I raised part of this in an earlier post but now really need to move forward so having thought about the advice given earlier and having had several attempts at getting a usable wi fi system around my house using wireless repeaters, I have finally come to the conclusion that maybe the best way to achieve my needs is by using a homeplug/powerline system to satisfy the needs of our family of 5 who all have devices connecting to the internet..
The main problem is that I live in a rambling old house with very thick walls and wi fi seemingly cannot penetrate to any useful extent. In addition I now have a boy at uni who needs a good connection for his studies but his room is about as far away from the router as can be imagined and thus he has great difficulty in getting any sort of connection, never mind a speedy or reliable one. Running cables around the house is not an option.
So my thoughts are this - use a homeplug/powerline system in the following format with three main devices.
1 - office with main router and four connected PCs - use input homeplug with two connectors so I can still connect all the PCs by using second Ethernet connection
2 - Lounge - one wi fi plug using the Ethernet output for the tv (so the family can use Netflix) and the wifi so they can use their phones etc.in that part of the house
3 - Boys study - a second wi fi plug so he can connect his laptop but still use his phone from there but would give also give some wi fi to the other upstairs bedrooms.
Hoping this is a sensible proposal - and if so now comes the second set of questions - Can I mix different makes of homeplug and can different speeds be mixed? I am thinking of a system based around the 500mb-p-s plugs but could I add a cheaper plug if needed in another room for say a guest laptop or if my daughter want to use one of the PCs in another room where the wifi does not reach very well.
I have been looking at the TP link systems but also the Dlink ones but other on the market seem to do some of what I want as well - hence the questions of mix and match!
Any advice on this much appreciated.
The main problem is that I live in a rambling old house with very thick walls and wi fi seemingly cannot penetrate to any useful extent. In addition I now have a boy at uni who needs a good connection for his studies but his room is about as far away from the router as can be imagined and thus he has great difficulty in getting any sort of connection, never mind a speedy or reliable one. Running cables around the house is not an option.
So my thoughts are this - use a homeplug/powerline system in the following format with three main devices.
1 - office with main router and four connected PCs - use input homeplug with two connectors so I can still connect all the PCs by using second Ethernet connection
2 - Lounge - one wi fi plug using the Ethernet output for the tv (so the family can use Netflix) and the wifi so they can use their phones etc.in that part of the house
3 - Boys study - a second wi fi plug so he can connect his laptop but still use his phone from there but would give also give some wi fi to the other upstairs bedrooms.
Hoping this is a sensible proposal - and if so now comes the second set of questions - Can I mix different makes of homeplug and can different speeds be mixed? I am thinking of a system based around the 500mb-p-s plugs but could I add a cheaper plug if needed in another room for say a guest laptop or if my daughter want to use one of the PCs in another room where the wifi does not reach very well.
I have been looking at the TP link systems but also the Dlink ones but other on the market seem to do some of what I want as well - hence the questions of mix and match!
Any advice on this much appreciated.
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