Wifi set up?

[Goldilox]

So after a month in the new house BT have finally got round to installing interweb this morning. As we didn't especially want to install ethernet cabling in this house I need to get hold of some wifi dongles etc.

So here's the challenge, two PCs, one about 7m away from the hub and the other side of a staircase. The other about 12m away and up a floor. Wifi dongles seem to come in 150mbps, 300, 600 or 900. I also have the option, if more cost effective, of installing a powerline extension. What would you kids recommend using for stability and to make sure I'm getting my money's worth from a BT infinity connection?

 

[Perrier]

homeplugs....ok its not wireless , but not far off.
very portable, base unit goes to hub and receiver to pc or laptop.
they work by using your house electricity wiring and are as fast as having a Ethernet lead directly connected.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug
I use a set for my daughters pc, and also to control my cctv ip camera.

 

[Jonah]

This may sound like a stupid question but haven't your PCs got wireless cards installed?

 

[Vault_girl]

I know a lot of desktops don't have wireless as standard. Laptops do because they are mobile.

I would also recommend home plugs however you will have to make sure that the plugs are on the same ringmain (or whatever the correct term is!) - My dad discovered his kitchen is on a different circuit to his hobby room (my little brothers old bedroom) when he complained the new powerline adapters weren't working when he tested them and I "fixed" them... And don't plug them into extension lines either - it can mess with the connection!

 

[Goldilox]

This may sound like a stupid question but haven't your PCs got wireless cards installed?

No, my laptop & Wormella's iPad do, along with our smart phones, but not the PC towers. They both have network cards, but I googled the model numbers and neither of them have wifi compatibility, only ethernet. When we set up the old place 6 years ago the speed/range on wifi was far enough behind where it is now that it seemed much more cost effective to just wire it all up.

Wormella has secured two dongles from the gadget show but, depending on signal, I may yet use powerline adaptors for the upstairs PC.

 

[tek-monkey]

Powerline adapters work great if the wiring is up to it, mine worked great at the old house but didn't work at all in the new one. I ended up running cat5 cable around my house!

 

[Bob]

When we moved we got a new home hub but from where it was set up the signal wasn't great - I didn't think it would work for a second but we plugged the old one in upstairs and it it works.

 

[Wormella]

So, it all works - but the net connection on my PC (the one upstairs) is slow - so what's the easiest, simplest fix so I can have a better connection?

for reference I brought 2 x TP Link N600 Wireless dual Band USB adaptors (TL-WDN3200)

 

[tek-monkey]

How strong is the wifi signal? Those adapters should be fine, if the signal strength is ok too you should get good speeds. Perhaps change your wireless channel? if you have an android phone download wifi analyser and look for the one with the least traffic.

 

[Wormella]

I'm getting a 'fine' rating and it is ok really - I suppose the test will come if I get around to playing any big ass games...

 

[tek-monkey]

Just to be sure try using speedtest.net as it may be the pc rather than the net connection?