Wifi/Switch Question?

RAZO · Nov 13, 2016

Ok guys, I need your help. My parents just bought a 4k tv that has Chromecast to replace the old 720p Samsung lcd. The TV happens to be in a spot in the living room that can't get wifi, 0 freakin bars.

Me and my pops ran a cat5 ethernet cable years ago from the basement were the main router is located to the main floor which is connected to the Imac in the Den. The TV is probably 8 ft away from the Imac. I need a device that acts as a switch and wifi router. I want to plug that Ethernet cable into the device than piggy back from the device to the Imac since I want the Imac hard wired and get my wifi to the tv from that device. I want to do this without bridging. I just want that device to act as a switch and provide me with a extra wifi signal to the New Tv.

I'm confused with all the devices on Amazon. I want something that does a good job and is cheap. Don't know if I should just buy a standard wireless router, extender, or repeater?

Westcb · Nov 13, 2016

I would get a switch, plug that into your existing cat cable, then plug your TV and IMac into that, donezo and will cost you about 20 bucks total. I'm assuming your TV has a Ethernet port, if not then you will have to see about a USB to Ethernet port adapter assuming your TV supports that.

RAZO · Nov 13, 2016

Westcb said:
I would get a switch, plug that into your existing cat cable, then plug your TV and IMac into that, donezo and will cost you about 20 bucks total. I'm assuming your TV has a Ethernet port, if not then you will have to see about a USB to Ethernet port adapter assuming your TV supports that.

West, I thought about that but I don't want any ugly cables running along the baseboards. We fished the ethernet cable behind the walls and installed a ethernet jack behind the couch near the desk were the Imac is so the wire could not be seen. I just want a device that will act like a switch and provide me with wifi to that main floor. If it was up to me I would install ethernet jacks all over the house and hard wire everything but my parents don't really need that. To be honest they don't really give a shit but I do. Now that they have a smart TV, I want ditch that unnecessary Roku device that they have near the TV and just use the TV to stream movies. The Less shit, the better.

GohanX · Nov 13, 2016

The simplest solution would be to get a second router. It won't actually be routing, but it's got your Wi-Fi and extra Ethernet jacks. You can set the two routers up to use the same ssid so a wireless device would connect to whichever router is strongest. I just did this at my house so I can help you with setup.

Alternatively, wired switch, wireless access point. It would probably be easier to set up. It may be cheaper too, I dunno what current pricing on this stuff is.

wyndcrosser · Nov 13, 2016

What Gohan x said, dd-wrt is a firmware that turns old linksys wrt wireless routers into extenders basically, or push a second ssid. Plus you'll get your additional LAN ports for your iMac. I used it before i connected two Cisco APs up with a POE switch.

RAZO · Nov 13, 2016

GohanX said:
The simplest solution would be to get a second router. It won't actually be routing, but it's got your Wi-Fi and extra Ethernet jacks. You can set the two routers up to use the same ssid so a wireless device would connect to whichever router is strongest. I just did this at my house so I can help you with setup.

Alternatively, wired switch, wireless access point. It would probably be easier to set up. It may be cheaper too, I dunno what current pricing on this stuff is.

Ok, that's what I'm talking about. So I'm going piggy back another wireless router off the ethernet and use it as a switch. I will put the Router on the desk, hard wire the Imac and set the SSID to the same as the router in the basement. Going to purchase a wireless router.

RAZO · Nov 13, 2016

So I purchased this Cheap One from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FWYGJS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've been using a cheap TP-Link switch for a years without any issues so I'm hoping this router should do the trick.

GohanX · Nov 13, 2016

Now, I'm no IT expert, so if someone more knowledgeable has any recommendations please step in. But here's how I have mine set up:

Go to your main router, go under DHCP. It should list a range of IP addresses that it can assign. Your router will be 192.168.1.1 or something like that, and the default IP range will be 192.168.1.2 to whatever. Change the range to end in .3, as you are going to assign the new router to the second number (192.168.1.2 in my example.) You'll also want to set the wireless channel. It's probably set to auto, change it to either a low or high number, it doesn't really matter. You want your new router to be on the opposite end so they do not interfere. With the settings saved, turn off the router for now.

On the new router, connect the ethernet port to the router. Use one of the LAN ports, not the WAN port, as we do not want the new router to actually do any routing, we want the original to handle that. Connect the computer or any other ethernet stuff you want to this router. Go into the settings and change the IP address to 192.168.1.2 or whatever you designated. Turn DHCP off. Set your SSID and security to be the same as your existing router. Finally, set the channel to be something on the other end of the spectrum from the first router. Save the settings, reboot the router and turn on the first router. Test it out, it should be working now.

