# Has anyone tried this?



## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

SignalTech


SignalTech




signaltechbooster.com





It sure sounds good. But what is this "repeater" thingy about? (Sounds like you need to plug in this new device; then "set it up" as a "repeater".......)


----------



## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Yes, it sure sounds good. But if it did what they say, they wouldn't need the high-pressure, heartstring-tugging sales pitch to sell it for much more than it's worth.

It's probably a perfectly good wifi extender, but here's the exact same one at Walmart for $13.94:
300Mbps Wireless WiFi Repeater

Nothing can "override what the internet provider does with your router".


----------



## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Probably can reuse any generic old wireless router you have around to extend your inhouse network. Course more generic things are, more knowledge is required to set them up to do what you want. Timewise, pay the man the $14. LOL


----------



## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

So it does not do what it says it will do.................


----------



## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

With WIFI, the bits are transmitted through the air. The repeater simply reads the ones and zeroes as it receives them and then transmits new ones and zeroes at full strength. The signal deteriorates over distance, so the repeater extends the distance between 2 devices.


----------



## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Sure wish I understood what you just said MoonRiver; but I don't.


----------



## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

motdaugrnds said:


> So it does not do what it says it will do.................


It's a wifi extender, and it probably does that just fine, except for their price being 3x its value. But it's not going to stop your greedy internet provider from purposely slowing down your internet, like the sales pitch says.

Are you having a problem you're trying to solve, or did it just look like something that would be good to have?


----------



## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

I have 2 Netgear wifi extenders, but the big push is to mesh network devices:

Wi-Fi Range Extender vs. Mesh Network: What's the Difference?


----------



## 67drake (May 6, 2020)

motdaugrnds said:


> Sure wish I understood what you just said MoonRiver; but I don't.


I can’t throw a baseball to a player 500’ away, but I can throw one 250’. If I put a guy in the middle, he catches it and throws it to the guy 500’ feet away. The guy in the middle is the repeater, so to speak.


----------



## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Thank you all so much. I'm only having problems that have been with me from the beginning. I'm using HughesNet and it has worked fine; just slower than I'd like. I can see now that getting this "extender" will not be helpful in speed.


----------



## Rodeo's Bud (Apr 10, 2020)

Nope. Hughsnet is inherently slow.

Do you have cell service where you are?


----------



## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

motdaugrnds said:


> Thank you all so much. I'm only having problems that have been with me from the beginning. I'm using HughesNet and it has worked fine; just slower than I'd like. I can see now that getting this "extender" will not be helpful in speed.


If it's been a while since you've looked into cellular internet, it would be worth another look. Cellular coverage is always getting better, and even if you couldn't get good cellular internet a year or two ago, you might be able to now. In particular, if I remember correctly about where you are, it looks like T-Mobile has fairly good 4G & 5G coverage in that area now. And if T-Mobile covers it, then a bunch of little carriers that work off T-Mobile towers will work too, for a lot cheaper. I use a carrier called USMobile; they'll send you a free SIM card to see if you can get their service. Use this link for their website and we'll both get $10 off if you end up signing up with them: USMobile

Cellular internet tends to be expensive if you use very much data, but you could use a whole lot of data and still be cheaper than satellite.


----------



## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Backwoodsman7, I don't know what "cellular internet" is. Does it have something to do with a cell phone? My son use to get a cell phone card each month; but reception at our home is non-existent unless you walk out and stand near the road; then it was sporadic; so he stopped buying the card.

I will look at that USMobile URL and see what it has to offer. Thanks

That URL talks about using an "promo code" you would give me ??

I'm not wanting to use the internet through a cell phone but want to continue using the computer box/monitor I have; so this "mobile" thing is confusing to me.


----------



## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

motdaugrnds said:


> Backwoodsman7, I don't know what "cellular internet" is. Does it have something to do with a cell phone? My son use to get a cell phone card each month; but reception at our home is non-existent unless you walk out and stand near the road; then it was sporadic; so he stopped buying the card.
> 
> I will look at that USMobile URL and see what it has to offer. Thanks
> 
> ...


