Can we boost our WiFi signal to improve internet access for our TV?

[amistillsexy]

We're looking to get our first ever 'proper' TV for Christmas .

Trouble is, our main living room, where we'd like the Grown Up TV, doesn't have good internet reception at all, due to it being on the floor below the kitchen, where the phone point and Wi-Fi Hub is, and the walls and floor between the kitchen and the living room being made of very thick stone.

We're going to have a cable put in from the satellite dish, and taken down to the living room.
We're looking at a TV with built-in FreeSat, so we'll have TV reception (currently using an indoor aerial and getting very poor reception through the Freeview box into our ancient TV), but the TV we're looking at has internet capability, and it would be great if we could get that to work as well.

So, does anyone know if there's a way of boosting the Wi-Fi signal in the living room, or somehow getting internet access through the satellite dish, maybe? Thanks.

Your best bet is to run an Ethernet cable from your router and used a wired internet connection - if you're having cables run into the room anyway it makes sense to do this if you. You can also get gadgets that use your plug sockets to create wired access.

We use a powerline adaptor, ethernet over the mains supply - so like having a cable from the router to the TV but using your house's mains supply.

sorry x-post...

Unfortunately, we can't run a cable due to the stone floors, and the living room isn't directly below the kitchen, so it would have to go through doorways, and downstairs if not through the floor.

The cable from the Satelite dish will come down the wall on the outside, and straight through the external wall (which, due to some quirk of the house, is less thick than the internal walls!).

Tell me more about how the pug socket thing works (I'm hoping it's just a case of plugging a little plug-like device into an existing socket )

I suggest you try a powerline adaptor, something like this:

www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-PA411KIT-AV500-Powerline-Adapter/dp/B0084Y9N3O

They use the house wiring to extend the range of the router. BT fitted one when they set up our line and our Youview box as the router/main phone point are more than 2.5m apart, then we bought another one for DS's room which is miles away from the router.

Sorry, MadeOfStardust, I cross-posted with you.

How does that work, exactly?

Second power line adaptor, that'll do it. We just got a smart tv and it's lush. upgraded from a 1990s Sony Trinitron.

They're pretty easy to set up. You basically just plug it in and press a button to tune it in and that's it.

Here is where we got our info from for ours... can't remember exactly how easy it was to set up, but I did it with no problems....

mains ethernet info

So, do you pug one of those little box things into a socket, with a cable to the Wi-Fi router, and the other box thing into a socket near the TV (or computer), with a cable to the TV?

I'm just going by the photos on that Amazon link, and the little boxes all have cables coming from them.

Is there one that works totally wirelessly?

I used a Devolo power line adapter for my work laptop, as I couldn't use it on our wireless originally.

You basically plug one plug in to a power socket near your router with a cable in to your router. Then put the other plug in to a socket near your tv/computer, with a cable in to the computer. It turns the wiring in your house into a massive extension lead. It works through our extension leads as well, but I suspect not as well.

Cross posted! But yes. Haven't seen any that are wireless, but you never know!

We have a devolo kit for our very old stone built house. We have our router in the study in the newish extension and we could only get 1 tiny bar of wifi occasionally upstairs or in the front sitting room.
We bought the devolo wifi kit and it is so simple. You attach an Ethernet cable from the router to one of the plugs and plug it into a socket. Then plug the other one into a socket where you want the wifi to be. The password will be written on the back of the plug so you might want to write it down. Find the new wifi network and put the password in, ours had to be all in capitals with dashes as it's written.

It's made all the difference but we are about to move the upstairs one from th landing to the spare bedroom so we can run an Ethernet cable to OH's computer that he is getting for Christmas.

We only have a cable from the router to the plug downstairs but it is all hidden behind the desk.
The one upstairs is just plugged into a socket behind the towel hamper.

Thanks, everyone. We're going TV shopping tomorrow .

You can get a wireless booster. It pairs with your router and creates a duplicate, but closer / stronger signal. You search for that when you connect your device and use your routers pass word to connect.

But do your research. We tried this first and it just didn't work. Apparently it helps if it's the same make as your router. Go on amazon and look for wifi booster wireless.

I found combining a TP-Link wireless booster with a Netgear wireless router caused networking problems. You don't want to be streaming TV signals over wireless anyway. Wired connections are much more reliable and predictable. A homeplug solution should do the trick. I have a TP-Link AV200 homeplug setup, which is more than adequate for iplayer type on demand TV.

Our wireless signal works really well for live TV on the laptop in other parts of the house, but I agree, with a cable it would be a stronger connection.

We have a Wi-Fi router from Talk Talk. I wouldn't begin to know what make it is

Given that you want as fast a connection as you can get to stream video, I would go with the Powerline adapters. You will have a power socket for the TV (and other equipment) anyway so the ethernet cable is just one more.

If you wanted to, you could add a WiFi enabled router to the Powerline Adapter, thus giving you WiFi and Ethernet in that room. However it can get costly and it can be a pain to setup.

The Devolo Wireless Starter Kit (link goes to Amazon UK) looks good, as that gives you Ethernet plus a WiFi access point. Looks like it extends the WiFi of your existing network, so can broadcast the same network ID (SID) so that your WiFi devices when moved around the home (like a tablet, laptop or phone) just connect to whichever access point (your WiFi router, or the PowerLine WiFi Adapter) is broadcasting the highest signal strength. Have a read of the reviews on Amazon, seems most people are happy and setup is reasonably easy.

Wow, nannynick, that looks great. Thanks

I have setup a network in a house where they did not want to use PowerLine adapters. In that situation we ended up using a WiFi Extender. We used a Apple AirPort Express as they had an Apple Router (AirPort Extreme) and they like Apple equipment. That was fairly simple to install, though means that the WiFi Extender has to go in an area where it gets a WiFi signal. It then rebroadcasts that signal, so making the signal stronger.

If I were you though, I would keep it as simple as possible and keep as fast a speed as possible by using PowerLine adapters to provide you with an Ethernet connection in the TV room.

For that Devolo kit, if you like to read the manual before considering a purchase, you can read the manual here: See download link on this page of the Devolo UK website.

Manuals always seem to make it look more complex than it is, so be warned.
Have not personally set up Devolo equipment but it looks good and Amazon reviews are generally very positive. Plus MrsPnut mentioned having a kit from Devolo.

I would use a different power line adapter to the one mentioned earlier by MateysMum. This ONE will give you a wired Ethernet connection in your living room and will also give you WIFI. It is more expensive though.