Please help - I don't even know what I need to buy!

[SundaeGirl]

We're with BT for our broadband - which is sporadic and frustrating, we're in a rural area - but our farmhouse has thick walls and I think that's not helping with Wifi.

There are two other phone points in the house. Is there anything I can get to 'boost' the wifi around the place? It would be lovely to surf from bed/in the kitchen but we're quite restricted atm.

Thanks in advance

You could either use a wireless range extender like this which basically boosts the wireless signal and will extend the range into previously weak/poor zones.

Or you could use something like this which uses your power lines to send the Internet around your house. This would definitely work but you would need to attach devices to the plug bits using Ethernet cables so it wouldn't be wireless.

The first one looks like it might be the right thing, thanks. It doesn't say whether it needs to be plugged into the phone points?

No, the box basically "bounces" the signal out to your wireless devices as it acts as a signal repeater.

Aha. Wouldn't putting something in the sockets be better? [clueless emoticon] I only ask because we're talking 18th century thick stone walls on three higledy floors and the sockets are already in...

You can get a homeplug/wireless combo, which could be ideal. Use the existing wifi where it works and put the extender where you want to have better wifi.

Depends what you're trying to do. If you've got one specific spot that wireless won't reach, a repeater could be useful for filling the dead spot (I used one to fill a deadspot behind a chunky chimney breast which also happened to be an ideal alcove to put a computer desk).

On the other hand, if the signal is barely getting out the room with the router in, then short of having a repeater in every room, power-line ethernet is probably your best option - and some systems (like the one linked) includes a wireless access point in the receiver plug to give you wired and wireless access at the remote end, so you can stick one in the kitchen, one in the bedroom, etc.

Thanks everyone for your advice. I'm ordering the Devolo. I'll post when I get it set up!