Someone please explain access points to me...

Yucca · 4 Jan 2012 at 17:28

Hi all

I have a Netgear Rangemax DGND3300 broadband router.

This is connected to a network switch which in turn feeds every room in the house with a Cat6 point.

In some rooms the wifi is to poor.

I assume that i can buy an access point, plug it in, connect a cat6 wire from the wall point to the access point box and then that will emit strong wifi in that room.

However all the netgear access points are as big as a router, not just a small plug. Why?!

Also, there seems to be about 10 different ones that range from £40 to £140. Which one do i need?!!

I want one that will give me full speed access to my network as i may also connect it to a TV etc and put movies, music and pics through it.

3dcandy · 4 Jan 2012 at 20:38

erm...where to begin...if you have cat6 in every room just connect with a network cable, not wi-fi

Laser man · 4 Jan 2012 at 20:40

3dcandy said:
erm...where to begin...if you have cat6 in every room just connect with a network cable, not wi-fi

What about for phones/tablets etc?

3dcandy · 4 Jan 2012 at 20:43

OP didn't make that clear...and after buying 4 or 5 AP's he might not be too happy.
Most tv's have an ethernet port which is what he mentioned specifically. The OP was a bit vague, so my answer is pretty generic.

Yucca · 5 Jan 2012 at 00:17

It's for my iPad and iPhone.

3dcandy · 5 Jan 2012 at 00:20

change channels, move router to a different position away from other electrical items, attach an access point to one of the ethernet leads and go from there. Multitude of things you can do. I'd start with looking at changing the channel on the netgear router and go from there...

L0stpr0phet · 5 Jan 2012 at 00:25

You can use something like inssider or netstumbler from a laptop/pc with wifi to check what channels your neighbours are using so you can choose the best range to use. The graphs make this easy i find inssider useful for this.

InQ · 5 Jan 2012 at 01:59

Homeplugs came be bought with one homeplug being a wifi point.
Just Google homeplug wifi.

Yucca · 6 Jan 2012 at 00:05

Guys I know I can use access points on one of the Ethernet leads. That's why I'm asking wha the difference is between the different access points in my original post....

How do I change my netgear channel? The room with blind spots in downstairs in the corner of the house and my router is upstairs a the front of the house. Should wifi work that far and through walls?

bremen1874 · 6 Jan 2012 at 02:37

Yucca said:
How do I change my netgear channel?

Login to router
Change channel
Save changes
Logout of router

A very brief glance at the router instructions should provide all the necessary details.

3dcandy · 6 Jan 2012 at 18:50

sorry been away. as bremen says the login will take the form of http://192.168.x.x or something like that. Log in and have a poke around in the wireless or setup pages (it will be a web page so you login via your browser). Choose an odd channel, say 11 for starters instead of the default which seems to be 1 or auto. Save changes and logout of router and see if it helps.

With some playing around you *should* be able to improve reception. If not, a tool like ssidinsider (?) should help you see what other people are using around you to help you choose the best channel

Grenache · 7 Jan 2012 at 09:28

You can buy a used Netgear DG834G for a tenner on ebay. Set it up with a fixed IP address on the same range as your existing network, disable the DHCP function, set up the same ssid, password and channel for your wireless network and plug it in to one of the wired network sockets, anywhere in the house.