Network access point recommendations please

[JoeJoe]

House is quite large, so had difficulties with Wi-Fi upstairs.

2-3 years ago I ran a Cat cable from the switch to the attic and put one of these there, configured as an access point: All worked well until a few days ago where I managed to bust it whilst walking past...

Now looking for a better device: Dual band, 300 (at least, 450 ok too), cheap and reliable. Plug in an forget. Power and network are available nearby.

Only issue I have is that the attic is used for storage only, hence open to the elements (as in ventilation grills, etc), so can get very cold and probably quite humid. I never had a problem with the above (it is a sealed unit).

An suggestion for a replacement? I assume it will come with a power supply and the case will not be sealed which worries me a bit.

TIA.

[The Natural Philosopher]

dont worry about the envoirnment.

Get a cheap crappy router than no one wants off ebay/gumtree/carboot sale and use that. You just turn off DHCP server anbd disable the 'connect via ADSL bit' and robert is a relative.

[JoeJoe]

Thanks for that - I think I may even have a spare one somewhere. I may need to come back for more info regarding setup.

[Theo]

For the gold standard of pro-sumer kit, look at Ubiquiti

or Mikrotik: They both have weatherproof versions. Ubiquiti is slightly more 'enterprise', expecting an additional server to run the controller software (either a box they sell or a Java app you can run on a local machine). I think the Mikrotik kit is more freestanding with a web interface.

They also support multiple APs, so you can just buy another if you don't have coverage from one unit.

Many support PoE so you can mount it in the 'right' place and just run ethernet to that point. They come with a PoE injector so you just need power somewhere near the other end of the ethernet.

Not the cheapest, but good for a rock solid connection. I'd say it's night and day over our previous Asus wifi router (which was itself a lot better than our previous TP-Link).

Theo

[Tim Watts]

Take the box is my advice - it's core and better it's not dependent on the whims of a random PC or OS. I have one. It sits there and it works. And it stays working.

I am *very* impressed with Ubiquity kit.

[JoeJoe]

Thanks again.

Managed to find the spare modem/router (in fact I had two...).

Disabled DHCP server, set the SSID, password, and IP address, and everything seems to be working just fine!

A couple more questions:

1. I noticed that you also mentioned "disable the 'connect via ADSL bit'". Would you mind elaborating please?

1. Wifi speed from the main modem/router is around 27Mbps, which is the speed of my line. The modem router is wired to a switch from which all the other wired devices are connected (PCs, TVs, etc). I connected the "new" access point to a spare socket on the main modem/router (i.e. not through the switch), but the wifi speed when connecting to it was only appox half that (12-14Mbps). Any idea why?

[Dave Liquorice]

Provided the connection from your LAN goes into a LAN port on the replacement access point and this accesss point is configured as a DHCP client to get information from the main modem/router LAN that effectively does it.

What wireless standards does the replacement access point support. Are the main modem router and the replacement access point on the same or different channels? Note of the dozen or so available in the

2.4 GHz band only three don't mutually interfere with each other.

[JoeJoe]

Thanks, must be the case here.

The old modem that I set up as an AP is this one:

I believe that it supports 802.11b, g & n (see p. 43 of the above). I set the channels manually: modem/router to channel 3 and AP to channel

9, the same setup I used with the TP-Link one which worked fine under this setup (full broadband speed). I obviously disconnected it for the purpose of the test.

[Dave Liquorice]

I thought the non overlapping channels where 3, 6 and 11. Also be aware that some of the modulation methods for the higher link speeds use double the bandwith. So if such a unit is nominally on Ch:3 it'll also be using Ch:6...

[jrwalliker]

Channel 1 is more separated from 6 than channel 3, so there should be less overlap. Similarly, channel 13 is available in the UK and has a wider separation from 6 than channel 11.

However, to get a really clear channel, use the 5GHz band and pick one of the DFS channels as they are never set as defaults by the manufacturers.

John

[JoeJoe]

Thanks both - makes sense. I'll play with the channel numbers to see if it makes a difference.

Unfortunately no 5GHz with this oldish router...