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I have a modem in the hallway closet with an Internet connection via a coax cable. In the living room there is an iMac and a Philips PFL9604 TV connected to the wireless network. The wireless network is provided by a new TP-Link TL-WR1043ND router which is setup next to the modem.

I would like to do the following:

  • Stream content such as HD movies, shows etc from the iMac to the TV.
  • Use the TV to watch missed shows with the apps on the tv via internet.
  • Make use of the internet speed upgrade (75 - 150 mbit/s) which will come in a few months.

However the signal of the router currently isn't strong enough to maintain a stable connection since it's too far away.

The distance from the router to the TV and the iMac is 12 meters and 6 meters with a wall in-between as well. I can't move the modem from the hallway closet because the signal to the modem will be too weak, nor can I wire a UTP cable from the hallway to the living room and put the router there.

I have come up with two possible options now:

  1. Use powerline adapters by plugging one into the hallway socket and one in the living room so I can put the router there.

    I currently have these powerline adapters to try out, but my Internet connection occasionally drops while using these adapters.

  2. Take the old WRT54GL router or a second TP-Link TL-WR1043ND and use WDS to create one network and have good coverage in the living room.

    The iMac and TV can then be connected via Ethernet cables to the second router if necessary. I assume it would be best to place the second router closest to the first one for the strongest signal.

The second options seems the best to me as the powerline adapters don't seem very promising based on my experience so far.

Is connecting two routers a viable method to obtain good and stable coverage in the living room?

1 Answer 1

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You have a couple of options;

Connect a powerline adapter to an ethernet connection on your router and the other to a socket near the TV and plug your TV [or iMac] into that for testing purposes. If it works you can then source another adapter for the other device. Some companies produce adapters with multiple ethernet connections. I know Devolo do some with 3 ethernet connections that are switched, so any traffic from iMac to TV would not touch the powerline side of the network. Check compatability between adapters before mixing them up as there are different powerline standards out there.

Connect a powerline adapter to an ethernet connection on your router and the other to a socket where you have weak wireless signal and plug in a second wireless access point. This is similar to your option 2 but the second AP is connected via ethernet to your network and is not repeating the wireless signal.

My preference would always be to stream over a wired connection....

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