# WiFi Extender



## schreibdave (Jun 12, 2016)

I have a router from my cable company (technicolor TC8717T) in one corner of my house. We just bought our first smart tv and of course it is on the other side of the house. We are struggling to get a wifi signal at the tv so both samsung (tv people) and Time Warner (cable people) recommend a wifi extender of some sort.

Once upon a time I purchased a $25 Coredy wifi extender to improve the signal in the basement and I was not impressed.

Doing research today I see that there are extenders that run over the electrical wiring in the house. I would like to give one or two of these a try.

My questions:

1. presumably the sending unit can be plugged into one circuit and and the receiving unit can be plugged into a different circuit?

2. will one of these produce a strong enough signal to work well streaming netflix on the smart tv?

3. I have read that you need to set up security (a password?) at the receiving unit in order to prevent the whole neighborhood from being on your network. Any experience with this?

4. My plan would be to put one receiver near my tv and another in the basement where my kids hangout. Any concern with that?

5. Any recommendation on what brand/model will work well?

Thanks


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## Ghostmaker (Mar 2, 2013)

I used this much less hassle. Your TV will need an Ethernet adapter.


https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/everything-you-need-to-know-about-powerline-networking/


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## CaptTom (Dec 31, 2017)

Or just run an Ethernet cable. Better throughput and you don't compete with other WiFi devices for bandwidth.


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

Who is you ISP?

If it is Xfinity, I would dump the cable company router and replace it with your own. 

Xfinity router/modems that customers are leasing monthly double as public accessible wifi hot-spots.

Purchase your own cable modem and wireless router and then install a wifi extender. It is advisable that the router and extender be of the same manufacturer.

Using the WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) function on the router and extender, security will automatically be setup on the extender.


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## TinyFargo (Jul 19, 2018)

If you can get a hard line Ethernet close but just not all the way to your TV, you might also consider a WiFi mesh network with a hardwired back plane.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

> 3. I have read that you need to set up security (a password?) at the receiving unit in order to prevent the whole neighborhood from being on your network. Any experience with this?


The router already has a default login. That is a user name & password. It also has a default wifi password. Obviously, you didn't change either one of them or even use them. You have to give the TV the password. You probably don't need an extender. Login to the web interface of the router from one of your computers. Take it from there.


http://setuprouter.com/router/technicolor/tc8717t/login.htm


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## schreibdave (Jun 12, 2016)

Thanks for all the responses. 

Ghostmaker - a wifi extender that uses the electrical wiring is exactly what I am proposing. Are both your sender and your receiver unit on the same circuit or on different circuits? The support material and Q and A that I have read seem to be written by people who dont know what a "circuit" is.

CaptTom - running an ethernet cable is not impossible but would be a major PITA. My basement is finished with no access to the ceiling. One story home so i could go up into the attic and back down but the effected walls walls are insulated and I would rather not disturb that, the attic has blown in insulation covering the trusses so moving around is hard, the TV is above the fireplace so I would need to avoid the hot parts, etc.

Drachenfire - my internet is provided by Time Warner Cable (Now Spectrum I think). I have wondered whether replacing their modem/router with my own would make sense.

TinyFargo - What's a "WiFi mesh network with a hardwired back plane?"

Guap0 - I do indeed have a username and PW for my router. The problem with the smart tv is that it sometimes finds my wifi network and sometimes it doesnt. Sometimes it finds my neighbor's and sometimes it doesnt. When it finds mine, it doesnt accept my username and PW as being authentic. The cable company help line says that may be because it cant hold the wifi signal long enough to process the username and PW. FWIW I did confirm that I am using the correct username and PW.

I think my plan continues to be to try one of those extenders that run through the electrical wiring. Can anyone confirm that having the sender and receiver on different circuits is ok? I would think so because all the hot wires go to the same place in the panel, same with the neutral and ground. Thanks again


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## djlandkpl (Jan 29, 2013)

schreibdave said:


> Can anyone confirm that having the sender and receiver on different circuits is ok? I would think so because all the hot wires go to the same place in the panel, same with the neutral and ground. Thanks again


They will work on different circuits.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

> When it finds mine, it doesnt accept my username and PW as being authentic.


