Multiple wireless repeater stations?

iostream

iostream

iostream

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Hi again folks, back for some more advice :)

I have a friend who lives in a rather big house, and it's on two floors. The wireless router doesn't provide a good enough signal for the laptops/phones dotted about the house.

I had initially suggested PowerLine adapters, but he doesn't want to be hard wired as he moves from room to room with his laptop apparently.

So my question is this. Can I use PowerLine adapters to setup a couple extra wireless hotspots? Eg if I have PowerLine Adapter "A" by the router, and "B" upstairs, can I plug a second wireless router into "B" in order to have a second hotspot upstairs?

Or is there a simpler solution such as using wireless extenders that pick up and amplify a signal?

Not my area of expertise as you may have gathered ;) Any advice appreciated.
 
Yes, the 2 routers connected by powerline adapters will work, its the same basic set-up as I have myself. Just bear in mind that the laptop will most likely see the signal from both at all times, however weak one of them may be - so he will have to manually change hotspots.
 
Thanks for the reply. If both wireless routers have the same wifi password, will Windows not be able to automatically switch between the one with the best signal?
 
'fraid not - windows will always treat them as separate hotspots regardless of what SSID etc you give them. The way windows works is it will connect to whatever is the highest priority hotspot it can "see", regardless of signal strength, even if the signal is so weak that it can't connect properly. Only if it cannot see the primary hotspot at all, will it try for the second.

I don't know if there is any software out there to alter this behaviour though, might be worth checking google.
 
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