Questions on wifi extender / mesh

[JonoB]

My elderly parents have just moved into a new flat. Towards the back of their house, there is no (or very weak) wifi signal. They also need their computer connected in a room where there is no signal.

There are a few options here:

1. Get a mesh wifi setup for them. May be too difficult for them to install themselves? Also, the fibre engineer said that there are a lot of people with mesh networks in the building, and it can cause conflicts. Is this even remotely possible?
2. Get a wifi extender/repeater.

That will sort out their mobile phones and tablets. I also need to think about the computer. We can either (i) Get a wifi dongle for the computer to connect to the mesh network or repeater; OR (ii) get a powerline for the computer

Any suggestions on the best way to achieve what we're looking for? I think my main concern is that we get a wifi extender, then we'll want to use the same wifi network as the router. Will their mobile phones automatically swap over to the repeater? Or will it continue to hold onto the router's wifi, even though its much weaker?

Unfortunately I can't visit them to help them set it up, so it needs to be relatively easy. I can talk them through it over a video call.

What are the best options here?

 

[bremen1874]

Assuming that the computer is a desktop I'd get a set of Powerline adapters. Get something AV1200 or better rather than going for the cheapest possible option.

Powerline adapters cans can cross-connect with your neighbours if they're also using them. You can avoid this by going through the simple steps necessary to set your own encryption keys.

For the wireless, you can have problems because it's a shared resource. Every other network in range will have an impact. This is obviously potentially more of a problem in flats and other types of high density housing.

You could kill two birds with one stone and get Powerline adapters with built-in wireless.

 

[Avalon]

Properties being on a single circuit for sockets are one of the few times powerline can make sense. Not sure I would go with something beyond the standard AV600 class of products as they are cheap and it’s not like you’ll get a massive uplift in speed for the extra money, it likely depends on how fast the internet connection is and/or how much data your parents tend to move over the network. You can also plug a switch/AP on the far end to add WiFi and multiple physical connections if needs be, just remember that anything that has to use the powerline connection is limited to the speed of that connection if it’s the slowest part of the path out, eg if your parents have access to a fast 500Mbit connection and those powerline adapters only do 60Mbit, that’s all anything connected via them will only get 60Mbit.

 

[JonoB]

Thanks for the responses.

I'm quite happy to use powerlines, but my concern is the wifi. If I use a powerline with wifi, then there will be 2 wifi signals - the existing wifi at the router, and a different one at the powerline. I assume this means that my parents would have to manually switch from one wifi signal to the other, which is a no-go.

 

[WJA96]

If you set the powerline WiFi to transmit the same SSID and use the same password as the original WLAN from the router then they shouldn’t need to log off and log on again. It might drop connection momentarily while it switches, but unless you’re using WiFi calling or VOIP phones I doubt anyone would notice.

 

[JonoB]

If you set the powerline WiFi to transmit the same SSID and use the same password as the original WLAN from the router then they shouldn’t need to log off and log on again. It might drop connection momentarily while it switches, but unless you’re using WiFi calling or VOIP phones I doubt anyone would notice.

Ah, I didn't realise that you could change the SSID on powerlines. At least the ones that I've used didn't have this functionality, so I just need to make sure that I get one where you can.

Are phones/tablets smart enough to automatically swap to the strongest signal (assuming they are on the same SSID)?

 

[bremen1874]

Ah, I didn't realise that you could change the SSID on powerlines. At least the ones that I've used didn't have this functionality, so I just need to make sure that I get one where you can.

Not impossible, but unlikely. I don't think I've seen ever seen an access point (built into a Powerline adapter or not) where the SSID couldn't be changed, it's part of the basic functionality.

Are phones/tablets smart enough to automatically swap to the strongest signal (assuming they are on the same SSID)?

Depends on the individual device.