Internet connection 2 storey house

[buchi1604]

Dear All

We have recently signed up with Telstra Velocity plan and no issues when we have a direct connection. However we didnt put internet sockets in the 2nd floor of our house. To improve the speed I have a wifi extender ( netgear) and on the Internet connections tab I have 5 solid bars but the speed still seems slow. Especially when watching videos ( you tube or news streams) and buffering occurs.

Is there anyway of speeding up the connection ?

I have a netgear n600 router would or can this be able to turn into  wifi extender and this could boost the speed??

Any suggestions on other equipment I could buy apart from getting a technician to wire a socket

regards

Steve

[TheWanderer38]

Hi

What type of extender have you got?  Where is the extender physically located relative to the N600?

How many devices need Internet access, wired and/or wireless?

Also, the five bars may only represent signal strength, not necessarily signal quality!

cheers

[buchi1604]

HI The wanderer38 and thank you for your reply..The current wifi extender I have is the netgear wn3000rp and it is located on the 2nd storey in my computer room which is plugged in to a power board approx 2 m from my pc. The main router is a Thomson tg782T (supplied by Telstra )which is located on the ground level and approx 15 m away.The N600 is not plugged in anyway i just have it spare due to the Thomson router supplied by telstra.
As you said it makes sense that i may have signal strength oppose to signal quality.
My pc is laptop running windows 7 ultimate 32 bit.
Also i notice my wifi connection to my iphone either doesnt allow me to join or is very slow.
hope this helps

[TheWanderer38]

Hi

Ok, the tg782T is only capable of 802.11G(54Mb) and your extender is capable of 802.11N(300Mb).

So you'd be better off with the N600 and extender... same dual band capabilities, speed and throughput.

Also, you need to setup two wifi networks:

N600

Wifi name: ground

access password: ground123

wn3000rp

Wifi name: topfloor

access password: topfloor123

Think also about how many walls and obstacles exist between point a and b?

See how you go...

cheers

[buchi1604]

Thank you for your reply 

So one last question then ..will my signal quality improve then changing to the netgear n600 and also this is compatible with the Velocity connection??

A bloke from JB hi fi didnt think I could connect the N600 to the velocity connection.

What are your thoughts ??

[TheWanderer38 · Accepted solution]

Hi

I can't think of any reason why the N600 would'nt work.. it's a ADSL2+ modem just like the tg782T, but the lan ports are gigabit and you have wifi over two spectrum's 2.4 and 5ghz, plus better compatibility between the modem and the extender.

Remember.. radio signals don't like metal or water .. so think about where you place your equipment.. also alot of other equipment use 2.4ghz and will cause interference or congestion like remote controls, bluetooth, cordless phones, wireless keyboard/mice etc...

cheers

[buchi1604]

Hi
I was incorrect with the type of router telstra supplied.

It is tg797n

Would the n600 netgear work on telstra velocity connection ??

[Shellock]

Hi Buchi1604,

There may be some interference in your home which is causing the slow speeds of your WiFi. Common causes are electrical interference from fridges, microwaves, wireless phones and other WiFi enabled modems.  

More info can be found at this page:   WiFi Troubleshooting Tips but you will find the steps to change the WiFi channel on your TG797 below:  I find either channel 1 or 11 are the best, however you may need to try other channels depending on the density of WiFi signals in your area.  I have added a quick walk-through at the bottom of this post.

To change the WiFi channel of your TG797nV3:

1.     Access the modem interface page on your web browser using the following IP address 10.0.0.138 (or just click this link).

2.     A blue page will appear, at the bottom of the page, click on Wireless underneath Home Network.

3.     In the new page that appears, click Configure the main WLAN, it should appear under Pick a task at the bottom of the screen.

4.     Then change the channel selection from Automatic to Manual and change your wireless channel (Channels 1 - 13).

5.     Once done, click on Apply down the bottom.

6.     Turn off your TG797nV3 and wait 30-40 seconds then turn back on.  Once the Wireless light comes back on all your connected devices will be using the new channel.

You could also use your Netgear modem in bridge mode to extend your signal, and it's possible to set this modem up as your primary modem in place of the TG797nV3 so long as it has a WAN port.  Neither of these solutions are supported by Telstra Tech Support, but you could find out how via a web search or you could contact  Telstra Platinum on 13 7587.

We also sell and offer support for the Netgear XAVB5401 Powerline Extender which allows you to send the internet signal to any electrical outlet in your home. 

- Shelly

[Jupiter]

Before you try the Powerline Extender, make sure that the power outlet on the lower floor is on the same circuit as the power outlet on the upper floor.

[TheWanderer38]

Hi Jupiter

His extender is not a powerline model.

cheers

[Jupiter]

Was referring to the suggestion in Shelley's post.

[TheWanderer38]

Hi

I didn't suggest the powerline option because of the wiring considerations.

cheers