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I’ve moved my living room around and as a consequence my Android box (which is my main source of TV) is now about 3-4 metres further away from the router. This has had a dramatic effect on its WiFi signal. The box has gone from picking up over 20mbps to less than 1, meaning it’s virtually useless. Sometimes it’s not even picking up the WiFi at all.

 

How much improvement am I likely to see from an Ethernet cable? I’ve never used one before. I’m not liking the idea because the router’s near the front door and I’d have to get a 15m cable and nail it around door frames, feed it underneath the carpet where the living room door is and nail it right around the room on the skirting boards.

 

My laptop is on my computer desk, maybe 1.5 metres from the TV/Android box. The laptop is still picking up over 20mbps through WiFi. Is there an easy way for me to piggyback on the laptop’s WiFi and feed it through to the Android box?

 

Help me out here. I’m thick as fuck when it comes to this shit.

 

My fucking phone keeps dropping in and out of the WiFi as well and I can’t figure out what the problem is there. Everyone else’s devices in the house are fine but the only two I use are driving me up the wall.

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A cable would solve the problem immediately. But yeah the placement of the cable is usually a problem.

 

Have you tried fucking about with the antennas of the router, or can you move it about a little? Sometimes the recieving devices are just placed in bad spot within the normal range of the router.

 

You could always get one of these of course:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NIUHAG6/ref=sxnav_sxwds-bovbp-p_lm_l_1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_p=8614011558589636176&pd_rd_wg=ROlwr&pf_rd_r=24AB924AD0TV3YTPBBVS&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-nav&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B00NIUHAG6&pd_rd_w=k2eaH&pf_rd_i=wifi+extender&pd_rd_r=35db0ad1-a2a6-4270-8451-62b7c8493f75&ie=UTF8&qid=1532518860&sr=1

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A cable would solve the problem immediately. But yeah the placement of the cable is usually a problem.

 

Have you tried fucking about with the antennas of the router, or can you move it about a little? Sometimes the recieving devices are just placed in bad spot within the normal range of the router.

 

You could always get one of these of course:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NIUHAG6/ref=sxnav_sxwds-bovbp-p_lm_l_1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_p=8614011558589636176&pd_rd_wg=ROlwr&pf_rd_r=24AB924AD0TV3YTPBBVS&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-nav&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B00NIUHAG6&pd_rd_w=k2eaH&pf_rd_i=wifi+extender&pd_rd_r=35db0ad1-a2a6-4270-8451-62b7c8493f75&ie=UTF8&qid=1532518860&sr=1

Where would I plug that in, mate? Next to the router, next to the TV, or somewhere in between?

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If you want to use it for streaming you should probably not take the lite use one, probably moderate use. Also keep in mind that these things set up their own wifi network with login, which becomes important when you move around the house with your phone etc. They will try to switch between the networks, depending on their strenghts.

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Ideally as far away from the router as possible, but where it does still pick up the routers signal. We have the router on the upper floor in our house and one of those little boxes covers pretty much the entire ground floor.

Cheers. That’s definitely an option then. Google brought up similar things but the sites I went on were recommending ones that were £80-£90. I’m not willing to spend that much.

 

Have you got any idea about connecting my laptop to the android box and feeding WiFi to it that way? If that was possible it’d be the easiest outcome for me because any wires would be hidden by the other furniture along that wall.

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Cheers. That’s definitely an option then. Google brought up similar things but the sites I went on were recommending ones that were £80-£90. I’m not willing to spend that much.

 

Have you got any idea about connecting my laptop to the android box and feeding WiFi to it that way? If that was possible it’d be the easiest outcome for me because any wires would be hidden by the other furniture along that wall.

 

The price would depend on what quality you want to stream in. I'm really not an expert but I reckon if you are going for 4K you'd need something pricey. HD should work with moderate, our extender was about 30 quid. Also depends on the quality/age of the router of course.

 

No idea about the other thing. Look up something like "use lappy as gateway" maybe. I find everything to do with networks utterly frustrating tbh. I have moved quite a lot in the past and there always seems to be trouble. Personally I would always prefer a cable -if in any way possible - even if that means getting out the drill.

