Finally, my first post! Hopefully I haven't messed this up.
Spotted this little Range Booster today at Australia Post, figured at $9.99 it's a steal. Not sure if this is nationwide etc as I can't find it online.
Personally, I'd price match at OW just to save that extra dollar. Your stinginess may vary.
Enjoy :)
I set up WDS across my house. Works great. Don't get lighting speeds, of course, but more than enough for my 15 mbps internet.
With our ADSL speeds here, the bandwidth halving might not matter so much!
Totally.
I do agree that in theory, powerline adapters can be much better. But they also have their weaknesses - I had a lot of reliability issues with mine, because for inevitable reasons I had to run them through powerboards. Normal powerboards already do not help the signal, but any surge-protecting powerboard will downright kill it.
That's why powerline adapters with AC passthrough are preferable. Adapter into the wall socket, powerboard into the adapter.
@dazweeja: Problem is when the device you hook it up to (with LAN port) is far away from the wall socket. Can't always run long LAN cables everywhere.
@Make it so: That LAN device doesn't need a wall socket for power? Can you just plug the powerline adaptor into that device's mains socket?
@eug: My pc and its many associated peripherals are 4m from the socket. I had a powerline adapter with two ethernet ports, which of which I required. It would have been unworkable to run 2 LAN cables right across the room alongside the wall. So it became a tradeoff between different things I needed: the ability to flick of some devices with one switch, but not others. The need to have some on surge protectors, but not others. And then the need to have the powerline adapters as directly hooked into the mains as possible. Quite a nightmare in the end.
Is it not better and less of a hassle (and cost less if you're going to end up with useless semi-solutions) to just get the best router you can buy? the Archer seems to go on sale very often on ozb.
@fufufu: A good router and equally good wifi card could possibly solve the problem, but it really depends on the layout and construction of the place.
In some situations, having one powerful transceiver won't be as good as having a well-placed repeater. That is one of the reasons why mobile phone networks use many towers instead of one extra-powerful tower (ignoring the timing limitations - analog networks used cells too).
If you were in the living room and wanted to tell someone in the back yard something, you could yell really loudly back and forth through the walls and doors, or just talk normally to the person sitting on the back porch, who would then repeat the message to the person in the back yard without having to yell.
@fufufu: Yep :)
And that's what I ended up doing. Very pleased with my Archer D7. Connections on 5GHz are more reliable than powerline connections.
power line adapters and WiFi are both seems to be half duplex. However, you can buy more advanced power line and Wifi repeaters (and wireless AP) to compensate this issue.
So 50% of efficiency would always be truth I am afraid.
PS; I am using Netgear power line adapter from COTD. It is quite reliable and more stable than TPLINK HyFi devices (each power line terminal gets Wifi AP in-bulit).
It is a 200M power line and gives me 5M/s speed which is more than enough for an ADSL2+ service.
Do you know if it's 50% of your top speed you lose or 50% of your actual speed? For example, If my router can transmit at 300mbps but the speed of my actual connection is 30mbps, is my repeated speed still 30mbps(with a max of 150) or 15mbps(with a max of 150)?
Positioning Question;
Do I put this in the middle of the house where the coverage is 50% or at the end of the house where its 10%
Definitely in the middle of the house. You want it to receive a strong signal for it to repeat.
It's 50% of your wifi speed. Just make sure the location your repeater is at can receive a good signal. Also, 300Mbps is "300"Mbps. :)
I am sorry to say Powerline Adapters are a hit n miss as well.
You are not guaranteed consistent speed or even stable latency depending on how well your house cabling is designed, and the sad part is, there is no way to improve your home power cabling anymore (unless you're smashing it down and rebuilding)
The safest way to take the gamble is buy a pair and test as much as possible, once you discover high latencies and low mbps speeds on your desire setup, just return the item for full refund and think of something else. To measure transfer speeds in your local network between 2 PC's, use iperf program.
Personally, I like WDS bridging by adding cheap routers to boost signal around the house. The closer the two bridging routers are, the more stable. That's where a bit of LAN cabling helps. Mix these two up and you have a cheap and stable combo.
I did just this by trying the powerline kit from aldi. I was very dissatisfied with the speeds reached, and while wds is slower, I find it to be surprisingly more reliable and consistent. I have used the netgear device mentioned in this deal, and I wouldn't pay $10 for it. It's not a major loss if you want to give it a go, but I found that the difference between a good and bad wifi router is a difference in range that is less than what this device can offer.
The reason is that a repeater must receive, then retransmit each packet using the same radio on the same channel and with the same SSID.
Sure if you want the handover to be fully automatic. I personally just have a bunch of different ssids across the house and connect to the closest one manually.
Yep got one, and its rubbish .. :) i'll be grabbing a powerline adapter soon.
At Martin place they had it for $19 but scanned for $9.99 :). Got one
I wouldn't buy it for $0, unfortunately these things are rubbish.
They aren't bad, but don't expect it to produce full speeds.
I've found EOP + Hotspot works better than using an extender.
They are useful for people who want to do illegal things like share internet across houses lol. as EOP wouldn't work in that scenario.
