4G signal boost?

[T6ChrisO]

Hi guys,
Renting a grade II listed cottage and only 5mb broadband was available so went with a 4G router from Vodafone.

It does the job BUT the signal needs to be boosted around the house.

What exactly do I need to buy as im a bit confused looking online.

Thanks all
Chris

 

[Sackmycook]

I've got a couple of these from Argos, TPLink wifi extenders that seem to work well in my stone cottage. I have one in a bedroom/office and have the desktop connected via USB, yellow cable in photo. Throws the WiFi signal to the furthest room very well.
Also got another plugged into the Jackery under a box on my drive to provide WiFi signal to guests in the Shepherds Hut....

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/2801939

 

[roadtripper]

Remember that the basic WiFi extenders will half the WiFi bandwidth - if they only have one radio they have to spend 50% of the time listening and 50% of the time sending - usually the clue is they can only be set to the same channel of the main WiFi router.

Having said that for a long while I used a similar super basic TPLink one to extend my travel router and it worked surprisingly well and was only about £15

The trick is placement - you want it near enough the main WiFi router that it still gets good signal but not so near that the extenders own signal interferes with it.

Some have a received signal indicator but if not place it about half way between the main WiFi router and where signal drops off.

Also when placing it think about the mass of the walls - if there is a lot of wall that can drop your signal but if you can place the extender so the line between it and the main WiFi router and the line between it and your device avoid dense walls this helps "route around" obstacles.

I often found placing in stairwells could really help - get the 4G router up in a window on the upstairs landing for good 4G signal and then plug the extender in in the downstairs hall - that way the lower power WiFi from the travel router has a clear path down the stairs to the extender and the mains powered extender had more range to distribute the WiFi across the downstairs.