RAZO · Nov 13, 2016

GohanX said:
Now, I'm no IT expert, so if someone more knowledgeable has any recommendations please step in. But here's how I have mine set up:

Go to your main router, go under DHCP. It should list a range of IP addresses that it can assign. Your router will be 192.168.1.1 or something like that, and the default IP range will be 192.168.1.2 to whatever. Change the range to end in .3, as you are going to assign the new router to the second number (192.168.1.2 in my example.) You'll also want to set the wireless channel. It's probably set to auto, change it to either a low or high number, it doesn't really matter. You want your new router to be on the opposite end so they do not interfere. With the settings saved, turn off the router for now.

On the new router, connect the ethernet port to the router. Use one of the LAN ports, not the WAN port, as we do not want the new router to actually do any routing, we want the original to handle that. Connect the computer or any other ethernet stuff you want to this router. Go into the settings and change the IP address to 192.168.1.2 or whatever you designated. Turn DHCP off. Set your SSID and security to be the same as your existing router. Finally, set the channel to be something on the other end of the spectrum from the first router. Save the settings, reboot the router and turn on the first router. Test it out, it should be working now.

Do I need to change the wireless settings? Can I have two different wireless ssid's and just connect to the one that is closer?

GohanX · Nov 13, 2016

You can change SSIDs if you want. The only thing is that if you have a laptop the two routers will show up as different networks so you'd have to manually choose which one you want. If they share SSID's then they'll automatically connect to the strongest signal. If the TV is the only thing you're going to use on wireless it's not going to matter. You do need to assign the static IP to the new router and change the wireless channels. If both routers are on the same or similar channel they will interfere with each other.

RAZO · Nov 13, 2016

GohanX said:
You can change SSIDs if you want. The only thing is that if you have a laptop the two routers will show up as different networks so you'd have to manually choose which one you want. If they share SSID's then they'll automatically connect to the strongest signal. If the TV is the only thing you're going to use on wireless it's not going to matter. You do need to assign the static IP to the new router and change the wireless channels. If both routers are on the same or similar channel they will interfere with each other.

I got it, thanks bro. I'll let you know how it go's. Having a another wifi setup on the main floor might come in handy since the signal strength is only like 3 bars in the kitchen and you get like 1 bar on the 2nd floor.

GohanX · Nov 13, 2016

Yeah, my living room had deadspots and connectivity issues, so when awbacon put up a cheap router I jumped on it and did what I listed above. It works pretty well, except that the two routers are connected via a power line adapter so the connectivity is rock solid, but limited to about 15 mbps. Yours should be faster since you are running direct ethernet.

RAZO · Nov 13, 2016

GohanX said:
Yeah, my living room had deadspots and connectivity issues, so when awbacon put up a cheap router I jumped on it and did what I listed above. It works pretty well, except that the two routers are connected via a power line adapter so the connectivity is rock solid, but limited to about 15 mbps. Yours should be faster since you are running direct ethernet.

Yea, my parents living room has the same dead spots. It's funny how the roku right next to the tv get's 1-2 bars but the tv gets nothing. Sometimes my pops is watching his western flicks on amazon IV and gets the buffering every 5 minutes, shit's unacceptable especially when they are paying for 75mb service.

Mikekim · Nov 16, 2016

RAZO said:
Ok guys, I need your help. My parents just bought a 4k tv that has Chromecast to replace the old 720p Samsung lcd. The TV happens to be in a spot in the living room that can't get wifi, 0 freakin bars.

Me and my pops ran a cat5 ethernet cable years ago from the basement were the main router is located to the main floor which is connected to the Imac in the Den. The TV is probably 8 ft away from the Imac. I need a device that acts as a switch and wifi router. I want to plug that Ethernet cable into the device than piggy back from the device to the Imac since I want the Imac hard wired and get my wifi to the tv from that device. I want to do this without bridging. I just want that device to act as a switch and provide me with a extra wifi signal to the New Tv.

I'm confused with all the devices on Amazon. I want something that does a good job and is cheap. Don't know if I should just buy a standard wireless router, extender, or repeater?

just buy a standard wireless access point that has a built in 4 port switch. (i use a draytek ap800 at home which does the job)
plug the cable from the basement into this switch
plug your imac into this switch as well
tv can then connect to the wireless ap

or just buy some devolo powerlines.
plug the main unit in downstairs and connect to you router.
plug in a wifi module into one of the plug sockets near your tv.

RAZO · Nov 16, 2016

Thanks guys. Yea, I eneded up buying a cheap router from amazon and just followed Gohan's steps and everything is working fine.

Wifi/Switch Question?

RAZO

Mayor of Southtown

Westcb

Give an Azn, A Break Here!,

RAZO

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GohanX

Horrible Goose

wyndcrosser

Baseball Star Hitter

RAZO

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RAZO

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GohanX

Horrible Goose

RAZO

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GohanX

Horrible Goose

RAZO

Mayor of Southtown

GohanX

Horrible Goose

RAZO

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Mikekim

n00b

RAZO

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