First off, setting up a wifi repeater is one of the most ridiculously painful experiences I have ever had with tech hardware.
The needs:
... to be able to repeat the wifi output of my Netgear DG834N v1 ADSL/router to the upper floor of my house through the Edimax wireless 300M Range Extender (EW-7416APn v2). To enable my iPad2, 3DS, laptop and anything else that roams to maintain connection and not suffer dropouts.
The questions:
1. How do I know that the roaming devices are using the repeated signal from the Edimax extender and not just grasping on to the weak signal from the DG834N downstairs?
2. Some advice on the net suggest the router and the extender share the same SSID, which seems logical. However some suggest that the router and extender need to be on different SSIDs - but if this were the case surely the devices would only connect to the same SSID and ignore the other SSID?
3. If they use different SSIDs will the devices automatically pick the strongest signal and switch to whichever SSID that is?
4. Some advice suggests using the same channel number for both router and extender, which seems logical. Some advice suggests using different channel numbers for the router and extender - if using the same channel number, does this create too much data and make the connection worse?
5. If using different channel numbers, will the roaming devices automatically choose the right channel number based on connection strength?
6. While using the program WirelessMon I can see both the router and extender and their respective signal strengths, channel numbers and SSIDs - but there is no way of telling if the repeater is in fact repeating the routers signal - is there any software that will show that?
7. Is there any one trusted source for setting up a wifi repeater?
8. Will my hair grow back?
The needs:
... to be able to repeat the wifi output of my Netgear DG834N v1 ADSL/router to the upper floor of my house through the Edimax wireless 300M Range Extender (EW-7416APn v2). To enable my iPad2, 3DS, laptop and anything else that roams to maintain connection and not suffer dropouts.
The questions:
1. How do I know that the roaming devices are using the repeated signal from the Edimax extender and not just grasping on to the weak signal from the DG834N downstairs?
2. Some advice on the net suggest the router and the extender share the same SSID, which seems logical. However some suggest that the router and extender need to be on different SSIDs - but if this were the case surely the devices would only connect to the same SSID and ignore the other SSID?
3. If they use different SSIDs will the devices automatically pick the strongest signal and switch to whichever SSID that is?
4. Some advice suggests using the same channel number for both router and extender, which seems logical. Some advice suggests using different channel numbers for the router and extender - if using the same channel number, does this create too much data and make the connection worse?
5. If using different channel numbers, will the roaming devices automatically choose the right channel number based on connection strength?
6. While using the program WirelessMon I can see both the router and extender and their respective signal strengths, channel numbers and SSIDs - but there is no way of telling if the repeater is in fact repeating the routers signal - is there any software that will show that?
7. Is there any one trusted source for setting up a wifi repeater?
8. Will my hair grow back?