Any cheap router that can be flashed with Tomato/DD-WRT/etc is a better option. Wireless client bridge to connect the two EOP networks.
Can you provide some more info? Cheers
This is client bridged mode:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Client_Bridged
I've set it up in both Tomato and DD-WRT on Asus and Linksys routers. I prefer Tomato but it is supported on fewer routers. Once you flash this firmware to a supported router, you can do all sorts of cool stuff on your router, eg. set up your own VPN to access your network from outside your network.
Edit: I should also mention there's other modes to link routers (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Linking_Routers) and I assume that other firmware like OpenWRT, Gargoyle, etc, have similar features but I haven't used those. There's a DD-WRT router database where you can see supported routers. Broadcom-based ones generally have good support.
I find the best thing about these repeaters is how neat and tidy they are. Routers running Tomato/DD-WRT are normal-sized units with long power cables. It does allow you to position them better, but you do have the cable and bulk to deal with.
What is illegal if me and my neighbour agree to share internet? Its illegal if I steal their internet without any consent. I know my cousin shares her internet for free with her neighbour but would understand if she charged her.
Quite a few isp contracts will specifically state that the connection must be used by that specific premise. Which means you are breaking their contact.
I vaguely remember some laws in regards to broadcasting internet which you may break also. Can't seem to find them right now though.
Im sorry but i cant see how they can prove im sharing anything with my neighbours unless they say something.
@japik: Cant tell doesn't mean you aren't breaking a contract though.
If they wanted to they could sit outside and monitor the wireless signals/stations/clients. If they REALLY wanted to, they could prove it.
Its like 5 finger discounts, yes its highly illegal, but they don't catch you!
If they or their guests download a movie, music or kiddie porn illegally or start trolling some kid that takes their life you could be stuck trying to prove it wasn't you. Good luck with that. It SHOULD be innocent until PROVEN guilty but you'll find you're held responsible for what happens on your connection. Not saying I approve of this.
@lplau:
Actually its nothing like a 5 finger discount. You haven't paid for the items, whereas sharing internet, you're sharing something that you've purchased (xGB/month).
Illegal vs breaking the terms of the agreement are 2 completely different concepts. Do you really think the cops are gonna bust into your place for sharing internet? The worst that will happen is that they'll disconnect you.
I may pick this up, though I voted positive as its a pretty decent first post!
Please can you upload your receipt so we can price match?
I went to office works to try and price match, they didn't do it because the packaging was different even though it was the same model.
Really? Bummer… I'm sorry if I sent you out of your way. Will update my post if there are more reports of this, but it really was supposed to be a harmless joke!
No problems. I'd never resort to price matching to save $1, but all the local Post Offices close at 5pm :(
Upload just receipt with model number, don't take photo of the box
Probably would help.
I've been using this extender for years with no problems. Simple and effective for most situations. I can maybe understand criticism at RRP . . But not at $10
Have had mine plugged in now for a few hours, I'm of a similar train of thought. Most of us know the limitations of extenders - for those of us who are willing to or need to accept those limitations, $10 is, to me, a bargain :)
For those above saying 50% signal/speed loss, is that mean it makes the transmission worse than not using this repeater?
Had one, was a bitch to setup and buggy as with intermittent connectivity and then you have the problem of switching and deciding between wifi networks. What I hated about it was that it creates a new wifi network, not just boosting wifi signal on pre-existing network as I had assumed. Have since removed since I got a Nighthawk, no longer needed. But for $10 a bargain.
Same issues as yourself. It should be the same SSID, just boosted, but it doesn't work like that.
You can rename the network to your original SSID through the web interface. I think they added an _EXT on purpose so it's easier for less tech-savvy people to know that it's working for sure.
I'd recommend keeping the second SSID - your devices will handover more reliably and consistently than if they have the same name. If they have the same name, they tend to linger on a weak signal for longer. My 2c.
Nah the problem is that your devices will latch onto the Extender, being that the Extender has a stronger signal, the problem is that even though it is a stronger signal, the device is rubbish (due to one-radio design) and is much slower than connecting directly to the main AP despite having the stronger signal. The repeater is only of use where you simply can't get a good enough signal from the main AP at all, and something is better than nothing.
Yes, keep the SSID separate so you can be in control so it doesn't stray onto the Repeater unnecessarily.
the device is rubbish (due to one-radio design) and is much slower than connecting directly to the main AP despite having the stronger signal.
I have to add, it really depends on the location. There are certainly cases where a repeater would be much better than connecting directly.
e.g. your router is at one end of the house, and you're trying to get a good signal in a room at the other end of the house, through five walls, where your phone barely gets any wifi signal.
Placing a repeater in the middle means the signal from the router only has to go through maybe three walls, before it's rebroadcast through the next two walls.
Yes, the wifi throughput will be halved due to the single-radio design, but with our slow internet speeds, it might not matter. And IMHO I'd rather have a slower connection that's stable, rather than a faster connection that disappears when I hold the phone in my hand or turn around in bed, putting my body in between the router and the phone.