I have choice where I am of dialup, cell, or satellite. I went with cell when dialup became useless. And no I dont use cell phone to surf the net, I tether my computer to the cell phone via a usb cable so keeps phone charged while connected. The computer shares the phones data. Some cell companies charge extra for tethering, some dont, some ban it outright. I prepay to MVNO called RedPocket. 360day plan when it goes on sale around Black Friday into December. Works out around $26 a month though prepay means you pony up 12X that when you sign up. 20GB fast data, then 5GB throttle slow data if you burn through the 20GB. They state up front they wont provide tech support to tether but if you can figure it out, bully for you. They in other words dont care and arent going to try to detect how you use your data. I noticed they now offer a prepaid 360 plan with 100GB per month. Its only $150 a year more than the 20GB per month plan. So may go with that.

The other option many cell providers have plan for hotspot gizmos. The hotspot gizmo basically connects to the cell network, identifying you and your plan. Then you connect to the hotspot gizmo with your computer or tablet or whatever via wifi. Data for the hotspots is usually lot more expensive but no restrictions how you use it. Like say you have to block willy nilly updates on stuff, cause in effect the data you use is metered. If it all goes for ads, gratuitous updates, and other nonsense, its just wasted.

How well cell works depends how close you have a cell tower for your chosen network. I probably only have cell tower conveniet cause I am 3 mile from interstate as crow flies. I have friend with really spotty cell coverage, but she has DSL offered. For me has to be ATT network. I used to get good Verizon signal, but something changed and I have to go way out in the woods to other end of property to get Verizon signal. Sprint/Tmobile never were good. Sprint was sort of usable for a while but that was back in 2G era. 2G signal carries much better than 3G, 4G or 5G.


----------



## TroyT (Jun 24, 2008)

I have booster/access points all over the property. We have 6 in fact to cover all 5+ acres of the property. Some are used to just cover open space, others are used to get wifi into metal skinned buildings. If I were building from scratch, I would put in conduit everywhere, that is not my current situation.


----------



## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

My Verizon service via mobile data is more reliable than the actual wi-fi line running to the house. I'm considering going to a prepaid mobile hotspot instead of the line which is unusable half the time.


----------



## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

motdaugrnds said:


> I will look at that USMobile URL and see what it has to offer. Thanks


Well, on second thought, I'm not sure that will work very well for you because it's a little complicated to get service from USMobile. But T-Mobile shows fairly good coverage in your area, so it would be worth checking with them. They have stores not far from you that you could walk into and ask if they can get internet service to your address. Or you could start by checking the coverage map on their website.

Another really good idea would be to ask a few of your neighbors what cell phone and internet service they have and how well it works. If any of them have internet from something other than a satellite, and it works well for them, it should work for you too.

And last but not least, it looks like your county is working to get broadband internet everywhere in the county within the next couple years. You might check with them and keep an eye on that.
Their web page for that is here.
and,
This is the company they're having set it up. You can put in your address and they'll tell you if they can get service to you, or notify you when it's available.


----------



## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

I put my address into that site and was told they offered no service at this time; but may in the future.


----------



## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

motdaugrnds said:


> I put my address into that site and was told they offered no service at this time; but may in the future.


That sounds like the companies that have been promising to run fiber optic lines throughout my county for years. I had to threaten AT&T to get them to stop calling to sign me up for their internet service. I'd love to have the service but it's not available outside the cities.


----------



## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

Does StarLink only offer download (no interactive internet service)?

ETA: I looked it up:
-----------------------
Can I get Starlink internet now?

Starlink satellite internet is *currently available in parts of the US and Canada to people who live between 44 and 53 degrees latitude*. Starlink plans to be available worldwide by the end of 2022.May 25, 2022
-------------------------------


----------



## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

TroyT said:


> I have booster/access points all over the property. We have 6 in fact to cover all 5+ acres of the property. Some are used to just cover open space, others are used to get wifi into metal skinned buildings. If I were building from scratch, I would put in conduit everywhere, that is not my current situation.


Can you please elaborate a bit on what exactly you have that enables 6 devices to cover 5+ acres?

Thanks.


----------



## TroyT (Jun 24, 2008)

NRA_guy said:


> Can you please elaborate a bit on what exactly you have that enables 6 devices to cover 5+ acres?
> 
> Thanks.


