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Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 18th, 2020, 2:05 pm
by PrincessB
Spotted these today in Aldi
A double plug socket with USB charger (1) and wi-fi extender in a single unit £18.99
https://www.aldi.co.uk/wifi-extending-s ... 6371574800Only two reviews, one says they don't know if it is working, the other says its great.
No need to buy one personally but might be of interest to some on here.
B.
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 19th, 2020, 8:24 am
by mutantpoodle
i'm no expert but I thought these wi-fi extender socket things required a plug at both ends?
how does this boost the signal if its plugged in..in a room with no signal?
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 19th, 2020, 9:03 am
by xeny
mutantpoodle wrote:i'm no expert but I thought these wi-fi extender socket things required a plug at both ends?
how does this boost the signal if its plugged in..in a room with no signal?
There are a lots of different things that get called wifi extenders.
I suspect this is a simple repeater - it takes a wifi signal and rebroadcasts (sort of like an amplifier) it. You put them part way to the area with no signal, so it can "see" the router, and rebroadcast that signal. In turn the area with no signal can see the signal coming from the repeater.
The arrangement you're thinking of transmits the network across the mains wiring - so you need a unit near the router, with typically a wired connection to it.
The remote unit then receives the signal from the wiring and transmits it wirelessly, so you can put it right at the location with no signal.
The two approaches are comparable, and which is a better choice tends to come down to site specific factors such as how thick the walls are and what state the wiring is in. Sometimes either is a great solution, sometimes they're both terrible (thick walls and lousy mains wiring) and at that point you start thinking about running network cables.
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 19th, 2020, 9:28 am
by richfool
xeny wrote:The arrangement you're thinking of transmits the network across the mains wiring - so you need a unit near the router, with typically a wired connection to it.
The remote unit then receives the signal from the wiring and transmits it wirelessly, so you can put it right at the location with no signal.
Plusnet recommended that type of arrangement to me in an extended telephone conversation I had with them a few weeks ago (about my internet speed). He spoke of it using the mains wiring, and told me to plug one unit in at a main's socket next to the router and the other unit at a socket closest to my computer (laptop on a desk). Thus the wifi signal has virtually no distance to travel.
I haven't got round to investigating it yet and wasn't quite sure what to call them if I enquire at the local Currys store.
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 19th, 2020, 9:58 am
by scrumpyjack
richfool wrote:xeny wrote:The arrangement you're thinking of transmits the network across the mains wiring - so you need a unit near the router, with typically a wired connection to it.
The remote unit then receives the signal from the wiring and transmits it wirelessly, so you can put it right at the location with no signal.
Plusnet recommended that type of arrangement to me in an extended telephone conversation I had with them a few weeks ago (about my internet speed). He spoke of it using the mains wiring, and told me to plug one unit in at a main's socket next to the router and the other unit at a socket closest to my computer (laptop on a desk). Thus the wifi signal has virtually no distance to travel.
I haven't got round to investigating it yet and wasn't quite sure what to call them if I enquire at the local Currys store.
Powerline adapter kit
eg
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-PA4010KIT-P ... 147&sr=8-6
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 19th, 2020, 10:30 am
by mc2fool
scrumpyjack wrote:richfool wrote:xeny wrote:The arrangement you're thinking of transmits the network across the mains wiring - so you need a unit near the router, with typically a wired connection to it.
The remote unit then receives the signal from the wiring and transmits it wirelessly, so you can put it right at the location with no signal.
Plusnet recommended that type of arrangement to me in an extended telephone conversation I had with them a few weeks ago (about my internet speed). He spoke of it using the mains wiring, and told me to plug one unit in at a main's socket next to the router and the other unit at a socket closest to my computer (laptop on a desk). Thus the wifi signal has virtually no distance to travel.
I haven't got round to investigating it yet and wasn't quite sure what to call them if I enquire at the local Currys store.
Powerline adapter kit
eg
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-PA4010KIT-P ... 147&sr=8-6
That's for ethernet, doesn't do wifi.
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 19th, 2020, 10:43 am
by scrumpyjack
I used Solwise years ago, worked fine. Then attached BT Mesh wifi to it, also fine.
Ended up scrapping the lot when Sky Q came in and the wifi included with that and its miniboxes managed to cover the whole house so did not need powerline etc.
As mc2fool says , some powerline adaptors include wifi others don't so if you want it get one that includes it, though you can easily add a plug in wifi repeater later. They don't cost much.
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 19th, 2020, 10:53 am
by bungeejumper
ReallyVeryFoolish wrote:Thoroughly recommend Devolo power line adapters. In this field, I would avoid cheap. I have previously used TP Link and another make I forget. The Devolo home plug adapters are head and shoulders above them. Look for multiple packs which can be very reasonable in cost.
What he said.
