wifi relay or extender device

[dc1201]

I would like to extend my wifi range to my porch.  Does anyone know what extender or relay will work with my Verizon Fios Actiontec MI424WR (Rev D)?

thanks

[smith6612]

Anything would work. Just be aware of two things:

1: Repeaters/extenders, if they tap directly into the Wireless signal will repeat the signal, however what you get out of the repeated signal speed-wise and reliability wise is half as fast as what the repeater itself receives (eg; 15Mbps Wireless link falls to about 7Mbps), and reliability is as reliable as the signal between the repeater and the router.

2: Be aware that repeaters do not play well with WEP security it seems. While it can work, a minimum of WPA/WPA2 security is needed and recommended

Before considering a repeater it might be a good idea to see if relocating the router even slightly to another part of the room it's in or re-orienting the antenna (or heck, even replacing the antenna with a stonger one!) helps improve signal to the porch. If the router happens to be in a basement, get it out of there as wireless signals are horrible at traveling up and down, and through concrete (if so be it) on stock Omnidirectional antennas, meaning without directional you're going to ask for trouble. Failing that, directly wiring an Access Point nearby the Porch to the FiOS router using some means (Ethernet, MoCa, Powerline networking) would give you the best of every world.

[abh2]

Curious as to what brand extender you got to work.

Thanks

[SPM5]

I have an Actiontec Rev G router that failed to provide WIFI signal to the whole house and with the purchase of an iPad, found that I could not maintain contact in the rooms that I wanted to use it.  Lots of phone calls to Verizon produced no helpful or advice. An  Apple store guru sent me to Cisco home solutions as a better and less costly alternative than Apple sells.  Cisco has a relatively new product, Linksys PLWK400 kit(~$120) with money-back guarantee.  Bottom-line - it works beautifully for me.  It was a bit of a pain to set up because the Cisco people are unfamiliar with the Actiontec router, and did not guess how many ways I could misinterpret their instructions.  There are two black boxes in the kit and they need someone to re-write their manual - the PLE400 hooks to a LAN (not WAN) port on the Actiontec with a short Ethernet cable (supplied), and plugs directly into a home wall circuit (do not use a power strip).  The PLW400 plugs into a wall circuit in the room where you want WIFI extended.  Push a few buttons (first on the PLE, then the PLW) and the two talk to each other and WIFI begins.  The handshaking process can take 2-5 minutes, so be patient.  When first setting up, do it in the room where the router is located so you can (1) see the lights on both devices and (2) connect the PLW unit via Ethernet cable to your desktop or laptop and run the Linksys program to allow you to set up a name and security for your new network.  Then you can disconnect the PLW from Ethernet cable, move it to any wall socket in the house, and enjoy connectivity. 

[jco4]

SPM,
How were you able to connect the wireless router to the PLW400? The PLW400 send out a CISCO#### WiFi signal. I want to use the same WiFi network my fIOS router is using. Did you use the WPS button from the FIOS router? I don't think my WPS is working. Did you have to upgrade your firmware?

[viafax999]

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@jco wrote:
SPM,
How were you able to connect the wireless router to the PLW400? The PLW400 send out a CISCO#### WiFi signal. I want to use the same WiFi network my fIOS router is using. Did you use the WPS button from the FIOS router? I don't think my WPS is working. Did you have to upgrade your firmware?

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The WPS button on the Fios router doesn't work - is not supported in the firmware.

There are 2 parts to using a plw400 - the extender part (PLE400) and the wap part (PLW400).  The ple400 connects via an ethernet cable to your fios router and then has a plug that connects to a 110vac wall socket.  The plw400 has a plug that connects to a 110vac socket to extend your fios router network via the signal that is being transmitted on tjhe power line from the ple400.  The plw400 will then act as a wap with an ssid that you can connect to from your wireless devices.  It also has a WORKING wps button if you want to connect that way.  As far as I know the extender kit has both parts.  I also belive that you can purchase plw400 devices by themselves that will communicate with an already working ple400 setup i.e. 1 to many waps - Note.  I don't have such a seup, I just googled the device parts and am making a gues about the one to many - you can enquire of the Cisco online chat.

You may want to look at 

http://support.linksys.com/en-us/support/powerline/PLE400

and

http://support.linksys.com/en-us/support/powerline/PLW400

Personally, I'd just purchase off of ebay an old verizon router and set it up in bridge mode via a moca connection (that is connect it to another coax connector in the house).  The downside of that is that unless you have the newest or rev f router it would be a wireless-G extender, whereas the Cisco solution is wireless- N

For more money you could get an Actiontec WCB3000NK01 kit which does the same as the Cisco stuff but does it via the coax line.