Wifi extender with gigabit ethernet ports

gmoore23 · 9 Dec 2019 at 21:14

Hi, I recently installed ethernet cable throughout my home. Now I want to tackle the poor wifi situation. I live in a long bungalow so half the house has very poor wifi. I want to buy 2 wifi extenders. I want to run an ethernet cable into each extender so it receives the full broadband feed. I also need the extender to have a gigabit ethernet out port so I can continue to use ethernet into my smart tv's, streaming box etc.
I'm looking for devices with good performance that won't break the bank so not much more than £60 each.
Any recommendations?

bremen1874 · 9 Dec 2019 at 21:41

If you've just installed Ethernet why are you already needing to connect multiple devices to single cables?

Why extenders rather than access points?

Sparx · 9 Dec 2019 at 21:45

Errr if you've installed ethernet throughout the house - why aren't you wiring these devices!?

gmoore23 · 9 Dec 2019 at 22:21

Sparx said:
Errr if you've installed ethernet throughout the house - why aren't you wiring these devices!?

For phones and laptops/tablets etc

gmoore23 · 9 Dec 2019 at 22:26

bremen1874 said:
If you've just installed Ethernet why are you already needing to connect multiple devices to single cables?

Why extenders rather than access points?

I have 2 ethernet ports installed behind the tv in each of these rooms for the tv and media streaming box. I don't want to lose one of these ports so want a device with an ethernet input and output.

Sparx · 9 Dec 2019 at 22:27

Buy a 4-port gigabit switch then?

gmoore23 · 9 Dec 2019 at 23:14

Sparx said:
Buy a 4-port gigabit switch then?

Already using a 16 port switch to run cable through house and don't like running a switch into another switch.

gmoore23 · 9 Dec 2019 at 23:14

Sorted. TP Link M5 2 pack. Can be set to access point mode and has 2 ethernet ports so one for input and one for output.

bremen1874 · 9 Dec 2019 at 23:17

Those two Ethernet ports on the TP-Link are a switch. No different to adding a switch and then plugging an access point into it.

The best solution would have been to run more cables.

gmoore23 · 9 Dec 2019 at 23:25

bremen1874 said:
Those two Ethernet ports on the TP-Link are a switch. No different to adding a switch and then plugging an access point into it.

The best solution would have been to run more cables.

Running more cables wasn't an option I'm afraid. House is 100% solid walls and wanted to avoid a mess so used the conduit running the coaxial cable and bought slim excel modules so got 2 ethernet and 1 coaxial to a single faceplate.

APM · 10 Dec 2019 at 07:04

Maybe you want something like an Archer C9 that does wifi and has a pass through for ethernet as well,could be a D9 not exactly sure ,Draytek also do a similar item.

WJA96 · 12 Dec 2019 at 04:22

UniFi AP-AC-IW will do what you want. 2 ports on the AP-AC-IW and AP-AC-IW-Pro and 4 ports on the AP-AC-IW-HD. But they’re not £60 unfortunately.

Avalon · 13 Dec 2019 at 01:11

If you donn’t like switches plugged into switches, you must really, really hate the internet. Buy decent AP’s and install them as/where required, UniFi kit tends to come with pass through on modern AP’s, but they need to be appropriately sited.

Beer_MonsterUK · 26 Dec 2019 at 07:59

I'm in a similar position. I have installed 2 cables from the back of the TV, where the super hub 3 is installed, to 2 upstairs bedrooms where my PC and the lads Xbox are. The super hub 3 WiFi is patchy and I was thinking of putting something in the lads bedroom to extend the WiFi (while keeping his Xbox wired). Am I right in thinking I just need a WiFi access point?

b00merang69 · 26 Dec 2019 at 08:03

Remember a WIFI extender halves the speed.

Beer_MonsterUK · 26 Dec 2019 at 08:14

So I have Virgin's 500mb, the WiFi would just be used for phones, laptops, nest hub, upstairs smart tv's etc, so hopefully speed doesn't need to be a priority, more coverage. Any recommendations?

WJA96 · 26 Dec 2019 at 09:03

Beer_MonsterUK said:
I'm in a similar position. I have installed 2 cables from the back of the TV, where the super hub 3 is installed, to 2 upstairs bedrooms where my PC and the lads Xbox are. The super hub 3 WiFi is patchy and I was thinking of putting something in the lads bedroom to extend the WiFi (while keeping his Xbox wired). Am I right in thinking I just need a WiFi access point?

Yes, a simple access point will do what you want.

WJA96 · 26 Dec 2019 at 09:04

b00merang69 said:
Remember a WIFI extender halves the speed.

he asked about an access point, not an extender.

WJA96 · 26 Dec 2019 at 09:04

Beer_MonsterUK said:
So I have Virgin's 500mb, the WiFi would just be used for phones, laptops, nest hub, upstairs smart tv's etc, so hopefully speed doesn't need to be a priority, more coverage. Any recommendations?

Ubiquiti AP-AC-Lite seems to be everyone’s favourite.

Beer_MonsterUK · 26 Dec 2019 at 09:16

Sorry, but the unifi just seems to have 1 ethernet port. Where is going I want to connect the access point to the ethernet cable and then run another to the lads Xbox. Do I just need to choose an access point with a couple of ports?