Posted: 6/5/2014 11:02:59 AM EDT
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Anyone got a recommendation for a wireless bridge? The streaming features on my TV suck and I'm hoping a wired connection to the TV will solve the problem.
I found a few and they're not expensive but reviews are mixed: Linksys with gigabit ports TP Link with 10/100 ports I plan to hook a HD Home Run tuner and a PC to the bridge so I can record HDTV from my cable provider. What I don't want to do is have the traffic go back to through the router, not sure I'm using the right terminology here unless it has to go to a device not connected to the bridge like say a tablet. MSPaint 
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| It's still going to be going over the wireless network and you'll still have the same problems if I'm understanding correctly. Can't you just connect a switch to the router and then plug everything into the switch (Assuming your problem is lack of ports on the router?) |
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Powerline networking may get you the connection you want, and more cheaply than a wireless solution. Powerline from your main router to an outlet near the tv and such, then a wired switch to serve the appliances. Quoted:
Powerline networking may get you the connection you want, and more cheaply than a wireless solution. Powerline from your main router to an outlet near the tv and such, then a wired switch to serve the appliances. The communications would have to go through the breaker box as the rooms are on separate breakers, from what I know that's not supposed to be good for through put. But the price of those adpaters has come down, it may be worth a try. Quoted:
It's still going to be going over the wireless network and you'll still have the same problems if I'm understanding correctly. Can't you just connect a switch to the router and then plug everything into the switch (Assuming your problem is lack of ports on the router?) Unfortunately no, the router and cable modem are in different rooms from the TV, DVR etc and dropping a cat 6 cable is not an option because the TV etc are all around the fire place downstairs in a 2 story house. I might be able to fish a cat 6 down there but it would be a royal pain. |
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Check out this thread: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_124/1620339_Extend_wired_network_via_wireless.html I use the TP-Link bridge, and it works great for my needs. That being said, there are other routers which can act as bridges and allow for speeds faster than 150mbps. It just depends on your needs. If I understand correctly, what you want is generally called "client mode." That is, you want to connect the bridge to the other things via ethernet but want the bridge to connect to the main router via wifi. In that case, if you are going to be transferring lots of data and need big bandwidth, you will want to find a router that can act as a bridge but also has gigabit ethernet ports, otherwise all the devices are going to be stuck using 100mbps ethernet. They can be kind of tricky to setup in the beginning. You might want to disable the password protection on your wifi network until you get the bridge working properly. Then you can re-enable it, and finally update the bridge network so it will connect. I like TP-link stuff, but there are a lot of other routers which offer wifi bridge features. I'm not a fan of Linksys at all to bet honest. |
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Unfortunately no, the router and cable modem are in different rooms from the TV, DVR etc and dropping a cat 6 cable is not an option because the TV etc are all around the fire place downstairs in a 2 story house. I might be able to fish a cat 6 down there but it would be a royal pain. Quoted:
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It's still going to be going over the wireless network and you'll still have the same problems if I'm understanding correctly. Can't you just connect a switch to the router and then plug everything into the switch (Assuming your problem is lack of ports on the router?) Unfortunately no, the router and cable modem are in different rooms from the TV, DVR etc and dropping a cat 6 cable is not an option because the TV etc are all around the fire place downstairs in a 2 story house. I might be able to fish a cat 6 down there but it would be a royal pain. Got it. What kind of wireless router do you have now? You might be able to just upgrade that and get a better signal to the TV. I would stay away from TP-Link. They seem to be hit or miss. I bought a wireless router from them and I had to disable the wifi and plug in a different access point because the built in wifi would stop working every time I tried to download something. |
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Got it. What kind of wireless router do you have now? You might be able to just upgrade that and get a better signal to the TV. I would stay away from TP-Link. They seem to be hit or miss. I bought a wireless router from them and I had to disable the wifi and plug in a different access point because the built in wifi would stop working every time I tried to download something. Quoted:
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It's still going to be going over the wireless network and you'll still have the same problems if I'm understanding correctly. Can't you just connect a switch to the router and then plug everything into the switch (Assuming your problem is lack of ports on the router?) Unfortunately no, the router and cable modem are in different rooms from the TV, DVR etc and dropping a cat 6 cable is not an option because the TV etc are all around the fire place downstairs in a 2 story house. I might be able to fish a cat 6 down there but it would be a royal pain. Got it. What kind of wireless router do you have now? You might be able to just upgrade that and get a better signal to the TV. I would stay away from TP-Link. They seem to be hit or miss. I bought a wireless router from them and I had to disable the wifi and plug in a different access point because the built in wifi would stop working every time I tried to download something. Linksys E3000 running tomato with some high gain antennas. Signal strength is not a problem 
Excuse the mess we were moving when I took that picture |