That's because you are using the wrong password. The wifi password is not the same as the web interface password. The wifi password should be written on the side of the router. If it isn't login it to the web interface & look at the wireless settings.


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## schreibdave (Jun 12, 2016)

Guap0_ said:


> That's because you are using the wrong password. The wifi password is not the same as the web interface password. The wifi password should be written on the side of the router. If it isn't login it to the web interface & look at the wireless settings.


Unfortunately what you are describing is over my head. However when I set the TV up on Dec 26(?) it showed me a list of available networks. I chose mine (info removed). I then entered my PW - [info removed]. It worked for about a week - I have the amazon prime movie receipts for the movies we watched.

To my knowledge, nothing changed. However it started sometimes finding my wifi and sometimes not. Same with my neighbors. When it finds mine and I enter the PW it says "failed." I called the cable company and confirmed that my PW is correct.

Cable company says that tv is too far from router. I called Samsung (TV) and they said the same thing. Maybe what I will do is cob together 50 ft of cable and move the router to where the tv is. If it still cant pick up the signal, I will know that there's something more than a problem with the signal.


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## Porsche986S (Dec 10, 2017)

I just went through this a few months ago with my detached 2 car man cave that I built . I had every detail worked out EXCEPT I forgot about internet/wifi to the garage :sad: So I started researching the alternatives and my head exploded as I am not a computer geek :biggrin2: . I ended up going to the local Best Buy and found someone that REALLY new what he was doing . He said to purchase a Netgear Powerline Wifi unit part # PLW1000 . He asked me one specific question is the garage on the same circuit as the house ? I stated yes the garage is fed electric power via the home circuit breaker box .

Now my man cave is about 80 ' from the house and where I have my computer and flat screen TV is at the back of the garage so aprox. 100 ' away ! The Netgear like most units has two pieces , one piece plugs into an outlet that has to be close to the router/modem . A line goes from the unit to the modem . The receiver plugs into an outlet in the garage and it becomes an extension of the homes wifi router . I had it up and running in 5 minutes . And my man cave has metal siding and a metal roof but this setup works perfect . I can stream TV to watch sports and be on my laptop computer at the same time with no issues . My cellphone is with Google FI so it looks for a wifi signal first then LTE if no wifi is available , the phone works just fine in the garage . I'm sure there are other brands out there but this one has been working for me since September with zero issues .


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## Johnnyb69 (Dec 14, 2018)

I had the same problem and bought an ASUS Whole Home Dual-Band AiMesh Router (AC1900) for Mesh Wifi System (Up to 1900 Mbps). I had cable and was provided with their cable modem/WiFi router so I had the cable company turnoff the WiFi on their box because it was causing me problems.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

> Unfortunately what you are describing is over my head. However when I set the TV up on Dec 26(?) it showed me a list of available networks. I chose mine (it's name is my last name). I then entered my PW - which is a combo of my children's names. It worked for about a week


I know that it's over your head but try to follow me. I'll make it simple. It's basic networking. There should be a label on the router. On that label you should see the router password & the wifi password. They are not the same. Look at it & tell me what you see. 


The TV needs an IP address. The router has 253 of them. If the TV gives the router the password, the router will give the TV one of the IP addresses & everyone will live happily ever after.


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## adamz (May 13, 2018)

http://www.homeplug.org/explore-homeplug/faq-consumers/

The above will answer many questions including that it can handle Netflix and work on different circuits. The parameter to determine if Netflix should work is called "bandwidth," the higher the better. Also, there is something about Security in the list of FAQ.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

Adamz, it's nice that you suggested MAC filtering to secure his wifi but please note that even he can't connect wirelessly & he owns the network.


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## adamz (May 13, 2018)

I removed the MAC address filtering suggestion because it might not apply to a wired network. The electrical wiring network option (aka the homeplug option) will use the wired port on the router.



Thanks.


