Recommend me a Wireless Repeater/Extender/Expander

Soldato
Joined
12 Feb 2004
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Location
Manchester
Hi guys

with the lack of search option, im forced to make a new thread.

this is the situation

i have a netgear wireless cable router (624gt) upstairs its situated in a cupboard where all the wiring from each room goes into. all our bedrooms are cabled up on the network. Now of course the wireless doesn't work too well downstairs cos the router is in a cupboard. At the time, i didnt have a laptop so downstairs was not thought about! (wish i had now)

so im after something that will extend my wireless range so i can surf the net downstairs without having to keep searching for a network!

ive had a look at antennas and also repeaters but not sure what will suit me, or nor do i know which one works better.

my idea is to have some sort of repeater downstairs in the hall way (on a wall) so downstairs can be wifi ready, but don't want to run any cable downstairs from my router, is there such a device that works that can extend a wireless network without having to be physically attached to the router by cable?

any info much appreciated!

thanks
 
Last edited:
Get an external medium gain (5-7dbi) omni antenna for your Netgear device, that's the easiest option. And be sure to experiment with the position of the antenna for best coverage.

Otherwise you can look at a Wireless Distribution System, but you current router probably doesn't support that mode, and that will mean buying more/new hardware.
 
thanks for the info guys

after bit more reading, i found out that my Netgear wireless cable router (624gt) doesn't have a detachable antenna.

it can be done though, but the router has to be taken apart, which at the time being i don't want to do.

i have found some belkin range extenders that look ok.
 
worthingsaxovtr said:
I have been told to look at access points, as these extend the signal without needing to be wired in

No they don't - they're just a wireless bridge to let you connect wireless machines to a wired network (there's an AP inside every wireless router). The only time it will extend the range of the network is if it and the router do WDS, and not every AP does.
If it doesn't, you'd need to run a cable and it wouldn't "extend the signal" but just provide another access point to connect to (so when one went out of range you'd need to disconnect and reconnect to the other one).

Check if your Netgear does WDS. If it doesn't, and you can't change the antennae, your options are either run a cable to an AP (as above), or replace it for one that can. I'd expect the Belkin range extenders will require WDS, but being Belkin I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole anyway.
 
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