Poor WiFi signal, options?

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Hi all. Just moved into a new house and had broadband fitted. It came with a wireless router D-Link DSL-2680. I have set this up by the front door so I can plug in to the master. The wifi signal drops at the back of the house and cant really get it in the garden.

I'm not sure what to do, would I be better off getting a wireless access point on the network and locate it at the back of the house? Or swap out the D-Link for something cheap that will have more range?
 
did want to keep it by the master socket, I thought it was beneficial?

I don't think it would cover the whole house & garden even if it was?
 
As long as you have a decent ADSL cable you should be ok, something like a Belkin High Speed Internet modem cable or similar.

I use a similar cable but they seem to not be available anymore.
 
Thanks Stu, so a similar cable would be used from the master/extension socket to the router?

I'm pretty confused as to what to do. I was going to leave the router in the master socket and run a cat5e up to the loft where I'm going to have a gigabit switch. But I guess I could do something else?
 
Yes just locate the router into a better place and using something like i suggested wont have any adverse affect on your sync speed.

You should also preferably use a filtered faceplate, see here half way down:- http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/socket.htm

Its an option at least.
 
If you wish to run an extension to relocate your router then use proper twisted pair telephone cable CW1308 or at the very least some Cat5e. Avoid flat extension cables as they'll attenuate your signal and degrade your ADSL signal.

Running Cat5e to a switch is also a good idea and then have an access point at the back of the house to provide better signal there and for the garden. This can run off the router or the switch, or even use a wireless repeater if you don't mind losing a bit of throughput.
 
thanks guys, still not sure what to do, maybe I'll try locating it in the middle of the house then but I don't think its a very good router so maybe I should upgrade anyway?

how much are the access points on average?

cheers
 
if I was to go for the access point option, would it require each device on the network to connect as a secondary wifi access point, the router being the other? or do the two devices integrate into one point to connect to and the devices decide which has the best signal?

I hope that makes sense. Cheers
 
so if I had an access point and the router going, is that two separate points i need to connect too? two different security codes etc? or do they integrate into one?

cheers guys
 
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