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## schreibdave (Jun 12, 2016)

Guap0_ said:


> I know that it's over your head but try to follow me. I'll make it simple. It's basic networking. There should be a label on the router. On that label you should see the router password & the wifi password. They are not the same. Look at it & tell me what you see.
> 
> 
> The TV needs an IP address. The router has 253 of them. If the TV gives the router the password, the router will give the TV one of the IP addresses & everyone will live happily ever after.


Attached are pictures of my router. Thanks for being willing to work through this with me.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

Bingo! It's right there. The wireless password it XXXXXXXX. That's the password that the TV needs to get an IP address from the router. Don't forget that passwords are case sensitive. The letters have to be entered as UPPER CASE. Make sure that I read it right. I used reading glasses.


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## schreibdave (Jun 12, 2016)

Guap0_ said:


> Bingo! It's right there. The wireless password it [removed]. That's the password that the TV needs to get an IP address from the router. Don't forget that passwords are case sensitive. The letters have to be entered as UPPER CASE. Make sure that I read it right. I used reading glasses.


Ok. I just tried it and it didn't work. BUT I think I may also have a wifi signal strength issue because the tv does not consistently find my network when it lists the available networks. My network is "removed" and the tv found it in this picture below together with some of my neighbors. But if I click "refresh" my network will sometimes disappear from the list - as will my neighbors. That makes me think that I am just on the border of being close enough.

I have extra cable tv cable. I am going to physically move my router closer to the tv and enter that PW and see if that works. I may not be able to do that until tonight so please check back. Thanks so much for the help.


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## AH6 (Jan 9, 2019)

There are some apps on your phone you can get that let you monitor your wifi signal strength that are useful in situations like this. Search for "wifi analyzer" or similar. I use the one by farproc.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

Sometimes you only have to move the router a few feet. If it's on the floor, put it on a table.


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## tribe_fan (May 18, 2006)

If someone changed the Network name - they also likely changed the password. You may need to reset it to default.


https://d15yx0mnc9teae.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/technicolor-tc8717t-userguide.pdf


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

Tribe has a good point. Hold the reset button for a minute first.


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## schreibdave (Jun 12, 2016)

Dont have this completely solved yet but I did establish that its a wifi range issue rather than a PW issue. I took the modem and moved it 60 ft from my office and put it right next to the tv. When I did that the tv was able to find the wifi signal and i got onto netflix using my pw (info removed). So I will be looking to get a stronger wifi signal at the tv. Thanks for all the help.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

If you weren't so far away, I'd fix it for you. Anyway, hold the reset button for a minute. Then the password that is on the label will work.


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## Bob Sanders (Nov 10, 2013)

I needed to extend wifi out to my parking space in the back. I used D-link extender. Works well, easy to set up. You can use it to extend with wire or wirelessly. I tried the wireless extension first and it worked but through-put wasn't that great so I ran some cat5 wire to it. Works well and has full through-put.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

Bob, apparently you haven't been following the thread. The main problem is an authentication problem. The extender part of the problem has been solved.


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## Bob Sanders (Nov 10, 2013)

Guap0_ said:


> Bob, apparently you haven't been following the thread. The main problem is an authentication problem. The extender part of the problem has been solved.



Ohhh sorry man! Didn't read through all the posts!


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## Johnnyb69 (Dec 14, 2018)

I have my shop exactly 60 ft from my house and the WiFi is another 50 to 60 ft inside the house. I don't really want to read through all 28 posts, but was just wondering what was the finial solution for the extender part of problem?


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

> I don't really want to read through all 28 posts, but was just wondering what was the finial solution for the extender part of problem?


He moved the router. Any other questions?


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## schreibdave (Jun 12, 2016)

Johnnyb69 said:


> I have my shop exactly 60 ft from my house and the WiFi is another 50 to 60 ft inside the house. I don't really want to read through all 28 posts, but was just wondering what was the finial solution for the extender part of problem?


LOL. I am the OP. I bought this 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S6DBGJM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

But have not installed it yet.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

schreibdave, Are you or you not going to fix the authentication problem in the way that I described? If not, tell me now so I don't waste any more time with this thread.


