How to extend WiFi for LAN only media players?

[anm]

Hi
I do not have a wifi dongle for my samsung tv. This is in my bedroom while my router is in living room. Taking a cat5/6 cable from one room to another is quite difficult if not impossible.

There may be more people with media players (and other hardware) that has only LAN inputs and require to be placed in a separate room than the room where the wifi router is placed.

So, can I extend my wifi network, and connect to my LAN only hardware in a different room?

 

[santhosh]

Apple Airport Express is just the solution for you. It can do simultaneous dual-band, acts as a wi-fi signal extender. It even has an ethernet port...so you can draw a hard-wired line and maybe feed it to a Gigabit switch so you get more lines in that room if required. To get faster ethernet speeds, pair it with a simultaneous dual band wi-fi router like the Linksys WRT610N and you'll begin to rock. Other features like airtunes etc are a bonus.

PM Ashish Kesarwani/Kapvin for they are the real gurus who have implemented this in their home network. I don't have such a requirement yet, so my knowledge is only theoretical.

 

[anm]

seems like - but not sure if the Ethernet port will work that way. The details online say that this port may be used to connect to modem, or another switch. It should work logically but not sure.
Ashish - can you please confirm?

 

[mgdelhi]

I am also really interested in the solution.

My WiFi router is far from TV/Blu-Ray Player/Media Player. Not possible to buy Sony USB WiFi Antenna for 4k or something. This solution can given internet access to Blu-Ray player and media player.

 

[NetFreak]

There may be more people with media players (and other hardware) that has only LAN inputs and require to be placed in a separate room than the room where the wifi router is placed.

So, can I extend my wifi network, and connect to my LAN only hardware in a different room?

I do that for my setup. Now a days its quite straightforward.

1. Buy any recent WiFi N router
2. Set it up in "Repeater" mode
3. Place is close to TV in second room
4. Connect TV / Media player to LAN port of this router

Will cost you 2 - 5k depending on router.

 

[theironhorse]

get a wireless router for 1.2 k and use it as a wireless repeater and use lan out of it for your media player or home theatre.

 

[mgdelhi]

My main Wifi modem+router (with my desktop computer setup) model TD-W8960N.

I have spare Netgear WiFi Router Model WGR614 v6 which is lying useless. Please explain how can I use it for this purpose (does not matter even if it is 802.11g, to start with).

How can I use this as repeater? Never done this before.

Thanks.

 

[Kittu]

I do that for my setup. Now a days its quite straightforward.

1. Buy any recent WiFi N router
2. Set it up in "Repeater" mode
3. Place is close to TV in second room
4. Connect TV / Media player to LAN port of this router

Will cost you 2 - 5k depending on router.

Can you please list out some models and prices if you know ?

TIA,
Kittu

 

[theironhorse]

get a netgear.. wgr series wifi n router for 1200-1250..

 

[theironhorse]

u will also get a 1 m LAN cable along with it.. that you can use with the media player.

 

[ashishkesarwani]

seems like - but not sure if the Ethernet port will work that way. The details online say that this port may be used to connect to modem, or another switch. It should work logically but not sure.
Ashish - can you please confirm?

Yup Santosh is right that you need either Apple Airport Express to fulfill your requirement or you need a N Band Wireless Bridge to connect to the ethernet port of your TV. But wired setup is the best solution if you plan to stream contents to your television. I have had success with Apple airport express when I have used its 5 Ghz band to wirelessly stream full HD contents to my Xtreamer Media player kept at a distance of 20 meters from my Linksys WRT610N Router. But this also fails when I try to stream Full BD Rips with HD Audio so I have finally ended up with a wired CAT 6 setup now which is fool proof.

 

[theironhorse]

well wireless N router at 300 will be able to give bandwidth 35MBPS thats a good speed for 1080p movie of 15GB size.. however remember wireless is unidirectional and audio might go out of syncs.. but thats not everytime..

wifi n + lan will solve your problem..

 

[anm]

thanks a lot guys. I was at nehru place a few days back and on impulse I purchased asus N10 router.
I mis-read some other feature as WDS and purchased it. Now not sure if this can serve the purpose. I have not opened the seal pack as yet, so maybe I can return.
How to ensure this will work as a repeater?
Or if not as a repeater, I can use this as my main router, as the one provided by airtel is b/g only, and not N.
So if I use this as my main router, what exact model should I buy as an extender/ repeater? I have read that repeater mode usually works between same company routers reliably.

 

[NetFreak]

Can you please list out some models and prices if you know ?

TIA,
Kittu

Netgear wgr 614 v9 : MRP 2500, Street price around 1600.

 

[NetFreak]

thanks a lot guys. I was at nehru place a few days back and on impulse I purchased asus N10 router.

This router supports repeater mode.

 

[anm]

Hi Netfreak, thanks. Can you point me to any source to confirm?

Pls see the dummy asus n10 ui here. ASUS Wireless Router RT-N10 - Operation Mode

When I try to select repeater mode, I get a prompt "Router only".
I tried all this before asking on the forum. Maybe I can open and check, but then I would have the option to return.

 

[anm]

they have strange fw version numbers. Some start from 1, some from 7 and some from 9. And they are all interleaved in terms of release date. Version 1.0.1.5 says "added repeater mode".
What the heck - I am gonna tear it open and try it out.

 

[anm]

ok - the packet is opened. With default fw, it says only router and access point modes. I need to upgrade the fw.

 

[anm]

hmm - when I try with the downloaded zip file it gives an error, when I try with .trx file, it doesn't do anything!
I am trying 1.0.2.1 directly from current 1.0.0.8
Do I need to upgrade each one, one by one?

 

[anm]

not able to understand how to upgrade. I open the 192.168.1.1 and go to admin, and select fw upgrade. I select the file on my comp and press upload. Nothing happens!