyperion Fury

I'm in a first floor apt. built in the 1970's. The apt. is on 980sqft. The outside has brick & metal siding. The windows are trimmed with metal. The
closets are folding metal. There are 10 apts in my building. Above and below me are the exact same layout. But the backside apts are flipped layout
along the hallway. While the other side is flipped along the kitchen.

There are plenty of college students in my building. Lots of wifi, cellphones, etc. Yes, my wifi is secured. lol

My wifi signal is only really needed in the living room for the laptop & tablet.

I was thinking of running Ethernet to the living room for the Fire TV. I guess I could get a wired router to put there.
EX:
[Far Right] Bedroom #1 Router >>>>>>>> ethernet cable >>>>>>> Living Room Router >>>>>>>> Fire TV & WAP

Would that solve my problem? What ethernet cables should I try Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6 ?

I'm currently using a:

Linksys 4-Port Switch/VPN Endpoint Model: BEFSX41
Linksys Wireless-G Accesspoint With SES Model: WAP54G

Should I consider an hardware upgrade? Or would something like this work for me? NETGEAR PL1010 Homeplug AV2 1Gbps Powerline Kit, Up to 1000 Mbps.

Thx,

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Any cable will be sufficient - your internet connection can't keep up with even CAT5, so you wouldn't be limiting yourself while streaming from an external provider. If you had your own media center on your network it could potentially make a difference...but that's a whole different conversation.

I don't know how well powerline components work in an apartment situation...it all depends on the power wiring. I have a powerline in my house and it works great. your mileage may vary though...

I'll have to take a look at your networking components at a later time (busy with a new guy at work) - but using a G router makes me think they're a little dated. A newer one would probably improve your connectivity, but it's not guaranteed of course.

-Roach

_________________
Lian Li Lancool First Knight Series PC-K59W
Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz
EVGA X58 FTW3 132-GT-E768-TR
EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW GAMING ACX 3.0
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB (3 x 4GB)
Crucial M4 128gb SATAIII SSD x2
Crucial M4 256gb SATAIII SSD
OCZ Saber 1000 960GB Enterprise SSD
Corsair Professional Series HX850 PSU
Dell UltraSharp U2713HM 27" w/drop ceiling mount
Logitech G930 7.1 Headset
DBPOWER RGB LED Keyboard
Logitech G402 Hyperion Fury

Would any of these be a possible solution for me?

IOGear Powerline Nano Ethernet Bridge Kit (GPLB200K)

TP-Link AV1200 Power Line Starter Kit, 3-Port Gigabit, Pass-through

Actiontec MoCA 2.0 Ethernet to Coax Adapter


The wifi only needs to be accessed in the living room. I want to have one FireTV hardwired in the living room. While the second will be hardwired in the bedroom.

If it was possible, I'd move the W.A.P. into the living room. I just dread running ethernet all over the apartment if not needed.

_________________

The power adapters are a possibility, but you really won't know until after you get them and try it out.

This is the unit I ended up using (which are now out of stock):
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product. ... 6833122463

There's probably a newer version, but I haven't been keeping up to date on this kind of hardware. I've had mine working without a hitch for 3 years now. Looks like new models of similar things through Netgear are around the $60+ range...which you could potentially get a new wireless router using g/n/ac/u...basically newer/better than your current one. It'd potentially give you more antenna power and better gains, so less interference and improved signal/speeds.

As I mentioned earlier as well - you don't need massive amounts of throughput even for streaming - especially if it's not an internal source on your own network. Unless you're on fiber your internet connection is going to be your largest bottleneck.

-Roach

_________________
Lian Li Lancool First Knight Series PC-K59W
Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz
EVGA X58 FTW3 132-GT-E768-TR
EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW GAMING ACX 3.0
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB (3 x 4GB)
Crucial M4 128gb SATAIII SSD x2
Crucial M4 256gb SATAIII SSD
OCZ Saber 1000 960GB Enterprise SSD
Corsair Professional Series HX850 PSU
Dell UltraSharp U2713HM 27" w/drop ceiling mount
Logitech G930 7.1 Headset
DBPOWER RGB LED Keyboard
Logitech G402 Hyperion Fury

How about one of these?

AV1200 3-Port Gigabit Passthrough Powerline Starter Kit TL-PA8030P KIT
http://www.tp-link.com/us/products/deta ... P-KIT.html

AV1200 Gigabit Passthrough Powerline ac Wi-Fi Kit TL-WPA8630P KIT
http://www.tp-link.com/us/products/deta ... P-KIT.html

AC1750 Wi-Fi Range Extender, AV1200 Powerline Edition TL-WPA8730 KIT
http://www.tp-link.com/us/products/deta ... 0-KIT.html

Would the Wi-Fi versions replace my W.A.P.?

If I went with one of these how would I expand service, if I chose to?
I know that they install in pairs. But would I need to install another one next to my router?

IE: Room #3 Powerline connects to Router, Room #1 Powerline connects to FireTV/Smart TV
Could I just add another Powerline in Room #2 to join that powerline connection. Or do I need to install two at a time?

_________________

In theory you could have a powerline plug(or 2+) in each room - depending on the models involved.

Specifically for the "starter kit" you have listed first (TL-PA8030P) TPLINK says there's a max limit of 254 nodes on your network. Your building might not even have 254 plugs...

Personally - I'd start with the kit, see if it works well for you and if you like it then get another matching model for any other rooms you'd like to have that connection in. They're super simple to set up...and depending on where you get them it's easy to return if they don't work out.

If you got the WAP version, yes...it would provide a "wired" connection to the plug, and then would act as a second wireless access point on your network. I have something similar in one of my rooms - but I do the reverse, it accepts wifi and translates to a wired connection for my xbox360(which doesn't have a wireless adapter) - it also acts as a booster for the wifi signal.

-Roach

_________________
Lian Li Lancool First Knight Series PC-K59W
Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz
EVGA X58 FTW3 132-GT-E768-TR
EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW GAMING ACX 3.0
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB (3 x 4GB)
Crucial M4 128gb SATAIII SSD x2
Crucial M4 256gb SATAIII SSD
OCZ Saber 1000 960GB Enterprise SSD
Corsair Professional Series HX850 PSU
Dell UltraSharp U2713HM 27" w/drop ceiling mount
Logitech G930 7.1 Headset
DBPOWER RGB LED Keyboard
Logitech G402 Hyperion Fury

I did a chat with TP Link a while ago. They told me these should work for me.

TL-PA8030P KIT
http://www.tp-link.com/us/products/deta ... P-KIT.html

TL-WPA8630P KIT
http://www.tp-link.com/us/products/deta ... P-KIT.html

Now I only have one problem. I forgot to ask which WiFi unit do I use?

Do I add the single or triple port unit to the paired set?

_________________

I have tp-link powerline adaptors set up and paired round my house (link them up for better security). Works like a charm , in two rooms I run the LAN cable out to a switch, and then run stuff like the TV box, Bluray and smart TV wired. All works. Only issue I had was the TL-PA6010 failed and took down the whole LAN, took a bit of finding that one! I made sure all the powerline have Gigabit ethernet, all my cables are Cat 6 and all the switches are Gigabit.

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I have been programming on computers since the ZX81.
I am an apprentice trained Electronics Engineer with qualifications to back it up.
I have been repairing computers since 1996.
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