advice needed on Wifi range extender please

[piggybank]

Advice needed please ref TP-LINK model TL-WA830RE Wireless N Range Extender.

Hi gents hopefully someone will be able to point the way for me to use the above range extender. Its well within range of my house wireless router, a TP link model TL-MR3420. It was set up at close range then moved to an area that is 40 metres up the garden. It appeared to accept the connection between itself and the house router on pressing the QSS button.

My catch is it will not work as a range extender in set-up it only works as an entry point. It does not find the house router on a frequency scan. It picks up about 6 local routerss on WiFi. Should I be pressing the QSS button at this point? If I use the drop down list on set up it allows the setting up of the WA830RE as an entry point. However in this mode it says 'the program is asking for password.' thats YouTube, Yahoo Mail, whatever. We put in the admin/admin (its not fully set up) press OK and get the request for the password again. This is in Windows 7 and XP on two different lap tops. The WiFi signal in the area of the repeater is reduced and not usable on laptops and hand phones. At present its turned off so we can get full WiFi coverage

Any thoughts most welcome. I am on the plane to job site soon so not on pprune till pm, Thursday 10 October. Cheers. PB

[Keef]

I installed one for my niece. I can't remember all the details. but it was a nightmare to set up. The "reset and start again" routine was the main one we used.

I have a suspicion (can't remember now, and wouldn't mess with it since it's working OK) that part of the secret was NOT pressing the "automated setup" button.

The medium-term plan is to run a long Cat5 cable with a wireless access point on the end of it.

[jimtherev]

More bad news here, I'm afraid. Similar model, same mfg, would connect wirelessly to router, and to computer, but wouldn't 'connect through'. The manual, freely translated from Taiwanese- or something - is obscure where it needs to be clear, and patronising when dealing with the trivial.
Agree with Keef about the 'easy set-up' option. It ain't... and I just about wore out the reset button. And even reading my copious notes I can't recall exactly what I did to make it work in the end.
And Cat 5 ain't an option, sadly.

[mixture]

And Cat 5 ain't an option, sadly.

Well, then your only other option might be to get your hands on some business-grade WiFi kit and play around with that ? It might have a few additional config options. But even that's not guaranteed. There's very little you can do about thick walls, electrical interference and all the other stuff that causes hassle for WiFI. Have you attempted at least a basic WiFI survey of your property ?

Rather than just one additional hotspot, have you thought about an additional intermediary one ? Located somewhere equidistant between the two.

Proper structured cabling still has a role in this day and age, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. All the the best multi-hotspot networks all run off a foundation of structured cabling.

[Keef]

I just got in from sorting one of that very model for a friend in the village.
It's now all working correctly, and she's happy.

The problem is that the "extender" has its own DHCP server, allocating IP addresses in the correct range but which are not recognised by the router. You get a "connection" but there's no internet (the router doesn't know you).

It took a while to work out what it was doing - because a device already connected to the WiFi without going through the extender would keep its IP and continue to work when it switched to the extender as we walked through the house. It was new connections that caused the hiccups.

The option to "turn off DHCP" in the main screen was disabled. Fortunately, deep in the undocumented bowels of the system was another "DHCP off" that did work.

The other pain in the neck was that it takes about ten to twenty minutes to finish "reconfiguring" after a reset, so experimenting becomes a process involving much drinking of coffee. I don't know what on earth it does that takes so long, but that's not my fault.

I would avoid pressing the little button - that seems to screw things up royally. Connect to the TPLink using your iPad or whatever, and try accessing as 192.168.0.254, ID and password "admin".

[jimtherev]

Yes, thanks, Mix, wifi and ferroconcrete do make an interesting match, and yes, I have done a full survey of the building with a pad; rather surprising readings sometimes.
No, the setting up was done in the same room as the wireless router - signal there was aplenty, communication ideosyncratic.
I just hope that the settings I've saved will work if some idiot presses the reset button. (I know: why should they - but how do some of these idiots remember to keep breathing?)

[Keef]

Jim: if the DHCP in the thing is turned on, that may be the cause of the grief. Next time you're tweaking it, take a look and turn it off.

Assuming your network is 192.168.0 and the thing is on factory settings, user access will be to 192.168.0.254. The username and password are both "admin".

For my friend in the village, the simple test (ie the way we found where the problem was) lies in the IP address the iPad etc has. I joined the network in the study, where the main router is, and got an address of 192.168.0.4. I then wandered through the kitchen where the TPLink is, and into the dining room. The address stayed the same. The signal strength indication was "all bars", and I could still access the internet. There had previously been one or no bars in the dining room.

She connected her iPad in the dining room, and got an address of 192.168.0.100 with all bars, and could not access the internet. I then fished out my iPhone and connected it, to receive 192.168.0.101 etc.

Now that its DHCP is off, IP addresses start with 192.168.0.4 (the desktop is always on, hard wired, and is .0.3).

[piggybank]

Thanks for all the replies gents. I am in swamps of PNG for another three weeks so will tackle your advice when I get back home. The position of the house wireless router is in the wooden air vents in my kitchen. Wall construction is brick but the house does have 700 metres of steel earthquake reinforcing and about the same in electric cabling. None seem to have been a problem as far as WiFi working in the past. I will let you know how it goes.