Sure. First a bit of overview. I live in the pacific northwest, where it rains a lot during the fall, winter and spring. So working out side can be somewhat unpleasant and it hard on equipment. I also really, really hate unreliable stuff. For me, it's work or don't work, but never, ever work just sometimes, that makes me crazy. My property consists of a bit more than 5ac and is pie shaped. The house is in the middle, on one side there is the barn and chicken coup, on the other is the shop. These are located more or less along the crust side of the pie. The internet comes into the house. During a remodel of the barn I ran new power to the barn and put an extra conduit to the barn, the shop and chicken coup have no conduit runs. Both the shop and the barn are metal skinned. The shop is about 150' from the house. At any given time there are 32+ devices connected to the network, both wired and wireless. This includes all the normal stuff as well as security cameras, media servers, NAS devices, wireless light switches and home automation controllers.

I also like simple configuration and control of my network devices. I've found that most homeowner network equipment is more about looking cool than working well. I use TP-Link Omada equipment, which is their middle of the road business equipment. The equipment I use is, EAP225-Outdoor access points, EAP245 indoor access point an older EAP110-Outdoor access point and the OC200 network controller. There are also some TP-Link hardwired Omada switches and Omada POE switches mixed in there as well. BTW: All the access points are POE, so you just need to pull an Ethernet cable to the access point.

The TP-Link OC200 which gives me centralized control of all the TP-Link access points and switches that are Omada compatible it also lets me see whats connected to my network, what has tried and failed to connect to my network. It also enables automatic access point switching so as you move around the property you get bumped to the best access point for your location. It also gives me is a single login that will allow me to change access point passwords, enable/disable the guest network (we use it for parties) as well as do rolling firmware updates on the network devices. It also gives you status information about traffic, dropped packets and signal strengths between access points.

The EAP225-Outdoor access point is the bulk of my network access points, they go everywhere that would be considered harsh environments. Outdoors, inside the shop where it's dusty etc. These support mesh networking and can also act as a bridge at the same time. So between the house and the shop there is a mesh connection between the EAP245 which is inside the house to an EAP225 which is outside the shop in a 5 gallon bucket (need to get it mounted before winter) which provides wireless access outside and allows me to get network connectivity inside the shop via a single CAT5e cable which connects to another EAP225. There is also an EAP225 on the outside of the barn that provides wireless access to the property and a bridge to the chicken coup. The reason for this is there are several cameras on the chicken coup that allow us to keep and eye on the animals and I've never found any wireless cameras that I've liked. Inside the barn is the only EAP110 which is there to provide a network connection to the light switches for the most part. It's a low performance access point (AP).

A quick word about the TP-Link Omada hardwired switches. I like the POE TP-link switches because I can power cycle the POE port and reboot cameras and things like that without having to pull the cable via the OC200.

Sorry for the book, but that's how I do it. It's been rock solid for more than 3 years with no hardware failures. Using the signal strengths reported by the OC200 I put the APs in places that provide the best connections. When I raised meat chickens this year I had them in a chicken tractor that I moved all over the property and I put a cheap wireless camera in the tractor just to keep and eye on the birds. It was powered via USB which I connected to a car batter and the connection was solid well over 250' from the access points. The camera was pretty poor but it worked... Hope this helps. If you have any questions let me know.

BTW: I don't work for TP-Link


----------



## Rodeo's Bud (Apr 10, 2020)

motdaugrnds said:


> Backwoodsman7, I don't know what "cellular internet" is. Does it have something to do with a cell phone? My son use to get a cell phone card each month; but reception at our home is non-existent unless you walk out and stand near the road; then it was sporadic; so he stopped buying the card.
> 
> I will look at that USMobile URL and see what it has to offer. Thanks
> 
> ...


You need to see if another service provider has better service where you are.

In our little hollow, only Verizon works. Until they built a tower, we had zero service.

If you can find a provider that has service, you can get a permanent wi-fi router that will give you high speed internet. It uses the tower, but not your phone. It acts like a normal internet interface. 

It also is unlimited and never throttled.

A Jetpack is also an option, but the permanent router is best if you can get one.

Ask your neighbors if any of them have cell service and which provider they use. If they do, let us know and we can help you navigate this.


----------