We couldn't ever get our TP Link homeplugs to work reliably, but our Devolos (including a wifi outlet) have been faultless from day one. Definitely worth the extra.
Another wrinkle that can help is to ensure that your wifi socket is on the same ring main as your router. So our router was on the first floor circuit, and we got the best reception by also placing the wifi plug on the first floor, even though we wanted it to send the signal down to the TV set downstairs. If you mix and match your circuits, you may experience noise on the line. Fridges have a lot to answer for!
BJ
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 19th, 2020, 11:05 am
by richfool
This is interesting. So is it advantageous to use such adaptors/plugs via the electric wiring and then "connect" wirelessly from the socket closest to one's computer by wifi, or to connect from that socket by ethernet cable? Do some products do one (wirelessly) and some the other (ethernet cable), or do they all do both?
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 19th, 2020, 11:26 am
by Infrasonic
These days with Gigabit symmetrical FTTP/H and cable internet becoming available bear in mind that things like powerline are going to get you about a third of their advertised headline bandwidth at best.
In the past not an issue as your ISP would be the bottleneck, but these days look for the latest spec powerline and read the reviews to see if it actually gets anywhere near it in the real world.
https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/c ... rline/viewhttps://www.techradar.com/uk/news/the-b ... e-adaptors
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 19th, 2020, 11:55 am
by ReformedCharacter
bungeejumper wrote: Fridges have a lot to answer for!
BJ
That's certainly true, my son provides remote IT support for various large businesses and was asked to investigate a problem with a monitor randomly turning itself off. After his colleagues failed to diagnose the problem he asked for a photo of the cabling under the desk. Just visible on one side of the image was a fridge and when it was moved to another socket the problem disappeared. I think he was quite pleased to have fixed that one
RC
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 19th, 2020, 12:10 pm
by xeny
richfool wrote:This is interesting. So is it advantageous to use such adaptors/plugs via the electric wiring and then "connect" wirelessly from the socket closest to one's computer by wifi, or to connect from that socket by ethernet cable? Do some products do one (wirelessly) and some the other (ethernet cable), or do they all do both?
Some products are wireless only at the remote end, some wired only, some both. If you've got the choice and it is convenient, I'd always pick wired - it is one less thing that may play up, but of course quite a lot of thin/light laptops don't have wired ethernet ports.
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 19th, 2020, 12:29 pm
by Infrasonic
xeny wrote:richfool wrote:This is interesting. So is it advantageous to use such adaptors/plugs via the electric wiring and then "connect" wirelessly from the socket closest to one's computer by wifi, or to connect from that socket by ethernet cable? Do some products do one (wirelessly) and some the other (ethernet cable), or do they all do both?
Some products are wireless only at the remote end, some wired only, some both. If you've got the choice and it is convenient, I'd always pick wired - it is one less thing that may play up, but of course quite a lot of thin/light laptops don't have wired ethernet ports.
You can get USB to Ethernet adapters.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/usb-ethernet-a ... et+adapter
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 19th, 2020, 4:12 pm
by richfool
Infrasonic wrote:xeny wrote:richfool wrote:This is interesting. So is it advantageous to use such adaptors/plugs via the electric wiring and then "connect" wirelessly from the socket closest to one's computer by wifi, or to connect from that socket by ethernet cable? Do some products do one (wirelessly) and some the other (ethernet cable), or do they all do both?
Some products are wireless only at the remote end, some wired only, some both. If you've got the choice and it is convenient, I'd always pick wired - it is one less thing that may play up, but of course quite a lot of thin/light laptops don't have wired ethernet ports.
You can get USB to Ethernet adapters.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/usb-ethernet-a ... et+adapter
This below appears to cover both options (wi-fi and ethernet cable connections), but doesn't one need two adaptors, - one next to the router and one near the computer? Otherwise, doesn't that one adapter just supplement the existing router?
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing ... 3-pdt.htmlIf so, would this be better?
http://www.broadbandbuyer.com/store/hom ... ine/?t=409
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 19th, 2020, 5:50 pm
by xeny
I'd have thought you'd want two units, one of each.
One with just wired to go at the router end, and one with wifi as well to go at the "far" end.
How fast is the broadband you want to extend? That will govern if the 550 is enough (essentially under 100mbit/sec), or you want to spend the extra on the 1200+
If you've got a home NAS or similar, you probably will want the faster speed regardless.
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 19th, 2020, 8:26 pm
by richfool
xeny wrote:I'd have thought you'd want two units, one of each.
One with just wired to go at the router end, and one with wifi as well to go at the "far" end.
How fast is the broadband you want to extend? That will govern if the 550 is enough (essentially under 100mbit/sec), or you want to spend the extra on the 1200+
If you've got a home NAS or similar, you probably will want the faster speed regardless.
The starter packs include the two units needed.