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I’ve moved the router slightly. Turned it so it’s facing a different way and popped it onto a really small table. It’s upped the download speed on the box to between 6 and 10mbps, depending on which speed test site I use. That seems enough to run my IPTV for now until I pick up one of those extenders.

 

I’m away on holiday in three weeks so I don’t really want to be spending any money that I don’t have to.

 

Cheers for the advice. Much appreciated.

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Ethernet cables cost fuck all and give you a much better solution.

 

Measure the distance needed. Plenty of solutions to attach cables along your skirting boards, keeping them need, tidy and out of the way.

 

Even the FireTV box in my my main bedroom is hard wired. Cable runs through the far end of my front room, via the 2nd bedroom and into my bedroom, drilled of cause through 2 walls.

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My bird’s dad brought me home an industrial strength, 15m Ethernet cable from his work. Hooked it up to the box and it’s pushed the speed up to above 40mbps.

 

I can’t be fucked with any drilling though (I’d have to get permission from the landlady too) and it’s gonna be loads of aggro feeding it under my carpet to get around the issue of it having to come through the living room door.

 

So I’ll settle for the 6-10mbps it’s picking up since I moved the router but at least I know if it does get jittery when there’s a match or some boxing on, I’ve got the long Ethernet cable here in the cupboard to quickly plug in and solve the problem.

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  • 2 weeks later...

6-10 Mbps is more than your streams will give you so you should be good to go.

It’s fine for streaming TV shows/movies but live IPTV needs a bit more or it can get jumpy and start freezing, especially at peak times. If that happens while I’m trying to watch the football it’ll stress me out no end.

 

My bird’s dad suggested getting a long telephone cable and moving the router to where the TV is instead, which is a much simpler solution and made me wonder why I hadn’t thought of it myself. Like I said, I am properly thick when it comes to this stuff. Running a really thin wire around instead of a thicker ethernet cable is no problem but I’ll still buy a shorter ethernet lead anyway because having the box hardwired in has improved its performance massively.

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It’s fine for streaming TV shows/movies but live IPTV needs a bit more or it can get jumpy and start freezing, especially at peak times.

Peak times of what, football or household viewing?

 

If several share the same bandwidth you obviously need to take that into consideration.

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I've got a really long 'flat' ethernet cable. Fits great under the carpet.

Yeah, DIY such as taking my carpet up would have me even further out of my comfort zone. Tacking a phone line around the skirting boards is just about my level.

 

Peak times of what, football or household viewing?

 

If several share the same bandwidth you obviously need to take that into consideration.

Bit of both, mate. Since it’s been 6-10mbps it’s started getting a bit jittery in the evenings. There’s also Firesticks in all the bedrooms and the boy is often online on his PlayStation upstairs.

 

It’s only the box having trouble picking up the WiFi. It’s fine as soon as I plug in the ethernet.

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If you move the router and use a long telephone wire then you will most likely get signal degradation and noise on the line. Not saying it isn't worth a go for a few quid, but the telephone cables degrade the signal while ethernet cables do not.

 

Home plugs mate. I use them for IPTV and they're great. No need to lift the carpet or run a wire round the house.

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If you move the router and use a long telephone wire then you will most likely get signal degradation and noise on the line. Not saying it isn't worth a go for a few quid, but the telephone cables degrade the signal while ethernet cables do not.

 

Home plugs mate. I use them for IPTV and they're great. No need to lift the carpet or run a wire round the house.

OK mate, I’m sold. I had a litttle win on the footy at the weekend so I’m gonna go ahead and order some today.

 

I’ve just had a look at the link you posted on the last page. I take it I’ll need two short Ethernet cables as well? One to connect the first plug to the router and another to connect to my box from where the second one is plugged in. Is that right?

 

Also, they are dirt cheap. Would you recommend paying a bit more and going for a newer model?

 

Cheers.

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Get some homeplugs. Cheap and brilliant.

 

TP-Link TL-PA4010KIT Nano Powerline Adapter Starter Kit, No Configuration Required, UK Plug https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01BECPIMC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_jAnwBbGTK9Z8Q

Ended up just picking these cheap ones up anyway. They get better reviews than the newer model and I see that they come with the ethernets included. Hopefully they do the job.

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