[SOLVED] Boost wifi with yagi antenna?

[wassupthw]

Hey,

I'm soon moving into a college dorm and the only type of internet there is through wifi (one hidden access point for 8 rooms on the floor), no Lan or cable.
The students living there told me that in the rooms there's basically no wifi signal whatsoever.

I was wondering if I could connect a yagi antenna to a TP Link Router with detachable antennas and use it as a repeater in my room.

Would the yagi antenna boost the in- and outgoing connections or am I misinterpreting the purpose of yagi antennas? If so, is there any way to boost the strength of a router to use it as a repeater?

Thanks

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I would advise against that idea.

or am I misinterpreting the purpose of yagi antennas?
Yes, you are.

For the sake of this thread, to entertain my brain, what sort of a cable length are you looking at if you did get a green light for that antenna...? Also, what is the model of said TP Link router?

 

[bill001g]

Your problem is no matter how large the antenna is if the signal is actually being absorbed by the wall there is still nothing for the antenna to receive. If the signal was say barely usable maybe then it might help. But doubling zero signal is still zero signal.

That is also the old way to do it. First your tplink router need to run as a client-bridge and many do not have that ability. Next the cost of the antenna and the cables to connect is likely higher than just buying a device designed to do this from the start. You can find a large number of outdoor directional bridges from companies like ubiquiti. Maybe something like a nano station loco which you can get for under $50. Make sure to not get the newer AC ones from what I can tell these only work in pairs where the older units can be used as client-bridge.

BUT I have my doubts anything is going to work if you have no signal.

It is extremely strange any kind of college housing would have poor internet. This would be very high on the list of things people look for. I would suffer without heat and ac before I went without internet.

 

[wassupthw]

@Lutfij I'm sorry I think we're having a misunderstanding, what kind of cable so you mean?
It's an Archer C7, I thought about removing the middle antenna and attaching a yagi antenna to it. The Router would stand on my desk with no cable connection and only act as a repeater, connecting to the AP of the dorm and repeating the signal so I can connect my phone and laptop to it.

@bill001g I'm sorry, by "no signal whatsoever" ofc I mean there's really bad signal, sorry English isn't my first language.
So if there is any signal (even though reeeallyyy poor), my approach of attaching said antenna to the Archer C7 could maybe work?
Is that advisable or would you still recommend me to get the nano station?

 

[kanewolf]

@Lutfij I'm sorry I think we're having a misunderstanding, what kind of cable so you mean?
It's an Archer C7, I thought about removing the middle antenna and attaching a yagi antenna to it. The Router would stand on my desk with no cable connection and only act as a repeater, connecting to the AP of the dorm and repeating the signal so I can connect my phone and laptop to it.

@bill001g I'm sorry, by "no signal whatsoever" ofc I mean there's really bad signal, sorry English isn't my first language.
So if there is any signal (even though reeeallyyy poor), my approach of attaching said antenna to the Archer C7 could maybe work?
Is that advisable or would you still recommend me to get the nano station?

I like the nanostation because they are purpose built for what you want. The problem is that you have to find an older model. The M2. Don't get the AC unit. Those only work in pairs.

 

[bill001g]

I am not sure if that router can actually run as a repeater. You are going to have issues doing crazy stuff like replacing only 1 antenna. The router uses all 3 antenna simultaneously for 3x3 mimo. Hard to say how well it will work mixing antenna types.

You have a huge issue though. To use any form of repeater the main router must support WDS. This is many times disabled because it is considered a security exposure.

I would still go the nanostation method. It will work for sure even without WDS. What you will do is hook the nanostation to the WAN port of your archer c7. This makes everything appear to come from a single device so does not need the WDS function. The nanostation can actually run as a router but you will still need something like the archer to provide wifi n your room, the nanostation only does ethernet output.

Yaggi antenna tend to be rather hard to mount inside the house, they are kinda long and you need to have them pointed directly at the source.

Note none of these equipment is designed for this purpose. It is designed to place outside with a clear view of the far radio source. It is not designed to punch a signal though a wall. There is no way to say if this will work for sure.

 

[wassupthw]

@bill001g thank you, I will probably go that route.
I have one last question though: could I alternatively use a tp link cpe210 instead of a nano station? From the descriptions it seems like they are the same device, just different brands.
I could get a cpe210 for 10 € on ebay Germany, that's why I'm asking.

 

[bill001g]

I have seen other people mention that device but I know nothing about it. It does appear similar but these devices can be tricky some times to configure. You are going to need to try client mode and AP client router the second being the better if it works like the ubiquti.