I've got a few friends who use wifi repeaters at home. They're completely satisfied with the performance.
For $10 it's definitely worth a try. In really bad locations, something with external antennas might give better performance, e.g. WN3000RP.
@eug:
The repeater is only of use where you simply can't get a good enough signal from the main AP at all, and something is better than nothing.
@The Land of Smeg: Hmm… correct me if I'm wrong, but your first post above says this repeater is rubbish and is much slower than connecting directly to the main AP - unless you simply can't get a good enough signal from the main AP.
Isn't that the only reason why someone would buy a repeater?
@eug:
Only as a last resort.
The point is:
keep the SSID separate so you can be in control so it doesn't stray onto the Repeater unnecessarily
If you have your device closer to the Repeater but still not too far away from the main AP, and if the SSID is the same between the two, it's going to automatically connect to the Repeater when it should be on the Main AP.
@The Land of Smeg:
The SSID will not be the same, it will have an _EXT appended to it. So you have to connect to this or that explicitly. But then again I could be wrong.
@EarthMan: That is the default behavior which should be kept (or some other different SSID to the main AP), I was keeping @pinchies recommendation to keep it as a separate SSID, but not for reasons that devices don't hand over reliably to the strongest SSID (as he said), but because even though the Repeater has the "strongest" SSID, the underlying technology behind that SSID makes it a less reliable connection.
What about shipping to NZ?
lol
Maybe Officeworks delivery will start offering NZ for cheaper
Thank you very much
Good one š
Good find OP good post :D
Available online?
Great first up post jackary. Just tried OW pricematch at 2 stores with receipt and photo in this thread and neither of them wanted a bar of it. Was told if it wasn't on the Aust Post website, they can't do a thing as there's no evidence it's a genuine deal (oh come on!). Really desperate for one of these. Would be forever grateful if someone could please tell me where I can get one tomorrow around Docklands area (or northern suburbs after 4pm) at this price. A million thanks.
Wouldn't there be heaps of post offices around that area?
Might be a blessing in disguise. Trust me. (See my post above)
If you like you can pm me your address, I'll post you mine which I no longer use. No instructions or packaging though.
Ask OW to call a store if they don't have it listed on a website
For $9, I guess they are worth playing with, but keep in mind that every single one of these units I have sold were returned by my customers.
They don't seem to be working that well at all.
If I can get my hands on some of them for $9 though, I will try them out myself.
don't even bother trying OW Fitzroy, I would never shop there!
i work at Aussie Post and I don't even know they sell this. will check it out at work tomorrow (staff gets further 10% discount)
Yes! Got the last one at Docklands. Price was $29.99 but scanned at $9.99. Thanks again jackary.
http://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/27551/30100/img_33321.jā¦
Yahoooooo! Glad to know it wasn't just a one off store deal. Cheers mate :)
All good. Great effort first up. Hope to see heaps more deals from you.
not sure why you got Negged…have a + from me
No stock at Martin Place.
Lady checked the system and there is only one showing at Mascot, everywhere else (in NSW) is out.
Tried 6 stores in QLD.
Loganholme = 0
Springwood = 0
Cannon Hill = 1
Cleveland = 1
Sunnybank Hills = 0 just sold out as I was in the Springwood store.
Carina/Carindale = 0.
I got the last one at Carina/Carindale. Sticker on packet said $59.99, got it for $9.99
Thanks OP.
Awesome deal.
M.
Thanks for the update.
So does that mean there is one left at Cannon Hill and Cleveland when you checked?
Yep there was. Probably gone now. :P
Can confirm that bayswater ow (vic) has plenty of stock. And price match for $10
OK, so set mine up 2 hours ago, and it's been rock solid. First thing I did was upgrade the firmware from 1.0.0.32 to 1.0.0.52. Ran Ookla SpeedTest on my main router 3 times and averaged 17Mbps down and 0.80Mbps up. Then switched over to the new Netgear and ran SpeedTest 3 times again. This time I averaged 15Mbps down and 0.73Mbps up. Ping times on both were around 12ms. Small performance hit, but more than enough for what I need. Cheers.
anyone find anywhere in Perth that had these?
Great! found one. works fine for my folks. to surf the net and check email!
where in Perth did you find one?
heaps of them at Officeworks Malaga…. same model as in photo …. price beat no problem
I have a Netgear WN2500RP at home and I've tried ENP too.
Yes as a repeater the Netgear halves the bandwidth but I can still pull >5 meg per second on bit-torrent so pretty happy with that for the second PC's in the house…
Not for everyone but these range extenders are a good solution for people who just need to extend their wifi for phones, IPADs, etc
I found ENP wasn't great for my needs and as pointed out by others, it gets blocked by a lot of surge filters on power boards…
Don't expect much from WiFi Extenders/Boosters.
Most of them are nowhere near 50% efficient. So if you have a WiFi deadzone where you get a signal strength of 10%, a boost of less than 50% of that, is not going to unlock lightning speeds for any devices in that area.
EOP/Powerline Adapters cost more, but will give you a more guaranteed, consistent result and are the next best thing to wiring your house with CAT6.