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## schreibdave (Jun 12, 2016)

Guap0_ said:


> schreibdave, Are you or you not going to fix the authentication problem in the way that I described? If not, tell me now so I don't waste any more time with this thread.


Guap0 - Thanks for all your help. I dont understand all this stuff and honestly I dont want to. Here's my reasoning for concluding that my problem is a wifi range problem. Please tell me if I am off base: 

- with the router in its usual location (60 ft and a few walls away) the tv sometimes finds the wifi signal and sometimes doesnt.

- When I extend the coax cable 60 ft into my family room and place the router next to the tv it finds the signal. If i then enter my username and password on the tv (XXX is U.N and XXX is PW) it connects and works as it should.

I assume that this demonstrates that my problem was with the wifi signal strength. No?

If the problem was with the authentication wouldn't that be true regardless of how close I put the router to the tv? 

Thanks


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

> When I extend the coax cable 60 ft into my family room and place the router next to the tv it finds the signal. If i then enter my username and password on the tv (XXX is U.N and XXX is PW) it connects and works as it should.


Forget about it because when connecting a device to a router wirelessly, a user name isn't needed. Only a password is needed. 




> Thanks for all your help. I dont understand all this stuff and honestly I dont want to.


Ok, I won't try to explain anything else. If it's working, leave it alone. Enjoy your TV.


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## adamz (May 13, 2018)

schreibdave,


Yes, you have a wifi signal issue. You proved it when you temporarily moved the router near the TV set.


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## TrojanHorse (Feb 15, 2019)

@schreibdave - maybe you have WiFi problems due to everyone else using your WiFi. Is it necessary to post your username and password to a public internet forum . I’d edit that post and remove it real quick-like. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## schreibdave (Jun 12, 2016)

I suppose someone could drive around Syracuse randomly entering my username and PW in the hopes of getting into my WiFi. But since I cant get into my Wifi from the INSIDE of the house i am not worried about someone getting in from outside.


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## Nobr8ks (Sep 30, 2015)

schreibdave said:


> I suppose someone could drive around Syracuse randomly entering my username and PW in the hopes of getting into my WiFi. But since I cant get into my Wifi from the INSIDE of the house i am not worried about someone getting in from outside.



Manlius? Thought id narrow it down.... Any fish in that pond?


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## schreibdave (Jun 12, 2016)

LOL. That's right. Amazing what The Google knows.


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## Nobr8ks (Sep 30, 2015)

You made it rather easy given your username. In 2011 on some snowmobile forum you posted your city, after that I just matched your relationship with Claire & Nicholas.


Beautiful area by the way...


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## schreibdave (Jun 12, 2016)

Yup. I do frequent a lot of forums and I use two different usernames. I suppose I could switch it up a little but that would be a lot of trouble.


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## oldelectricguy (Jul 13, 2016)

I really don't want to be unkind here, but using only one or two login names and/or passwords is not acceptable today. Easy - yes, but safe - NO!. You make it too easy to compromise your family's information. Using your children's names for a password is just plain wrong, particularly if you use them everywhere. Use a password wallet program and create unique login names and passwords for each website/login. Unfortunately, many sites use an email address for a login name. Use an address not used for personal/financial sites. 
I personally use over 10 email addresses for various things, use many login names, and no site has the same password. Passwords are as many characters as I can use - 20 max is OK. I only really know what one password is - the master password the the password vault, which then automatically enters the login info into any site I visit. It's easy - my wife has no problem with it. Please don't make the collection and aggregation of your identity easy.


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## schreibdave (Jun 12, 2016)

Is there a password wallet program that you recommend?


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## Nobr8ks (Sep 30, 2015)

schreibdave said:


> Is there a password wallet program that you recommend?



Sent you a PM


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## Admin (Dec 8, 2003)

Private information removed from this thread. If I missed anything, please report the post so I can clean it up.


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## Nobr8ks (Sep 30, 2015)

Here's a suggestion. (I know, not the right place)



Encourage users not to use such obvious (There actual name) forum name.


Unless you're Walt Disney and named your kid Cricket...(Jiminy)


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