Broadband Extenders.

[reb0118]

I've recently changed my broadband supplier to TalkTalk from Virgin (they were taking the p$ss price wise). TalkTalk are not as fast but hey ho for £8.50 a month instead of £60 I'm not too bothered.

Now there has been a few other side issues including having to refit a roof aerial (I had my original removed as I got my TV via cable), and getting reconnected to the BT phone system (included in the deal) but my main bug bear has been having cables all over my front room because the youview set top box has to be hard wired to the internet (power sockets & phone sockets do not align)

Therefore I invested in some broadband extenders to tidy the place up a bit - I've connected this laptop to an extender and it seems to connect to the internet fine (I've temporarily disabled wi-fi to check) but the youview box does not seem to be picking up the boadband from the extender! Where am I going wrong? I've done all the usual resetting stuff &c.

Any tips most appreciated.


UPDATE: Sorted now.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Had you locked down the router so that only certain IP addresses can connect? Do you let it allocate IP addresses or have you assigned an IP address yourself to every device? Is the "extender" one of them pair of devices that send network data via the mains?

 

[reb0118]

Thanks for the reply but it's all sorted now. (I hope)

Is the "extender" one of those pair of devices that send network data via the mains?

Yes, that's right. I bought the wrong one first as my original purchase was only a single extender (it had extra Ethernet ports + a three pin electrical socket) but it was in the same sized box as the standard pair. Still got a 25% discount followed by another 9% as the store was closing down. It has all worked out fine now as I have bought a further pair of extenders to complete the system.

Benefits: firstly, everything is a lot neater in my front room and secondly, when I connect my laptop to the extender my broadband speed seems to significantly improve.

Thanks again

 

[NSEFAN]

I am wary of those power line network extenders. The frequencies they use combined with the length of mains wiring means that they can radiate rather large distances. I have heard stories of people being able to bridge across between houses by using them. I would echo SpacePhoenix's advice in allowing on certain computers to connect to your router to avoid accidentally giving your neighbours free internet!