Access point or other solution?

I have FIOS internet wired to my home office in my basement. This works great for my office, but since it is the lowest level at at one end of my house, the wireless reception fades fairly rapidly as you go upstairs. I have a Tv and DVR in the family room which is 1 level (6steps) above the basement at the other end of the house. Sometimes the wireless reception there is week and going to the porch off the family room the signal is almost non existent.
I would like to have a stronger wireless signal in the family room . And the wireless network in the office and the family room must be the same so that I can share a wireless printer. I have a CAT5 cable from the basement office to the garage which is next to the family room and was thinking about installing a wireless access point there, wired to my Verizon router. Is that a good solution? Is there a better one?

Accepted answers

eljefe2

I have no hands on experience with the WCB3000N but it looks like it might do the trick for you.

I've experimented with having both of my wifi adapters on the same channel and the same SSID and it worked, but I found I liked it better to have them on different channels and different SSID's. That prevents any interference and also lets you see which adapter you're actually connected to.

You could , for example, have one SSID as basement and the other as upstairs, or any other names that you like. And even with two SSID's, you'd still be on the same basic network so your printer, etc., would function.

I do have a 4 port Ethernet splitter at the output of my ECB 2200 and I use outputs from the splitter for the upstairs wifi adapter, Blu-Ray player, and TV Internet functions. Wifi coverage is solid in our family room but I always opt for a wired connection when I can.

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Anti-Phish1

1. Running a cat5 cable is the best solution.

2.. You obviously have coax in the family room. The next best solution is a MOCA extender.

Can I get an ethernet connection in a room with only coax?

3. Powerline extenders may also work depending on the condition of your electrical wiring.

JimFed

If I use an MoCA extender, I would place it in the family room and connect it to the TV Cable there via a splitter, correct? That would give me the strongest signal in the family room as the access point placed in the garage would still need to transmit through cement block walls. How does that MoCA extender work with my FIOS router? Will this truely be an extension of the exact same network or will it be a second WiFi network like you get with the WiFi repeaters? What MoCA extender would work best with my Verizon M1424WR FIOS router?

eljefe2

Yes, if you use a MoCA adapter, such as the Actiontec ECB 2200, it's Ethernet output will be on the same network as your Actiontec router.

Assuming you have the MoCA adapater in the family room, you could then use the Ethernet output from the ECB 2200 to feed a second wifi adapter.

I'm using a very similiar configuration here and I have solid wifi throughout our house, including the basement.

JimFed

I need to clarify to make sure I understand. I was looking at the Actiontec WCB3000N which would give me Ethernet ports and WiFi output in the family room. I understand that the Ethernet would then be the same network as on my FIOS router in the basement.

Currently all of my Internet usage in the family room is via WiFi (laptop, iPad, Blu-Ray, TV Internet functions). I guess I could change to Ethernet connection for the Blu-Ray and TV once I install the adapter.

Will the WiFi signal from the MoCA adapter (or from a second WiFi adapter as you suggest) be the same WiFi as from my basement router or will they conflict? If I connect my iPad in the family room and then take it to the basement, will it need to make a WiFi connection change?

So I would need:

- Coax splitter

- WCB3000N or ECB 2200 plus a WiFi adapter

It does seem that this would be a more robust solution that installing a wireless access point in the garage via an Ethernet cable from my FIOS router.

eljefe2

I'm out of town for a few days and only have access to the web via my iPhone. Maybe one of the regulars on the board will chime in with more.

What I can tell you is that to access the setup panel for the Actionec you only use a LAN port. Using the rev E as a second device you won't use the WAN port at all.

The default address of the Actiontec is 192.168.1.1. That's what you'd enter in your browser to get to the router's setup.

eljefe2

I made an error earlier in typing 192.186.1.2. It should have been 192.168.1.2.

As had been pointed out, all devices on any LAN must be on the same subset.

Sorry for any confusion.