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mcrmg

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Multiple routers

Hi,

I have not gone to my boss's house yet.  But according to him, his wifi is on and off. I know it could be many reasons.  He has triple play from Time Warner, it is an all in one type of box, it has modem, router, wifi in one box.  My question:

1. Can he use his own wireless router in this type of all in one box?  

2. He said he wants to get ADT this summer, and he wants to set up another router just for that, does it make sense?

3. His router is located on first fllor, with extender, the signal is still poor on the third floor (his house is not a big house, a regular NY style single family house, wood construction).  What could be the possible cause?
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arnold
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A mesh for the stuck on like walls versus sheet rock.flooring .....
Does he have similar issues with wireless phone.2.4 and/or 5 GHz location of the base and ......

Depending whether a wired network wire from the first floor can be had on the upper floors, an extender or an ap/router configured as an ap on the upper levels.
It would rather be an inefficient to have another wireless router though newer near the existing one.
The type of wifi is also a consideration 802.11 b, g n, ac, etc. and what the wifi available on the systems I. Use.
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profgeek has listed a good set of recommendations.

If I may, while I understand the possible desirability of switching the modem into bridge mode, I don't see anything here that seems to demand it.  Maybe the ADT addition would.  Unless you need a VPN with special requirements or other particular port forwarding issues, it shouldn't be necessary.  Life may be simpler for now to forego this and accept double NAT.  (i.e. the modem provides a private subnet on its LAN side (NAT) and your router provides a private subnet on its LAN side (NAT again).

When doing this, I agree with profgeek that having your own router is a good idea in the long run.  In addition to having complete control of it, this is important because the ISP modem may fail or be changed out or the ISP may change.  Whatever the cause you don't want to have to reconfigure your network devices.  One of the problems is using a "familiar" private subnet such as 192.168.1.0 or 192.168.0.1.  You don't want to have double NAT AND the same subnet for both the ISP device and your LAN subnet.
So, what I recommend is that you select an "unfamiliar" subnet like 192.168.101.0 or 192.168.99.0 for your LAN.
Then, if the modem changes and no matter if your router gets a public or a private address, there won't be a conflict (well, the probability will be very low instead of rather high).
(The conflict being that the routing in your router could be pretty confused if the subnets on the WAN side and the LAN side are the same).

Power line extenders come in pairs only as nearly as I've been able to find.  
- Some pairs go from Ethernet at the router source end to Ethernet at the remote end.  
- Other pairs go from Ethernet at the router source end to WiFi (plus Ethernet) at the remote end.  
So, if you need WiFi at the remote end, you may buy a pair with WiFi built in.  

If you need more than 2, then you will buy another suitable pair and use 1 or 2 of these in selected locations.
They work together if you add units and not just as pairs.
Profgeek has copied the same recommendation about bypassing the ISP router as I posted earlier. That is the first step to do. I also suggested adding a second router earlier.
John Hurst:  Sorry I started reading at the bottom when I revisited....
Just to add to Fred's comment about the powerline adapters, most come in a pair, but additional single units are available.  Be careful adding more than 3, however, as the configuration can get problematic.

There are three additional problems with using the ISP-supplied combo unit as a combo unit:

1.  You may not have access to administrator settings in the unit (depending upon the ISP)
2.  The wireless aspect is generally less than stellar performance and range (note:  I was told this by a tech with the local phone company who was installing DSL for a client of mine.  He didn't recommend using it that way if the client had his own router available).  But still, it may work for you.  You'd just need to test it.
3.  They often only have two available LAN ports (depending upon the model) instead of the four you get in a consumer router.
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mcrmg

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wow...you guys put up some good suggestions.  I think this is what I would suggest him to do:

1. see if ISP allows him to put it in bridge mode so he can get a new router
2. get a few power line extenders

basically it, right?

also, what is the reason to put another ap router?
5.  Get an inexpensive router, put it into WAP mode, and connect it to the second powerline adapter.


thanks
Your first two selections are in line with what we suggested.

I would get a decent (not cheapest) Wi-Fi router for upstairs.

Plug a LAN port of the Wi-Fi into the powerline adapter (Ethernet).
Give it a static IP on the main network
Turn DHCP OFF on the Wi-Fi router.

Now it is part of the network.
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I see, the powerline adapter upstairs is still "wired", he needs another wireless router ap to make the wifi for upstairs? correct?  thanks
Yes. Power line adapters are Ethernet and so you do need the upstairs Wi-Fi.
I would be inclined to get a good Wi-Fi router and use Ethernet power line adapters. That way you have flexible management over the Wi-Fi and likely will have a better product in the end,
I must say that I've never installed a wired/wireless (also wired) pair.  Just thought about it and have some on hand.
Are their WiFi capabilities unlike other wireless access points?
No, most are configured as simple wireless access points.  You can configure channels etc on them.