My broadband isn't that fast, download speed using wi-fi is something like 30Mbs. The Plusnet engineer told me that the wi-fi within the house is the weakest link, so using these adaptors would enable me to use an Ethernet cable to my laptop in the living room and bump up the wireless speeds to the various phones and tablets within the household.
I have turned my attention to this starter kit, (the 9633 comprises the 9292 550 Duo+ and the 9626 dLAN 550):
http://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/ ... volo-9633/
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 20th, 2020, 11:12 am
by didds
richfool wrote:
I haven't got round to investigating it yet and wasn't quite sure what to call them if I enquire at the local Currys store.
amongst other tjhings they get called is "homeplugs".
As mooted this aldi deal is more like a amplifier/relay ... it sits within range of existing wifi and rebroadcasts it "further".
You may also be interested in investigating mesh which is a siilar concept as i understand it to extenders
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 20th, 2020, 12:36 pm
by richfool
didds wrote:richfool wrote:
I haven't got round to investigating it yet and wasn't quite sure what to call them if I enquire at the local Currys store.
amongst other tjhings they get called is "homeplugs".
As mooted this aldi deal is more like a amplifier/relay ... it sits within range of existing wifi and rebroadcasts it "further".
You may also be interested in investigating mesh which is a siilar concept as i understand it to extenders
This is what I've turned my attention to:
Devolo 9633 HomePlug AV2 500
The devolo 9633 dLAN 550 AV 500 WiFi Powerline/HomePlug Starter Kit with range+ Technology provides fast, high-performance Internet connections with significantly longer ranges.
This devolo 9633 dLAN 550 WiFi Powerline/HomePlug Starter Kit uses your household electrical wiring to bring you the Internet to any room. Thanks to the intelligent WiFi Move Technology in the HomePlug, all terminal devices are also automatically connected to the network, giving you top performance WiFi reception for smartphones, tablets etc. in all rooms and on every floor.
Key Features
Kit includes 1 x devolo 9292 550 Duo+ and 1 x devolo 9626 dLAN 550.
dLAN 550 WiFi brings the Internet to any corner of your home over the electrical wiring.
Top performance WiFi reception for smartphones, tablets, etc. at speeds of up to 300 Mbps.
Powerline connection over the electrical wiring at speeds of up to 500 Mbps.
devolo range+ for even greater performance and extended range.
LAN port lets you connect another Internet-compatible device (e.g. game console or smart TV) to the Internet.
Compact design for convenient placement throughout the home, at any power socket.
WiFi Move Technology can automatically connect multiple WiFi adapters to a single WiFi network.
Optimal WiFi reception throughout your home—entirely automated.
devolo app helps you perfectly manage your personal home network to meet all your needs.
http://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/ ... volo-9633/
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 20th, 2020, 1:26 pm
by mc2fool
richfool wrote:My broadband isn't that fast, download speed using wi-fi is something like 30Mbs. The Plusnet engineer told me that the wi-fi within the house is the weakest link, so using these adaptors would enable me to use an Ethernet cable to my laptop in the living room and bump up the wireless speeds to the various phones and tablets within the household.
I have turned my attention to this starter kit, (the 9633 comprises the 9292 550 Duo+ and the 9626 dLAN 550):
http://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/ ... volo-9633/
2.4GHz WiFi 300Mbps, Ethernet 10/100 Mbps. So, is your usage pretty much exclusively out to the wide world, i.e. the internet? Or do you also have some LAN usage, i.e. device-to-device within your home network?
If only out to the internet then the kit you are looking at should be sufficient (assuming it performs reasonably), as your broadband connection will be the limiting factor.
It would also be sufficient if you have within your LAN usage but all of your kit is old-ish tech, 2.4GHz 300Mbps WiFi and just 100Mbps ethernet. However, if you have more modern faster kit and more than just the occasional within your LAN usage then you might consider getting faster adaptors.
Of course, there's also the matter of real world performance. I have no experience with the devolo and folks in this thread have given positive recommendations, so I imagine they're ok. I've got a pair of D-Link ones (given to me for free by my ISP with my YouView box, as my TV is the other side of the room to the router), and on trying them out was disappointed to only get 40-50Mbps through them between two PCs. Wondering if that might be 'cos of the wiring in the house I plugged them both into a four way mains extension lead, side by side, and got the same result. (While that would be enough for the YouView box, in the end I just bought a long ethernet cable...)
Re: Wi-fi extender socket at Aldi
Posted: September 21st, 2020, 8:04 am
by didds
mc2fool wrote:That's for ethernet, doesn't do wifi.
youc an get wifi homeplugs that use the mains power line connection to the router5 then provide wifi from their unit. Properly configured they provide a seamless wifi offering throughout a property on the same SSID and password
Or you can connect a local wifi access point (eg old b/band router suitable configured) to the homeplug for a similar solution.
didds