Help Installing a second or 3rd router in my home?

Question

Hey guys,
I get limited signal in and around my house so my dad has said he will buy what ever necessary to get internet around the whole house.
I currently have a Thompsons Speedtouch ST585 V6. I want to get 2 additional routers, if possible and in stall them, my question is do they all have to be the same make a model of router, if not is there any you would recommend, that'll work with BT. Also should i set all 3 up (first, second and third floor) can it up so that they will all work together and will switch if the signal is stronger with one of them the device will automatically switch router?
I'm quite good with computer, not so much with networking, so all answers are appreciated :)

Thanks

Answer 1

A better (and cheaper) option would be to just upgrade your router. For the cost of two additional routers, you could fairly easily get a router that should be able to utterly whup that old Thompsons router into the dust.



For starters that old router only supports Wireless G at best. There are two faster standards than that now.



Have a shop around for a more current ADSL router. You'd be amazed what a difference that will make.



Wifi extenders and all that kinda stuff are a last resort really, because they have the problem (unless you spend a lot) that they have to receive then retransmit on the same channel, so you lost 50% of the signal with one of those at best, so they're really not as good an idea as they'd seem.



Get a better router. Unless your house is truly massive, a new router should give you much better signal.

Answer 2

Why not add access points instead of routers? You then do not have the issues of multiple routers! You can set a router as an access point. You disable DHCP on the added router, set a static IP so you can manage the unit, set the SSID and WiFi encryption (use same name and code) be sure to use different channels on each. To connect you use any of the LAN ports connect by Ethernet to the main router and do not use the internet/wan port at all. Those will then act as access points.

You could use "range extenders / repeaters" however those will drop the speed by about 30%!

Still a real access point is a better solution!

Answer 3

Rather than using routers as WiFi Access Points, please have a look at:



http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/?categoryid=2244&model=TL-WPA4220T+KIT



Powerline networks allow you to extend your network around the house without having to run Ethernet cables from room to room. There are various makes and various models.



In the example I have included above, the smaller adapter will be connected to a power outlet near your router. It connects to the router with a short Ethernet cable.



The larger units can be plugged in to power outlets where you want them, and you can move them around if necessary. Each of these larger units provides two Ethernet ports and a Wireless access point.



You can add extra adapters to a Powerline network. I believe you can go to 7 or 8 adapters in the network.



I hope this helps.

Answer 4

NO! NEVEr fit more than one router, it will sow down the network and can disrupt or even stop it. And you can NOT connect more than one router or modem to the line. first make sure your router is properly located as high as possible and clear of all obstructions. Preferably fairly central in the building. The you need to wire network cables near to areas not properly covered and connect wireless access points, or place wireless range extenders between those points and the rotuer.

Answer 5

It's possible that if they all have the same SSID you can roam from one to the other without having to reauthenticate and witout dropping sessions, but that may be tied to having a single radius server and certainly single DHCP server like on a campus. If you just want it to work everywhere, you can probably get any model. Use the same SSIDs, and set the new ones up as access points not complete routers, so that the original one is used for DHCP and routing. On 802.11g, select non-overlapping channels e.g. 1,4,7.



That's what we have at work with Proxim access points, set up with a separate DHCP server and routing. For home use you can also get wifi extenders, but I've no experience with those myself, only wired ones (the proxims support a mesh mode, but we don't use that)